Two Problems one AC and one house DC

[KF5UMC]

In our 2008 Discovery I have no AC power at the Dinette wall socket below near front bench seat.. I took the socket out of the wall and found nothing wrong except no AC power. Just behind the rear bench seat of the dinette, is another AC wall socket and works fine. Fleetwood diagram shows a junction box but I can't find it. Any idea where to look?

I also have no DC power going to the bathroom grab rail. Took grab rail off still no DC power to the LED module. I also only have 1/2 of the bedroom step light(string of mini bulbs in a plastic tube under lip of the single step into bedroom) working... the left side is out but the right side is not.

I think there is a loose wire in the AC and DC junction boxes...now if I could only find them-the drawings I got from Fleetwood only give a vague idea as to their locations

Any Suggestions?

Thanks
John

[LVJ58]

With the 120vac problem I would first check the ac circuit breaker panel for any tripped breakers. If none tripped, then I would check for a GFCI wall outlet that may be tripped.

With the 12vdc issue I would begin with checking for a blown fuse in the 12vdc fuse block which should be located near your 120vac breaker panel.

Since I don't own a Discovery, can't help with the location of the junction boxes you mentioned, however, if you call Fleetwood they should be able to give you some guidance.

Good luck ferreting out your electrical problem & safe journeys....

[malexander]

Check your fuse/breakers on your inverter. Mine is in one of the outside bays.
I found, with my 2007 Bounder, some of the receps run off the inverter, even though I'm plugged into shore power. YMMV

[pcurt23]

Originally Posted by malexander

Check your fuse/breakers on your inverter. Mine is in one of the outside bays.
I found, with my 2007 Bounder, some of the receps run off the inverter, even though I'm plugged into shore power. YMMV

Also have 2007 Bounder.
x2 on the inverter circuit breaker. It is a popup located on the side of the inverter and hard to see.

The other thing that happens to me is one of the ground fault plugs will trip. I replaced the most offending ground plug with one that has a led to show if it was powered or not. There are at least two in the rig. Maybe even one in a bay but I forget.

And by the way, Do not do any electrical diagnosis until you have located all the fuses and breakers. I did not heed this advice and managed to destroy my program for the full wall slide.

[malexander]

Originally Posted by pcurt23

Also have 2007 Bounder.
x2 on the inverter circuit breaker. It is a popup located on the side of the inverter and hard to see.

The other thing that happens to me is one of the ground fault plugs will trip. I replaced the most offending ground plug with one that has a led to show if it was powered or not. There are at least two in the rig. Maybe even one in a bay but I forget.

And by the way, Do not do any electrical diagnosis until you have located all the fuses and breakers. I did not heed this advice and managed to destroy my program for the full wall slide.

Wow. What was your electrical issue that caused you to "destroy the program"? Also, I'm not sure I understand "program", either.

I just recently bought the MH.
I actually found the breaker (threre's actually 2, only one was tripped) on the inverter by accident. I had plugged in some small heaters while it's sitting on my driveway. I noticed one evening the one in the bedroom wasn't working, and ones I had in the bays. I checked power at the GFCI (where I had the br heater plugged in), nothing. All the breakers were good/on.
BTW, I'm doing all this at night, with a flashlight.
So, I started following romexes. Noticed 2, 12-2G going in to the inverter, that's when I saw the tripped breaker on it. I knew what "tripped" looked like because it's the same kind of breaker my 172 has on the bottom of the instrument panel.
I think there's only 2 GFCIs in the coach. One in the bathroom, and one on the wall in the bedroom beside the door. I think this one "controls" the receps in the bays, because I can't find anything else inside, when I trip it, not working.

[KF5UMC]

Figured out the "NO" House DC problem. I took off the lighted grab rail again and found a bad crimp from the +12 house wire to the +side of the LED. I re-spliced the connections and now the grab rail lights up. The 12vdc step light strip also has 12 volts at the house wiring but several incandescent bulbs are bad. I will replace with a 28" LED strip. So I still haven't found the J-box for the DC or the AC for that matter, but making brilliant progress!

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions
John

[mchero]

John
With power OFF I would pull the cover to your electrical panel & inspect. Make sure all connections are tight. Sometimes a connection will work loose & the connection starts to get hot & then leads to big trouble.
Pull all lower drawers and any panels & inspect all wiring, I found a 12VDC grounding block and all 4 lugs where finger tight.
That outlet that's not working, does it have a GFI test button on it? If not check ALL OTHER GFI outlets and make sure they are not tripped. I have a GFI outlet under the bed that's the master for another (non GFI) outlet. Also an outlet in the water compartment.

[KF5UMC]

Today I noticed water leaking out of the outside rear gas heater compartment. I took off the inspection panel and found about 1/4" of water in the compartment and the water level was just touching the gas control PCB! So I disconnected the wire harness to the PCB mopped up the water. I tracked down the water leak coming from the water line with a backflow preventer near the hot/cold water connections to the washer/dryer. This area in our Discovery Coach is accessible through the bottom left cabinet - part of the entertainment center....

I tried to hand tighten the twist on, two water connections on the backflow preventer, but didn't stop the dripping. So I took off the preventer and removed ALL of the Teflon tape between the brass backflow preventer and nylon pipe nipple. Reconnected the pipes and fixed the leak. I'm of the impression that Teflon tape should only be used for metal to metal fittings. Not plastic to plastic or plastic to metal...What do you say?

