Dual AC question

[Dan Pareja]

My name is Dan Pareja and my wife and I just purchased an RV (34 foot, 1989 Southwind by Fleetwood). It is an older unit but seems to be in great shape. We took it out this weekend and everthing worked great. Upon our return my wife turned on both A/C units (running off of the generator) to clean. We have had them both on at home many times over the past couple of weeks as we started loading it up (always running solely off of the generator). My wife plugged the vaccum into the coach and at some point the front A/C unit quit working while the back unit still continued to work fine. I flipped the A/C switch to the front position and the front A/C turns right on and blows cold. So now the rear A/C unit only works while in the "rear" position and the front A/C unit only works while in the "front" position where as both would run while in the "rear" position prior to yesterday. Any help someone could provide would be greatly appreciated as we are brand new to this stuff. Thanks again! Dan

[RickO]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new rig!

I'm sure some of our experts will be along shortly to help out with your AC question.

Best of luck...

Rick

[Wanabee FTer]

First thing I would check is the 2 breakers on the genset. On my Onan there is a 30A breaker and a 20A, I suspect one of them tripped.

[Dan Pareja]

Thanks Jon! I will look for that and let you know. Is the breaker easily found?

[Senior Chief]

They are right on the front of your gennie; 2 little black toggles. One says 30 (controls the front AC plus all the outlets) the other labled 20 (rear AC).

[Dan Pareja]

Ok, I will check it out. if that was tripped why will the A/C still come on when I turn the switch inside the coach to "front"?

[Senior Chief]

If the 20 amp breaker is tripped, the gennie will still provide voltage to and through the switch which selects front or back AC.

The 20 amp breaker directly supplies ONLY the back AC.

[Dan Pareja]

Awesome thanks. I will try it this afternoon and let you know!

[wa8yxm]

Just so you know.. A tripped breaker on the generator does not necessary indicate a problem.. IF it trips again soon as you reset it.. That indicates a problem but due to the heat and vibration they sometimes trip.. Just for the "heck" of it.

[Senior Chief]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

Just so you know.. A tripped breaker on the generator does not necessary indicate a problem.. IF it trips again soon as you reset it.. That indicates a problem but due to the heat and vibration they sometimes trip.. Just for the "heck" of it.

X2

[Dave78Chief]

1) The generator has 2 output circuits. One output is used for the front AC and most all other AC operations (recepticles, etc.). The 2nd output is basically reserved for the rear AC.
2) With only 30 AMP shore power capability, you can only run 1 AC unit at a time.
3) The front/rear AC select switch allows you to select whether the generator or shore power is going to be routed to the rear AC unit. When the front/rear AC select switch is in the Front position, shore power is routed to the front AC and the 2nd leg of the generator is routed to the rear AC. When the front/rear AC select switch is in the Rear position, Shore power is routed to the rear AC. When in the Rear position, you can run the front AC of shore power and the rear off of generator.
4) Either the primary leg of the generator or the shore power cable feeds the main AC breaker panel. There will be a 20 amp circuit breaker for an AC unit on the panel. That breaker feeds one leg of the front/rear select switch. That is the source that allows you to run either the front or rear AC unit off of the shore power path (or generator primary).
5) For the 2nd generator output AC distribution, each coach mfg set things up there own way. Some connected the 2nd leg output breaker at the generator directly to the Front/Rear switch. Some ran the 2nd Generator AC output to a seperate circuit breaker and then to the Front/Rear swtich.
6) Some installations have the microwave tapped into the rear AC circuit also. If that is your case, you should turn off the selected AC at the Front/Rear switch while using the microwave.

Both AC's work off of the Front/Rear switch, so you most likely have done nothing more than overloaded a CB when you hooked up the vacuum cleaner.

Dave

[JimM68]

Originally Posted by Dave78Chief

1) Both AC's work off of the Front/Rear switch, so you most likely have done nothing more than overloaded a CB when you hooked up the vacuum cleaner.

Dave

[Dan Pareja]

All of you were spot on. It was a tripped breaker and it was the 30A that was tripped. turned it back on and everything works great. I cannot thank you guys enough for helping me with this as I am very new to RV's and although I new it had to be electrical in nature; I really did not know where to start. Thanks again guys. I truly appreciate your help! Dan Pareja

[Wanabee FTer]

Glad to hear it was a simple fix!