Community Forums

ccollins · 07-03-2014, 03:34 PM

During the week my Refrigerator, Slide out, and hot water all went out. I have checked all of the fuses and breakers. They are all good except for one that is a interior DC fuse in slot five for the refrigerator. The red-light indicates that fused is blown, I try to replace it and it blows it as well. All the other fuses are showing good.

I figure that there may be something wrong with the refrigerator, however with the slide out and hot water heater not working as well I believe there is a bigger problem. I look at all the manuals and they do not even match up to the model I have making it very hard to troubleshoot. Has anyone ever ran into this before? I am thinking it may be the inverter since but I thought the slide and hot water were DC......

Scarab0088 · 07-03-2014, 03:53 PM

Did all the failures happen at the same time? That would indicate a circuit failure. Yes, the 'fridge, water heater and slide drive are 12VDC.

The fuse blowing for the 'fridge shows that there is a dead short in that circuit. That could be the 'fridge 12VDC circuitry or the wire to the 'fridge.

The water heater igniter is 12VDC and should be switched at the main control panel. For that circuit I would start at the panel to chase that circuit.

The Slide Drive will have it's own circuit which is complicated by a safety interlock to prevent moving the slide if the engine is running.

All these systems would usually be separate, but might be impacted by some shared issue in the fuse panel.
Start with the basics - check the ground connections, then either connect 12VDC power directly to the device or chase the power flow from the source.

The inverter should not impact any of the 12VDC systems. Is there a problem with your (optional) inverter making 110VAC?

Best luck

focker · 07-03-2014, 05:19 PM

The fridge and the water heater along with the furnace run on the same 12V fuse and I am pretty sure it is slot 5 on mine too.... just found that last week after the solar install and I had no hot water or fridge.

Red light on slot 5 was on, installed a new fuse and had a cold fridge and hot water very quickly.

ccollins · 07-04-2014, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by focker

The fridge and the water heater along with the furnace run on the same 12V fuse and I am pretty sure it is slot 5 on mine too.... just found that last week after the solar install and I had no hot water or fridge.

Red light on slot 5 was on, installed a new fuse and had a cold fridge and hot water very quickly.

Thank you for the help, I have question; If I unplug the AC on the fridge is that the only power connection to it or dose it have an DC connection somewhere else? I was going to connect the AC plug to house AC to see if the fridge is out or it is hot water or slide that was causing thing the fuse to blow.

focker · 07-04-2014, 10:35 AM

I think the fridge somehow converts the AC to DC or at least must have that fuse working because when that fuse was out on mine last week the fridge was not working even with the RV plugged in.

Scarab0088 · 07-04-2014, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ccollins

Thank you for the help, I have question; If I unplug the AC on the fridge is that the only power connection to it or dose it have an DC connection somewhere else? I was going to connect the AC plug to house AC to see if the fridge is out or it is hot water or slide that was causing thing the fuse to blow.

The 'fridge is dual power, 110VAC - and - Propane (uses a tiny heat source to make the coolent flow). There should be separate power feeds for 110 and 12 volts.

The direct feed of 110volts (unplug and used an extension cord) would be a good test to see if that side of the system is working. The control unit might still need DC even when running on AC, so consider that as part of the test. If is still blows the fuse while running on AC, you know the issue is in the contoller.

My 'fridge has a selector for "Auto" or "gas." If it is the same on yours, select "Auto" and turn off the Propane...this will force the unit to cool by 110.

Best luck

ccollins · 07-04-2014, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by focker

I think the fridge somehow converts the AC to DC or at least must have that fuse working because when that fuse was out on mine last week the fridge was not working even with the RV plugged in.

Thanks I narrowed it down to the fridge, the dc that is going to flue canister / Thermofuse (the schematic only shows one component in line but is actually has two, there is an inline fuse and some sort of circular switch that is on the stack that leads back to the board.), when disconnected it stops blowing fuses. I am thinking of replacing the board and the inline thermofuse, but have not found what the circular thing is on the stack is to replace. I do not want to blow a new board. Any thoughts?

ccollins · 07-08-2014, 07:17 PM

Found the troubleshooting guide for the fridge, looks like the heating element is more than likely the problem.

focker · 07-08-2014, 11:25 PM

I am watching this thread with interest, very good to know what to look for if I ever encounter this.

ccollins · 07-11-2014, 08:38 AM

I saw somewhere that you are a Doberman person....same here....had them all my life they are best. Our Izzy is 5 years old and she travels well and folks cant believe when they meet her on how smart, lovable, and well manor she is. We only put her on a leash for folks that are scare of her because of her size and the stereotype, otherwise she stay around and listen very well.

Did a lot of research this week and this weekend I will test out all that I have learn to see if I can get this fix / up and running.

Quote:

Originally Posted by focker

The fridge and the water heater along with the furnace run on the same 12V fuse and I am pretty sure it is slot 5 on mine too.... just found that last week after the solar install and I had no hot water or fridge.

Red light on slot 5 was on, installed a new fuse and had a cold fridge and hot water very quickly.

focker · 07-11-2014, 09:44 AM

I sure am a doberman person, for over 30 years now and now my wife is very passionate about them too. We currently have Cayman who is 5 and Chloe who is 3. Same lovable, smart and well mannered dispositions as you describe. They are truly velcro dogs aren't they? I always say "Get a doberman and you will never go to the bathroom alone".
Here are a couple of photos of ours... now I am gonna need to see some pics of Izzy

.

Orangepeel · 07-11-2014, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by focker

I sure am a doberman person, for over 30 years now and now my wife is very passionate about them too. We currently have Cayman who is 5 and Chloe who is 3. Same lovable, smart and well mannered dispositions as you describe. They are truly velcro dogs aren't they? I always say "Get a doberman and you will never go to the bathroom alone". Here are a couple of photos of ours... now I am gonna need to see some pics of Izzy

.

Those two are adorable. Dobermans always seem to have expressive faces.