Electrical issue 2008 Sunseeker

[Slikrick]

Hello,

We recently got a used 2008 Sunseeker LTD from a relative and after traveling for 3 weeks we have an electrical issue.

We replaced the battery before hitting the road. One night our lights dimmed really low and we looked on the Convenience Center and found out our batter was on E and one of the breaker labeled W/H was tripped.We assumed this is for the water heater. At the time we where plugged into a 30amp power and the red batter switch was turned to the on positions.That breaker will not go back on without tripping the main breaker. After doing some research online it appeared our converter might be the issue, so we replaced it.

After replacing the converter everything seamed to work while plugged into 30amp including the Water Heater(while still tripped). Keeping an eye on the battery I noticed it was still draining. At this point i turned the red knob for the batter to the off position and noticed the lights and everything worked, including the battery staying charged. Pryer to switching out the converter the lights would not work without having the battery in the on position.

A week went by with no issue and one day after opening the fridge the power cut off. The main barker had tripped. After flipping all of the breakers nothing would come on. I plugged the red batter knob back to the on position and everything came back on. However our batter is now slowly draining >:( . Should I try replacing the breaker labeled W/H?

Any help with trouble shooting would be appreciated. We are new to the RV life so please be understanding
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[grumpy0374]

Just for info...is your water heater full of water?
I ask because the electric heat part of the water heater will only work properly if the tank is full.
If you tried to run the electric side, without water, the electric element probably burned out within a few seconds.
If it is burned out, it may be the cause of the w/h breaker not cycling properly. Every time you re-set it, if the element is bad, might cause it to cut off.
Just a thought. Maybe some others more versed on electric will chime in.
If your not fimilar with the gas/electric w/h, when on electric, the tank MUST be filled (simply turn on hot faucet till water runs out) or the element will burn out. Not terribly expensive to replace, but not necessary if care is taken.
Grumpy

[aether_one]

I don't think your key is in the battery disconnect properly. Usually, the short side points to the disconnect status.

Your water heater should work on propane even if that breaker is tripped (assuming that breaker is actually powering the water heater).

[Slikrick]

If the water heater breaker is tripped will that interfere with the rest of the electrical?

[aether_one]

Originally Posted by Slikrick

If the water heater breaker is tripped will that interfere with the rest of the electrical?

Not if the only load on that breaker is the water heater which is how it "should" be.

[TeJay]

I'm not going to weigh in on all of this. There are to many things going on at once to really make any diagnosis. Based on some comments I'll add this.

"We replaced the battery before hitting the road."

Which battery? The coach or the engine cranking battery?? Makes a BIG difference. You have to be specific before anybody can weigh in on what is happening.

When your issue first started you made an assumption that may or may not have been correct. "Your W/H CB would not stay engaged."

A CB that will not reset while the power is still on still has an overloaded circuit. Turn the power off and reset the CB. Turn the power back on. If it trips you know for sure there's a short. Posters 2 & 3 alluded to the CB still showing a short.

What is a circuit breaker? A CB is a switch that trips when it's rated amperage is exceeded. It trips and can be reset as long as the excess load has to be fixed. If at one point the device running through the CB works and then it won't there's nothing wrong with the CB.

You said that when you put in the new converter everything worked for a time. That means that everything that worked had to be connected properly.

Then you said that the battery was still draining. Unless everything in the RV is off that tells us very little. Were you plugged in and the BS was off??

Does your battery disconnect remove all electrical devices from the system??? Maybe when it is disconnected being plugged into shore power things inside get power from other sources.

Lets go back to the beginning!! You have two voltage sources that are used by any RV. Some devices only work on 120-VAC and some that only work using 12-VDC. The sources for those two different voltages come from three sources: 120-VAC comes from a generator, shore power and an INVERTER (if you have one). The 12-V's comes only from coach (house) batteries.

If you are not plugged in at a CG, not running your generator or your chassis engine then you are draining the coach or house battery's only by those items using 12-V's (assuming there's no inverter).

Your furnace will use 12-V to run the blower motor and the electric circuits but usually the battery's will drain over night depending on how cold it is.

We've dry camped and had to run the engine (no GEN) to re-charge the coach battery's.

Now the coach batteries are being charged either by the generator through the converter, shore power from a CG, or the engine alternator going through the converter. Most all coach batteries will be charged by the engines alternator as you drive and it is also going to go through the converter.

That means that you can have many other folks reading, watching TV (I believe some TV's are 12-V), running lights and the furnace as you drive and your coach battery's are being charged. You can't run the AC unless running a generator.

All engine alternators will charge the engines battery while it is running and some coaches will also charge the engines cranking battery when it is on shore power but not all of them. I had to add a Trik-L-Start so my engine battery is charged while we are camped. What happens to the engine if you are parked for 6 months at a CG??? Older cranking batteries will not keep the charge unless the RV is set up to do so.

These RV's are really wired up in very confusing ways. We have Coach batteries, Shore power using the converter and then generators also powering things. Not knowing exactly what's on or not, what's connected or not makes it very difficult to know what to think or say.

We nor you really know what was done before you got the rig. Who knows exactly how things were previously fixed if and when they had electrical issues.

You may need an RV electrician to assist in solving this. Solving these issues requires that you take one step at a time and don't skip any steps. Verify all power sources before replacing anything.

If you need assistance with any of these items just PM anyone of us and we (maybe) or (I) can talk to you on the phone and explain what you can do.

[Slikrick]

Thanks TeJay for the reply and info.

I replaced the house battery before hitting the road. The battery will charge while the engine is on and while the generator is on but not when plugged into shore power.

When plugged into shore power and the battery disconnect turned off should everything in the coach work? ie lights and fans. Also “should” the battery be charging at this point?

[twinboat]

You need the battery disconnect switch ON for the battery to charge from the converter.

If the battery disconnect is OFF, the converter will power the motorhome 12 volt stuff, but not get charging voltage to the battery. You disconnected it.

The converter should work the same on shore power as it will, when on generator power.

The generator makes the same voltages as shore power and is a substitute for it.