Electrical HELP Please

dmrazr · 12-22-2010, 10:57 AM

Okay guys.. I own a 2005 Fleetwood Gearbox 26 ft TT. The problem I'm having is ; While plugged into shore power (30Amp) I do not seem to have power to some electrical stuff (lights and outlets), Microwave and Fridge light up as working though. But when i fire up the generator I have all power to everything just fine.. I do notice my battery gauge shows low or 1/4 full when on shore power , and when generator running it shows the same amount . Question is -- do the lights and outlets only work thru the battery when on shore power ? or do I have a bad inverter or something ??

DriVer · 12-22-2010, 02:15 PM

If you have power to "all" your 120 volt devices when running the generator and NOT so many devices on shore power then the problem maybe in the transfer switch. (That's the silver box that you shore connecting runs to.) That's my best guess as to where to start looking. It's not in the circuit panel.

Unless you know the lights run off of 120 Volts, most all the lighting in your rig is 12 volts and this would run off the inverter/battery.

K-Star · 12-24-2010, 10:40 AM

Like Mike said, the lighting is 12V DC. There may, or may not, be 120V lights somewhere. In my history, the 120V lights were the reading lights in the "living room".

My question is do you have this problem using different shore power sources (ie: different campgrounds)? 30A power is 3 leads (hot, neutral and ground) so it can't be a missing hot leg. If your issue is only from one power source, it may not be an issue in the trailer at all. It could be the power source itself. If the problem is noticed from multiple power sources then, as Mike said, check the transfer switch to see if a neutral wire is loose; especially the neutral with the shore power cord. A loose neutral can show itself in many different ways.

Good luck.

DriVer · 12-24-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-Star

A loose neutral can show itself in many different ways..

John, Great idea! Have a Merry Christmas!

Ray,IN · 12-25-2010, 07:39 PM

Loose connections are an issue in an RV. While we go merrily bouncing across our road system, this bouncing loosens connections by making wires move.. I re-tighten every connection in the converter/breaker box annually. I usually find at least one that is not tight.