We just purchased our new 2019 Mirada 35LS in June and after a short shakedown trip from Illinois to Eastern KY, departed on June 30 for a two-week trip to Utah and back. We planned four days to get from Illinois to the Salt Lake City area, spend six days there and then take a leisurely trip home spending 5-7 days on the road coming back. We had our three grandkids with us on the trip to Utah, it would only be the two of us on the way back, so we bought enough groceries to feed five (including two ravenous teenagers) on the trip out.
On day three, our residential fridge stopped working. Since the outdoor temps were in the high 90s, we were running the generator while traveling so we would have air conditioning, then shore power at night in the RV parks. The fridge would not work on inverter, generator, or shore power. Ended up throwing out a couple hundred dollars worth of food.
When we discovered the fridge was not on, I checked all fuses/breakers/GFCIs and all was OK. Everything else was working except the fridge. I spoke with my dealer on the phone and they had me try everything they could think of and suggested I call Tim Buss at Coachmen. I finally spoke with Tim the next day while enroute from Rawlins, WY to Salt Lake City. He had me check some things, but there really wasn't much we could do until off the road and settled in.
Once we were hooked up in the RV park in Salt Lake City, I checked the last thing I could think of - is it still plugged in. Actually, I thought of that first, but couldn't find the plug. I contacted Tim again and he told me the outlet should be in a cabinet beside the fridge; it wasn't. The only thing plugged in there was the microwave. I finally went to the forums and the Coachmen Mirada Owners Facebook page and asked if anyone knew where the outlet was. Someone eventually told me to look behind the drawer under the oven. I removed the drawer and found the outlet attached to the floor. The plug was OK. Next, I got a fan I knew worked and plugged it in and it didn't work, either, so I knew the outlet was not getting any power. Next stop (in the toad) was Wal Mart to pick up a grounded extension cord. I then unplugged the microwave and plugged the fridge into the microwave outlet using the extension cord and it worked.
I called Tim back and told him everything I had done. He said it sounded like I had a bad inverter, although all light indications showed the inverter was working properly. He said it was apparently getting AC in but sending none out. He said it would probably be impossible to get into a Coachmen-authorized service center before I was leaving to return home, so he authorized me to use a mobile RV repair tech and Coachmen would reimburse me. He sent me the directions for the procedure to get re-imbursed. The only problem was, I couldn't find a mobile repair person who could get to me until two days after we planned to leave for home, so we just continued running the fridge using the extension cord and the microwave outlet until we got home. My dealer has a new inverter on order and the MH is scheduled in on August 9th to get it replaced.
My biggest surprise in all this, probably because my knowledge is somewhat lacking in how they work, is why the power has to go through the inverter-only for the fridge. If the inverter goes bad, why can't it be switched over to shore or generator power? It's great to have inverter power to the fridge when running down the road so you don't have to keep the generator running, but if it fails, it would be nice if it would switch over to generator and then shore power once parked and hooked up. Apparently, the way it works is, it is inverter or nothing for the residential fridge Another side effect is that I had to run the generator 7-8 hours a day while traveling to keep the fridge working once I rerouted it to the microwave outlet, so now my generator is past the required service point, too, so I only got one trip in the new motorhome before I have to have the generator serviced.
Otherwise, it was a great trip.
Mirada fridge/inverter failure
Linear Mode
