Community Forums

retired_ranger · 02-03-2008, 10:21 AM

OK here is the down and dirty. I live in the mountains and we have been having bad weather lately (lots of snow). I have my 5th wheel plugged in so my daughter can use it as a temp. A tree limb broke, fell on the power line, ripped the power meter and line off the house. Immediately the lights in the house went either dim or very bright. The DVD surround system started smoking and the my other computer smoked up, along with an electric blanket. NOW, this morning after being all repaired I go out the 5th wheel and no power to lights, slide outs, fridge or thermostadt. All of the wall plugs are good. Checked the fuses and breakers and all seem OK. Checked the power inverter located in the front compartment and immediately smelled electrial burn up. Is it just my imagination or does the inverter converter run all of the said. If not any guidance. I am not savvy on RV workings. And exactly what does the power inverter/converter do.

Alot said and hope someone can help
retired_ranger

retired_ranger · 02-03-2008, 10:21 AM

OK here is the down and dirty. I live in the mountains and we have been having bad weather lately (lots of snow). I have my 5th wheel plugged in so my daughter can use it as a temp. A tree limb broke, fell on the power line, ripped the power meter and line off the house. Immediately the lights in the house went either dim or very bright. The DVD surround system started smoking and the my other computer smoked up, along with an electric blanket. NOW, this morning after being all repaired I go out the 5th wheel and no power to lights, slide outs, fridge or thermostadt. All of the wall plugs are good. Checked the fuses and breakers and all seem OK. Checked the power inverter located in the front compartment and immediately smelled electrial burn up. Is it just my imagination or does the inverter converter run all of the said. If not any guidance. I am not savvy on RV workings. And exactly what does the power inverter/converter do.

Alot said and hope someone can help
retired_ranger

Kevin Moore · 02-03-2008, 11:42 AM

Do you have your battries charged up? If so,and you have checked ALL of your 12volt fuses, you should have lites and all other 12 volt systems should work. If your "converter" smells burnt, it will not likely charge your battries anymore. You will have to replace it.
Converters change 120 volts to 12 volts....and a invertor will change 12 volts to 120 volts.
So I would think you are talking about a converter. There will be relays that control the slideouts, make sure they are OK.
You can also try hooking up a charger to the battries, and then try the lite and etc.
Good luck with your problem

Ray,IN · 02-03-2008, 12:34 PM

I agree with Kevin, sounds like the 12V side is your problem area.

retired_ranger · 02-03-2008, 01:14 PM

The box says inverter/converter 55 amp. The batteries are probably in need of replacement anyway. If I hook 110 cord to outside power then all the outlets work but thats it. No slide outs, lights or anything that normally worked with 110. Guess I need to to more investigation about the relays but need to find out why no power. The inverter/converter does smell burnt and I will replace that as a start.
Thanks
retired_ranger

retired_ranger · 02-03-2008, 01:16 PM

So how does the RV work when I hook straight to 110 like I would on a power box at a RV park. Does this have anything to do with the inverter/converter

retired_ranger

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Kevin Moore:
Do you have your battries charged up? If so,and you have checked ALL of your 12volt fuses, you should have lites and all other 12 volt systems should work. If your "converter" smells burnt, it will not likely charge your battries anymore. You will have to replace it.
Converters change 120 volts to 12 volts....and a invertor will change 12 volts to 120 volts.
So I would think you are talking about a converter. There will be relays that control the slideouts, make sure they are OK.
You can also try hooking up a charger to the battries, and then try the lite and etc.
Good luck with your problem </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Blue74 · 02-03-2008, 02:42 PM

There are two types of inverters/chargers. One will supply power to the trailer when plugged in even with the batteries removed. The other will charge the batteries which supply power to the trailer but will not power the 12V in the trailer with out batteries. With yours being toasted it does not matter which kind it is you will not get any 12V power from it. If the batteries are charged then the trailer would operate as if you where not plugged in. If the batteries are bad and will not take/hold a charge you will not get any 12V power in the trailer.

