Community Forums

critterslave · 02-04-2009, 11:42 AM

I have a 1995 Southwind. Bought in late November / 08 - first motorhome for me. I spent last winter in LA and El Centro, CA in a 4x12 tent trailer behind my motorcycle, so this is like a palace this year!
Last week both a/c units and the furnace quit completely. The a/c units would only come on in the fan position for a few days, but now nothing. No fan, no click, no hum, no smoke - nothing. That's when I tried the furnace - nothing too. It was working a month ago. A/C was working fine last week.
The circuit breakers are not tripped and 12 v. fuses are all good. I have manually tripped and reset all breakers and tested fuses with a test light. Both fuses in inverter look good. All plugs, lights and microwave work well. All plugs on the Electronic Climate Control/thermostat are connected. I've tried the thermostat on high and low temperature settings. The green "on" indicator lights work, the red "shed" lights sometimes come on, sometimes don't. Also, the 3-position test switch on the ECC control box (all connections are plugged in) under the fridge makes no difference no matter where I try it.
One a/c unit going out - possible. Two a/c units going at the same time - not likely. Two a/c units and furnace going at the same time - highly improbable. I was thinking thermostat and looked at it. There are 2 circuit boards piggybacked on the back and both look good (what do I know?).
We're getting a few warm days here in Yuma now and a/c would be nice to have. The ceiling vent fan just isn't enough any more. Anyone have this trouble or know a fix? What have I missed?
Thanks in advance.
Randy

TXiceman · 02-04-2009, 11:50 AM

First, welcome to iRV2.com

Now let's try some trouble shooting....
-Are you running on shore power or on Generator power?
-50 or 30 amp service and what is the coach wired for?
-Have you been subjected to any power surges?

Post back and we'll see if we can point in the right direction.

adj · 02-04-2009, 12:51 PM

You may have a bad SHED control unit. A neighbors coach in Las Vegas ,NM. had a similar A/C problem. The A/Cs didn't work on either source of power. A tech discovered a bad SHED control unit.

RV Wizard · 02-05-2009, 12:12 AM

critterslave, first let me welcome you to iRV2.com. We are glad to have you join us here and we look forward to reading of your adventures and experiences. Sorry to hear of the A and furnace issue but lets see what we can determine to be the problem.
Let me ask, do you now how to read an electrical schematic and are you comfortable with checking voltages on live circuits? If so, drop the rear roof air cond. ceiling panel and check for loose connections. Check to verify that you have 12 volts going to and returning from the T'stat. Check to verify that you have 120 VAC feeding the controls of the unit. If you have separate T'stats you may have a bad 12 volt feed circuit to knock both units out at the same time. Check same for front air cond. unit
Let us know what you find if you are able to do the above. If any of these tests show good voltages, get the model, production number and serial numbers off the unit while you are in there. If you have a Coleman unit the number may be on the back outside of the unit.

critterslave · 02-05-2009, 08:30 AM

Hello again, folks.
I thank you for your help and advice. I found out what the problem was about 1/2 hour after I posted my problem. One signal/brake lite was out on the rear so I turned on the 4-ways to change it. They wouldn't even come on. For some reason my batteries were dead. I haven't started the engine for about 2 or 3 weeks and didn't realize they were getting low. Boosting the MH brought the lights on and returned my AC and furnace. I guess without the batteries, the thermostat won't work. There was enough power to light the tester but not the 4-way flashers or operate the thermostat. I took a voltage reading on the batteries right after starting the engine. Engine battery (1)- 13 volts, aux batteries (2) - 7 volts.
Now I have to find out why the batteries went dead. According to the Fleetwood manual the convertor is supposed to keep them charged up when I'm plugged into shore power, which I have been for the last 2 1/2 months. The solar panel is also supposed to charge them. I'll have to check this out. Maybe the fuses under the hood?
Thanks again for all the help. I'm glad it turned out to be something easier and hopefully cheaper than replacing AC or circuit boards.
I do have a question though. When I'm parked for an extended length of time, should I turn off the main or aux. battery disconnect? I didn't see anything in the manual about that. This is all new to me - didn't have to deal with this in the tent trailer. I'll also check for battery trouble in other threads.
Randy

critterslave · 02-05-2009, 11:20 AM

Just found out that this system runs off the chassis battery. When I shut off the main battery disconnect (dash & engine), the a/c and furnace won't work. Doesn't seem right to me. What's the reason for that? Shouldn't they operate off the house batteries?
By the way, the original problem occurred with the disconnects both "on". The chassis battery was dead or very low.
Randy

RustyJC · 02-05-2009, 12:18 PM

They probably ran 12VDC off the chassis batteries so you can run the AC (with the genset) or furnace while driving down the road, regardless of the state of your house batteries.

Rusty

AFChap · 02-05-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

the main battery disconnect

Are you sure your "main battery disconnect" affects the chassis batteries?? The only battery disconnect I have disconnects the HOUSE batteries.

"007" · 02-05-2009, 03:58 PM

ECC-2

ECC UNIT

AS AFChap said most battery switch disconnects are for your house batteries.

Not sure which you have my Fleetwood product had the first "ECC UNIT" yours may be ECC-2.
Hope this helps and welcome to irv2.

critterslave · 02-06-2009, 07:15 PM

The ECC unit says Electronic Climate Control, but nothing about ECC-2 that I can see.
I have 2 battery disconnects above the door. I know the main shuts off the chassis and I assume the aux. shuts off the house, but I haven't unplugged from the shore power to check that out.
Seeing that the house batteries are on a charger and the chassis battery is not, could I (or should I) change the thermostat power cable from the chassis battery to the house batteries? That way there won't be any danger of repeatedly running down the chassis battery - it's not a deep cycle battery.
In fact, I'm wondering if maybe there's more than just the thermostat on that cable. The battery shouldn't have died that fast unless there's something else drawing power on it too. After all, how much juice does a thermostat take? I had been using the a/c fans to circulate the warm air from an electric heater for a couple of cold evenings.
I can see that I'm going to have to get a wiring diagram for this MH.
Randy

RV Wizard · 02-06-2009, 11:32 PM

Randy, you should check to be sure you have about 13.8 volts going to house batteries when you have generator or shore power connected. Your battery charging system could be sending power for lighting but not getting power to the batteries if the disconnect is off. You may have to have engine running to get enough power to turn on the disconnect. When disconnect has batteries connected you should see an increase in voltage to the battery bank.
Also this is why the air conditioner was working off the chassis. Your alternator was charging the house batteries and the needed 12 volts for the air cond. and furnace controls was available.
Let us know what you find.