New Owner - Need some help!!

[Roxy]

I just purchased my first RV. (2005 KSDP)
Having some frustrating issues. I drove home without incident and started to try everything out. I now have numerous issues.

1. Dash air doesn't work. Determined the issue to be compressor. Just need to find out what replacement part required for the 330 Cat.

2. Shore power won't run the refrigerator or the microwave or roof AC. Originally hooked up to the 30 amp adaptor and an adaptor to go to a regular 110 extension cord. Nothing. Later determined that the 50 to 30 amp jumper had a bad connection evidenced by melted plastic around one leg. Don't know if this happened before or after plugging in. (I originally attempted to run only 1 AC zone at a time)

- made an adaptor to go from 50 amp shore line to my 220 50 amp welder plug
AC runs now but it is not right. Refig and Microwave still don't work.
AC will only work if both zones are set in the same mode. I.e. cool. If one is turned to off or heat neither will work. (took awhile to figure all this out)

Some other info:
-AC worked fine off generator initially
-AC now works fine on zone 1 but doesn't cool on zone 2 - otherwise good (Gen)
- AC will work (Generator)with one zone set to off and the other zone set to cool. (shore power it won't work at all in this configuration)
-AC completely shuts off when I turn one breaker off when on shore power
-AC works fine when I shut off one breaker with generator on
-AC cycles when under shore power. front ac stays on for aprox 30 seconds, switches to rear for aprox 3 minutes and continues this cycle indefinately
-AC does not cycle when using generator
-Microwave worked with generator initially and will not work under any scenario now. (Will not even work on extension cord from my house)
- all 110 outlets in coach work all the time, including the one for the microwave.
- Refrig flashes "no AC" at all times
-transfer switch and inverter seem to be working fine. No error codes/lights
- no breakers have tripped in this process

All this activity in the last week. The previous owner has been very helpful.....or at least attempted to be helpful. He stated no problems whatsoever in the past.

I am think about driving to the nearest campground and plugging into their 50 amp service to see if things work better.

I am at my wits end and starting to rethink this whole RV thing! It is probably something simple and any help or suggestions would be very welcome.

Thank you in advance for any responses

P.S. This is a very low mileage coach that appears to be well maintained.

Jim

[Smosher]

The electric welder is wired different than the coach. I can't remember exactly but as I remember the coach is two 120 not 220. So make sure that your plug is wired right. You can look in your manual.
Steve

[Smosher]

I googled 50 amp RV plug. This show's how it should be. It sounds like one side of your coach is dead.
Steve

×

["007"]

Welcome to the forum and irv2.
Disconnect the plug out of that welders outlet or your going to wipe out your electronics in your coach if not already done.
Out of this TECH INFORMATION link you will find this.
Here is a Brochure and Owners Guide for you.
Below in my signature are links to many more for your Newmar.
I would get your Generator running and check your appliances to see how much damage has been done and see what needs to be fixed to get working the TECH link has that information for your appliances.
You may need to only replace some fusing at worse control boards.
Check you load center for operated circuit breakers.
Does the coach have a surge protector which may have sacrificed itself from high voltage and is not passing AC through your coach.

[harleyjt]

Originally Posted by Smosher

The electric welder is wired different than the coach. I can't remember exactly but as I remember the coach is two 120 not 220. So make sure that your plug is wired right. You can look in your manual.
Steve

So what's different? Unless he is using an older 50A 3 wire plug on the welder which did not have a ground. In reality, you have 240v going to the coach. Just not using them in that configuration. Everything in the coach is 120.

This explains it:

http://www.myrv.us/Imgs/PDF/50-amp%20Service.pdf

jt

[Rotten-Red]

The welder plug probably doesn't have a neutral wire, just two hots and a ground.

[Roxy]

Thanks for all the replies. I am brand new at this and was leery of using the 4 to 3 prong jumper but I checked with 6 or 7 people that were knowledgable in RV hookups and electrical and got the "OK" from all prior to plugging in.

I plan to replace the fridge with household unit so that isn't too big a deal.

One issue I have is understanding how the inverter works and when. I don't understand how I can tell when the coach is running off shore power vs. the inverter, if and when/if the batteries are being charged, if chassis batteries are being charged at the same time house batteries are charging, if/when to turn inverter off, etc.

I am also curious how you generally hook up to shore power when RV is parked at your home. Do you have someone wire in 4 prong 50 amp outlet, run on regular 110v etc??

Sorry for all the questions but I guess that is better than learning the hard way!