A few things you can try if you have an automotive type charger. Check the water in the batteries and try to charge them with the automotive charger. You might also try to see if any of the light will come on when you have the automotive charger hooked up. The charging or trying to charge the batteries might use up most of the capacity of the automotive charger so that you only get a glow from a light that would tell you that they are working.

Paul

retired_ranger · 02-03-2008, 02:59 PM

Paul,
I am learning. So are you telling me that the slide outs, furnace and the overhead lights are all 12 volt? I thought that if you were plugged in to 110 from outside that all was 110 unless it was a 12 volt fixture.
retired_ranger

Blue74 · 02-03-2008, 03:27 PM

Yes to the 12V.

In the two 5th wheels I have owned the only things that ran off 115V where 2 wall lights and the microwave. In my Alfa the same plus the ceiling fan. The lights and slides and heater work off 12V so you can use them when not plugged in and most if not all the lights. The inverter/converter (115V) supplies power when plugged in(12V) or charges the batteries to supply the power (12V). Don't confuse the use of converter with the type that take 12V and makes it into 115V. You may or may not have one of those on your trailer because if you d not have 12V it will not work.

So the bottom line is if the inverter/converter is burnt up, one way or the other then plugging it in will only supply power to the items that are 115V but not to the 12V items. Just a quick list of 12V would be the lights, heater, slides, and AM/FM radio, vent fan, water pump.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by retired_ranger:
Paul,
I am learning. So are you telling me that the slide outs, furnace and the overhead lights are all 12 volt? I thought that if you were plugged in to 110 from outside that all was 110 unless it was a 12 volt fixture.
retired_ranger </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

WaveMaker · 02-03-2008, 03:45 PM

Paul

yes the overhead lights, Furnase, slideouts are all 12volt
all the 110 would work when the plugged in to campground or house

jbrodie · 02-04-2008, 11:48 AM

When your power lines were taken out by a branch it may be that the neutral was seperated before the two hot 120 volt lines. This puts 220 volts through your household 120 volt circuits. This would explain some of your electronics getting smoked. With your trailer being fed from your home the same thing may have happened to your converter.

John66 · 02-05-2008, 09:43 AM

When you plug into 120V, it powers all the 120v stuff in the trailer - outlets, microwave, Air conditioner, refridgerator etc. One additional thing it powers is the 'converter'. This produces 12v to charge the batteries and power the 12v stuff - lights, fans, water pump, furnace blower, etc. When you disconnect the 120v, the converter no longer provides 12v, but the batteries do (until they are discharged).

And if you have a generator, it, and the 120 shore line go into what is called a 'transfer switch', which selects which of these 2 sources of 120v to use.

So, if nothing 12v works, there might be a bunch of blown fuses, or
- if you are not plugged in and nothing 12 volt works, your batteries are dead or defective.
- if you are plugged in and nothing 12 volt works, your converter is dead or there is a problem with the 12 volt wiring

Doug13589 · 02-08-2008, 10:06 AM

I have seen a problem like this once before ,everything seemed good as far as the out side but a fuse inside the inverter was bad and the batteries were not charged or being charged.
The fuse was inside the nonrepairable inverter.
We found it with a call to India (I think)
A point 0 something if I remember right.

Doug

Paul R. Haller · 02-13-2008, 07:20 AM

I'm guessing that the converter is fried or has a blown fuse and the batteries are dead. All the stuff thats 12 volts is not working. First is to check that you have 110 at the converter feed. If yes, then check output of the converter. It should be about 14.5 volts. If no output from converter check fuse in converter or replace converter. Now check battery output. A fully charged battery in good shape will read about 12.65 volts. Anything less then this the battery is old or it's not fully charged. If the batteries are real low say 4 volts they are probably shot also but try charging them with an automotive battery charger for a day or two and read voltage on the charged battery after a day of sitting unused and not connected to any voltage drain. Again they should read 12.65 volts and hook up your batteries in the trailer. all should work fine... if not you have problems with fuses or other problems in the 12 volt system of your trailer.
-Paul R. haller-