Oh in order to dry out the wood floor, I took off the air vent (bottom left) attached to the entertainment center in the living room used 2 fans to air dry the floor...and looking around in this cubby-hole, I found LOTS of Junction Boxes! So later after the holidays I will see if one of these Junction boxes are connected to the AC receptacle under the dinette.

Happy Holidays!

John & Debbie currently in Gaffney S.C.
2008 40X Discovery 2012 Sorento toad on a dolly

[KF5UMC]

Thanks for the comments on AC circuit breakers, GFI receptacles...After finding lots of powdery substance inside the AC Main circuit breaker box coming out of the circuit breakers, I plan to replace all the circuit breakers in the AC box after the holidays. I will find out how loose the AC connections are on the existing breakers...as for GFI receptacles , I only have 1 REAL GFI in the living room and that's it, but several AC receptacles are marked "GFI" but are NOT. The one in the living room is going bye-bye.

John & Debbie
2008 Discovery 40x

[malexander]

Originally Posted by KF5UMC

Thanks for the comments on AC circuit breakers, GFI receptacles...After finding lots of powdery substance inside the AC Main circuit breaker box coming out of the circuit breakers, I plan to replace all the circuit breakers in the AC box after the holidays. I will find out how loose the AC connections are on the existing breakers...as for GFI receptacles , I only have 1 REAL GFI in the living room and that's it, but several AC receptacles are marked "GFI" but are NOT. The one in the living room is going bye-bye.

John & Debbie
2008 Discovery 40x

If they say "GFCI Protected", that means they are coming off the Load side of a GFCI recep.

[mchero]

Originally Posted by KF5UMC

Thanks for the comments on AC circuit breakers, GFI receptacles...After finding lots of powdery substance inside the AC Main circuit breaker box coming out of the circuit breakers, I plan to replace all the circuit breakers in the AC box after the holidays. I will find out how loose the AC connections are on the existing breakers...as for GFI receptacles , I only have 1 REAL GFI in the living room and that's it, but several AC receptacles are marked "GFI" but are NOT. The one in the living room is going bye-bye.

John & Debbie
2008 Discovery 40x

What do you mean by "going bye-bye"?
What color is this powdery substance? Is it all over or just around where the wire connects to the breaker?

Thanks

[KF5UMC]

Bye-bye = taking out the GFI receptacle and replacing it with a standard receptacle. I'm not planning on taking a shower while holding a hair dryer.

See photos of the circuit breakers-the white powder is some type of material used in the manufacture of some circuit breakers- I saw the same thing on brand new CB's at Lowes...so I plan to replace them with another type that does not use this material.

John

[malexander]

[QUOTE=KF5UMC;2873221]Bye-bye = taking out the GFI receptacle and replacing it with a standard receptacle. I'm not planning on taking a shower while holding a hair dryer.

See photos of the circuit breakers-the white powder is some type of material used in the manufacture of some circuit breakers- I saw the same thing on brand new CB's at Lowes...so I plan to replace them with another type that does not use this material



I don't blame you.

I know code calls for GFCI's in the garage. But after you loose a freezer of meat, because the GFCI tripped, and you didn't know it. I'll take my chances. YMMV.
Some places they're required.......well. it's just dumb.

[mchero]

[QUOTE=malexander;2874219]

Originally Posted by KF5UMC

Bye-bye = taking out the GFI receptacle and replacing it with a standard receptacle. I'm not planning on taking a shower while holding a hair dryer.

See photos of the circuit breakers-the white powder is some type of material used in the manufacture of some circuit breakers- I saw the same thing on brand new CB's at Lowes...so I plan to replace them with another type that does not use this material



I don't blame you.

I know code calls for GFCI's in the garage. But after you loose a freezer of meat, because the GFCI tripped, and you didn't know it. I'll take my chances. YMMV.
Some places they're required.......well. it's just dumb.

I had a 93 Pace Arrow Diesel Pusher that would always trip a GFI breaker when ever I plugged he in. Yeah I could have taken the easy way out & just simply removed the GFI outlet but I relize how GFI's work and knew I had an electrical issue.

I first shut off all 120VAC brekkers & tried plugging the rig in, still tripped the GFI. I then popped the breaker panel off and started disconnecting loads....
I located the problem circuit/load!!!!

Turned out Fleetwood used a DC relay to disconnect the roof A.C. to prevent the inverter from trying to power the AC. When on inverter the relay would be open thus not letting the inverter power the A.C.
DC relays don't work well in an AC enviorment. The chatter & heat up. Only work around short of using a real AC relay was to install a rectifier to smooth the AC to DC. A 1/2 wave rectifier was installed (two diodes and a capacitor).

What was happening is this.......
When the rig was plugged into a GFI outlet that REAL SMALL capacitor would charge up. The GFI would trip (doing its job). The fix was to eliminate the capacitor by installing a full wave rectifier (4 diodes) & get rid of that capacitor!

GFI's save lives! Sounds like their was some sort of electrical issue in the garage. should have been found & corrected. I'd feel real bad if someone picked up an electrical hand tool and was electrocuted.

Correct the electrical issue, don't just remove the GFI.