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Mad Dog 98 · 10-13-2011, 09:16 PM

We brought our 38' Bounder DP home to load up for a weekend trip. I plug it in to the outlet in the garage to charge up the battery. Apparently the breaker tripped. I check my cheap extension cord, feel it is hot, and un plug it. I came to the conclusion the cord is too thin. We load the rig and I went to start the generator to run the AC and charge the battery. It wouldn't start, or even turn over (several days later I discovered the cable to the generator was bad). I started to think that maybe plugging into the shore power and tripping the house breaker, may have tripped a breaker on the rig, which is not letting power get to the starter on the generator. I check the breaker, fuses, etc. I check the GFI switch, and it is not resetting. I plug in a hair dryer and have no power to the outlet. I check all the outlets, no power. I spend over an hour checking and re-checking breakers, fuses, everything but still no power to the outlets. After panic set in and realize I have to take it to the shop the next morning, the day we are supposed to leave for the beach, I give up and head to bed. As I lay there trying to sleep, wondering what I did to the rig to cause this catastrophe, it hits me.........I did not have the rig plugged into the shore power!!

What a dope I am. I went out to the rig, pulled out my 50 amp extension cord, plugged it in to shore power and everything worked!! After the trip, I took the rig to my mechanic and the cable was replaced, only cost a total of $57. All is right in the world!!

RickO · 10-13-2011, 09:25 PM

Don't you just love it!

I can't remember how many times I've been in bed staring at the ceiling when the light came on and I had to get up and grab my robe.

Hey, it keeps our brains working.

Rick

Wayne MD · 10-13-2011, 10:55 PM

Once upon threads ago we had one labeled "things I learned today" or something of that nature. It was for putting on stories of things we learned by experience and this above story is one for that thread. We should again start another thread or something so we all can once again tell of the things we learned today.

Roam America · 10-14-2011, 09:23 AM

maybe you felt like a dope at the tie, but I'll bet you slept good that night.

Good job.

It is a wonderful and rewarding experience when one can figure out a the problem for themself.

scenic route · 10-14-2011, 05:47 PM

Power goes out, I know this because I keep a fan on me at night for comfort and as a high-tech alarm for power interruptions. Get up, dress and go outside at 'O' dark thirty and reset the breakers at the CG pedestal...the surge protector says all is well. Go back inside and after the mandatory protector delay, nothing in the electrical world is working...nuttin...dead. After over 15 minutes of troubleshooting, the DW, being the master mechanic she is, turned on the electrical isolation switch some knuckle head bumped off on the way out/in the entrance door.

Sometimes....Bob

w6pea · 10-14-2011, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RickO

Don't you just love it!

I can't remember how many times I've been in bed staring at the ceiling when the light came on and I had to get up and grab my robe.

Hey, it keeps our brains working.

Rick

Quote:

Originally Posted by K-Star

maybe you felt like a dope at the tie, but I'll bet you slept good that night.

Good job.

It is a wonderful and rewarding experience when one can figure out a the problem for themself.

Oh the Joy's owning an RV

Been there done that........don't ask!

If We Can't Haul It......You Don't Need It ! Motor-T

GreaTOne65 · 10-14-2011, 06:22 PM

Boy, I hate these threads, you can't refuse not respond to! I know we are human, and we all have had our moments. My most recent, and the one that I won't forget right away, cost me $150, those are the ones you remember!
It happened on our annual trek to AZ, my wife spilled a coke on her pants, so you rinsed them out in the shower, then put them in the dryer. She couldn't make it work, so being the mechanic I think I am, I proceed to try and troubleshoot the problem. Being out on the road, I finally gave up, decided, it might as well wait until we got to AZ.
Before we left for MI, I decided to really dig into the washer/dryer issue. Well I did everything I could think of, but no matter what I did that thing was dead. So I did the only thing a good shade tree mechanic does when he's stumped, I called a pro to come and look at it. After about 20 min. he said, usually, they put a switch some where because you can't run the micro-wave and the washer/dryer at the same time. Well, guess what, it has a switch! It's located under the cupboard over the sink! So there you have my, geez, that was easy, moment!

Billieg · 10-14-2011, 07:08 PM

Have the 5th wheel for a month plugged in shore power at home. Take it for it's first trip. Get there and the slides won't go out. Start checking everything I can think of. After an hour I press the button for the battery check and it says the batteries are dead. What? I look down and there is a switch that says "battery disconnect" On/Off....

It's in the Off position... Rational thinking says the disconnect is off so the batteries are getting charged... No, it has to be On for the batteries to be charged...

So the disconnect has to be On to charge the batteries? Who thought of this?

Rapid Robert · 10-14-2011, 07:17 PM

As we used to say in the electronics world " Your original objective was to drain the swamp not get up to your azz in alligators". How many times, I could not count!

Ramblin · 10-14-2011, 07:18 PM

Today I learnt a valuable life lesson: Never (ever) fry bacon in the nude.

Kayjulia · 10-14-2011, 08:21 PM

When I bought this RV (used) I nor the place I bought it from could figure out how to operate the rear view camera. I have tried everything even replacing the power plug and antenna still didn't work.

Then today I was standing back looking at the rear camera and mumbling something and the "LIGHT" came on

the camera is not powered by the back-up light it is powered by the marker lights! I went back in the rig and turned the marker/clearance lights on and plugged the camera module in and it worked!!!

ALL This time fiddling with this darn thing and all I had to do was turn on the parking/marker lights......sheeesh.

Kayjulia · 10-14-2011, 08:24 PM

When I bought this RV I nor the place I bought it from could figure out how to operate the rear view camera. I have tried everything even replacing the power plug and antenna still didn't work.

Then today I was standing back looking at the rear camera and mumbling something and the "LIGHT" came on

the camera is not powered by the back-up light it is powered by the marker lights! I went back in the rig and turned the marker/clearance lights on and plugged the camera module in and it worked!!!

ALL This time fiddling with this darn thing and all I had to do was turn on the parking/marker lights......sheeesh.

KIX · 10-14-2011, 08:56 PM

We bought our coach in OK. Our first time driving the monster was flat towing a Jeep. We were both a little overwhelmed with the whole rig. I had the rear view monitor on while driving down the interstate. We had a strange noise in the cockpit and DW finally found that the volume control that picks up audio from outside the coach was turned on. I'm paying attention to the road the whole time while she was fiddling with it. After she was finished we rode on for a ways and then I glanced down at the monitor expecting to see the Jeep but........there was nothing on the monitor. I panicked and started to slow to get off the road......and that's when I discovered that the monitor had a provision for another camera but, we didn't have one. Hence the blank screen.
The little button that controls input from the cameras only goes in (or out) about 1/8". So we fondly remember that episode as the "1/8th inch heart attack" moment. Funny now.