Heater died .... 20 degrees outside

[Busskipper]

Originally Posted by Caswelld

What a mess! Hate to see your trip ruined. Electrical issues are a night mare, let us know what was the cause of all this.

Amazing help from the iRV2 community!

Dave

Pass the

[msturtz]

When you get back to your rig. Press and hold the boost switch on the dash. While doing that check to see if other things start working. I suspect that your "BIRD" (Bidirectional Relay with Delay) may have failed. This causes the chassis battery to become disconnected from the house batteries. On a temporary basis you can use jumper cables between the chassis and house batteries if that is the issue. Since you stated that the overhead lights work and those are on 12v that means your coach 12v panel has power. There are another set of fuse blocks that need to be checked. In the front compartment on the driver's side there are two fuse blocks. One has a Velcro panel covering it and the other is a plastic snap cover. It is highly likely that you have one or more blown fuses in those fuse blocks. Another thing to check is the heater control board. Open the outside heater compartment by unscrewing the outside access panel. The control board is on the top of the furnace. Make sure it is still in place. One final note don't rely on looking at the fuse to check if a fuse is bad. Use a meter! It is common for a fuse to "look" good and still be bad. This has burned me before. Just an FYI I always carry a 1500 watt heater in a bay in the winter time. Just in case!

[Reedster537]

Do you have heat pumps they don't work well under 30 degrees switch over to propane and that should work

[just_cruisin]

Update: I am back from my work trip and the RV is home. Troubleshooting continues.

A big thank you to everyone who commented with tips. It didn't work out but I appreciate it.


From my earlier post:

Summary for now:

RV worked fine on first day of drive.
Parked at campground
Leveled, hooked up 50A, slides out, furnace on and working
After several hours noticed it was cold
Thermostat dead (both of them)
Slides won't retract
Everything else functional (engine, generator, tv, microwave, 12 volt lights)

Things checked:
Chassis and house batteries
Wires and grounds
Breakers and fuses under bed
Breakers and fuses in battery compartment
Breakers and fuses in inverter compartment

UPDATE:
I replaced the trombetta solenoid. My RV is a 2014 that I purchased used but the trombetta I pulled out was a 2015 and the Magnum inverter a 2016. Thor has no record of this happening under warranty or at an authorized repair facility.

With all batteries disconnected I still had 2 volts showing at the wires to the trombetta? So now I have more troubleshooting to do regarding the rouge replaced components and how things are wired. Might explain having 12 volt interior lights but no other 12 volt systems (thermostat, slides, etc). Thor sent me the build sheet wiring diagrams so I will restore it to the factory configuration.

I found two of the house batteries only showing 4 volts. Unknown if the cells died before, during, our after the problems. Lifeline batteries arriving next week.

[wa8yxm]

I have a furnace troubleshooting text file but I won't post it here because it is easier to talk about the specific issue.
NO RESPONSE FROM EITHER THERMOSTAT
Ok, This eliminates most of the possible issues... but not all
Normally in an RV furnace 12 volt is delivered to the "mother board" (control board) via a circuit breaker/switch on the furnace itself (outside compartment).

Check for 12 volt on the breaker.. both sides, relative to ground
Check for power on the lead at the control board
There should be TWO blue wires coming off the control board, These should be BLUE, one should show 12 volts.

If the T-stats are electronic.. Do they indicate anything? check for 12 volts on the Blue wires there (Same two blue wires in fact)

Report result.

[just_cruisin]

Originally Posted by wa8yxm

NO RESPONSE FROM EITHER THERMOSTAT
Ok, This eliminates most of the possible issues... but not all
Normally in an RV furnace 12 volt is delivered to the "mother board" (control board) via a circuit breaker/switch on the furnace itself (outside compartment)

I checked that breaker very earlier in the process.

The RV is home and I have the thermostat working since replacing the trombetta solenoid.

My issue now is that some of the components were replaced without Thor's knowledge, the wiring seems to be non-standard (voltage over the wires while batteries are disconnected), and I'm trying to get that sorted out so this never happens to me again.

I am posting the troubleshooting so that if this happens to others they will have a better idea how to handle this. If it turns out it was due to faulty repairs, this might not apply to others but I still haven't determined that yet.

[MisterT]

what do you mean by:

Originally Posted by just_cruisin

... some of the components were replaced without Thor's knowledge, the wiring seems to be non-standard (voltage over the wires while batteries are disconnected)...

?

[just_cruisin]

Originally Posted by MisterT

what do you mean by:



?

My RV is a 2014 that I purchased used but the trombetta I pulled out was a 2015 and the Magnum inverter a 2016. Thor has no record of this happening under warranty or at an authorized repair facility.

[MisterT]

just curious...

how would you know what 'year model' these two items are?

it doesn't sound suspicious to me as these are the stock items that are installed at the factory when the Palazzo is built - we all have these same exact products in our Palazzo motorhomes...
I have a feeling that these are the units that were installed from the factory, regardless of what 'year model' they may seem to be.

I suppose you could also 'guess' that a previous owner contacted those manufacturers directly for a warranty replacement unit, versus contacting Thor, which means that Thor would not know about it, or even care about it.


also, why would you believe that any of the wiring is 'non standard'?

most of the wiring I see in mine seems 'non standard' compared to 'normal' house wiring, but it's not unusual for the RV industry since they use different style connectors and wire types for many different 120v and 12v applications, as well as for the electrical and battery related appliances and products installed.

I think you have a simple, but aggravating, problem somewhere in your system, though I think it's doubtful that it's because someone else did something previously - once it's solved, hopefully you can share with the rest of us - I know that I learn best when a problem is solved and it brings to light how the system as a whole works... cheers : )

[Stiltner]

Originally Posted by MisterT

just curious...

I think you have a simple, but aggravating, problem somewhere in your system, though I think it's doubtful that it's because someone else did something previously - once it's solved, hopefully you can share with the rest of us - I know that I learn best when a problem is solved and it brings to light how the system as a whole works... cheers : )

Well said MisterT! I'm still on the hunt for a electrical problem that is now minimized thanks to everyone here! I changed out the Trombetta and things are much better but not 100 percent yet.

[just_cruisin]

Originally Posted by MisterT

just curious...

how would you know what 'year model' these two items are?


I have a feeling that these are the units that were installed from the factory, regardless of what 'year model' they may seem to be.

Because the Trombetta says 2015 on it and the Magnum says 2016 on it.

[NettieRegina]

just_cruisin,

I'm looking forward to hearing how your problem resolved. I don't think you mentioned how you got your slides in.

Gary

[lonfu]

Sounds like a ground wire. Now I know you said you checked it, but did you clean the terminals where the ground wire attaches to the frame of the coach? They often become corroded over a period of time especially in road salt areas.

[lonfu]

There are usually no less than 7 of these ground connections on a moho. Sounds like one or two are having high resistance problems.