[Skip426]

During the time you were attempting to power the coach from a regular 15amp household plug and extension cord. You may have damaged the compressors, or the start-up ballasts, in your A/C units by supplying low voltage.
Fridge not working , have a look at ALL the coaches GFIC outlets, you may have tripped those with low volts , too.
Dometic or Norcold fridge?
Low volts may have tripped the Norcold , recall box.

All your coaches systems are 110v , a household outlet is 15 amp, ( some 20 amp but very few) A 50amp RV service outlet, supplies 2 legs of power ( 110/120 v @ 50 amps) so 100amps of power , so operating off 15 amp plug only provides 15% of the proper power to operate all systems .
If you want to be able to operate all, the coaches systems at the house , then having a 50amp RV outlet installed is the way to go.
IF, you only want to keep the batteries charged at the house, then the 15amp outlet, with extension cord, is adequate.

[Skip426]

Originally Posted by Roxy

.
One issue I have is understanding how the inverter works and when. I don't understand how I can tell when the coach is running off shore power vs. the inverter, if and when/if the batteries are being charged, if chassis batteries are being charged at the same time house batteries are charging, if/when to turn inverter off, etc.!

Can you find your converter/charger/ invertor and post the make and model .
We can link you to a users manual.
If you don't already have one , purchase a multi-meter, it's the number one required tool for checking RV electrical systems. $20>25 will get you a good one; digital display is best.

[plasma800]

Originally Posted by Roxy

One issue I have is understanding how the inverter works and when. I don't understand how I can tell when the coach is running off shore power vs. the inverter, if and when/if the batteries are being charged, if chassis batteries are being charged at the same time house batteries are charging, if/when to turn inverter off, etc.



Sorry for all the questions but I guess that is better than learning the hard way!

Welcome, you've arrived. Open your wallet in 3, 2, 1... Hold to vacuum cleaner.

Your inverter / converter is a two way device that both puts energy into and out of your batteries.

When you're connected to a full supply of power, or are running the generator, the "converter" side will charge the batteries, and keep them topped off.

Once you disconnect from power, the "inverter" side takes over. It draws power from the batteries to supply 12 volt power to 12 volt devices and outlets. Such as lights, fans, 12 volt tv's and such...

When an A/C unit starts, it can require up to 30 amps to kick the compressor in gear. Try that on low power, and breakers pop, compressors go kaput, all sorts of bad things happen.

If you have a regular household extension cord anywhere in the mix, the only thing you could ever do is keep the batteries topped off. Also, check the batteries for water. Pop open the tops and make sure they are full. If they are empty, replace them. If they are low, top them off with distilled water. Check them every 30 days or so, maybe even less til you get used to how fast they eat water. I'm the type that likes to start with new batteries anyway, at least then I know all about them!

[Smosher]

You will have a electric transfer switch. If you are plugged in to your home electric and you start up your generator it will automatically switch to your generator.there is a time delay when this happens of approx two minutes .There is a progressive surge protector that you can add that will protect you from high or low voltage. You can get one hard wired in to your coach or you can get one that plugs in. Good idea to have one of these.
You can find it in the tips section. Good luck and have fun
steve

[Spk64]

Originally Posted by Roxy

Thanks for all the replies. I am brand new at this and was leery of using the 4 to 3 prong jumper but I checked with 6 or 7 people that were knowledgable in RV hookups and electrical and got the "OK" from all prior to plugging in.

I plan to replace the fridge with household unit so that isn't too big a deal.

One issue I have is understanding how the inverter works and when. I don't understand how I can tell when the coach is running off shore power vs. the inverter, if and when/if the batteries are being charged, if chassis batteries are being charged at the same time house batteries are charging, if/when to turn inverter off, etc.

I am also curious how you generally hook up to shore power when RV is parked at your home. Do you have someone wire in 4 prong 50 amp outlet, run on regular 110v etc??

Sorry for all the questions but I guess that is better than learning the hard way!

I would not recommend running the RV on a 3 prong setup. Your RV is using each leg for 120 volts and requires a neutral to do this. Using a 3 prong you are now using ground as a neutral and can be a dangerous situation. Most local codes now require 4 prong dryer cords for same reason.

And yes, we keep our RV hooked up to a 50 amp 4 wire connection when parked at home. Keeps batteries charged and can fire up the AC anytime.
If you have an automatic transfer switch then the priority is set by it. Not positive but I believe generator is 1st priority, then shore connection then inverter if it is on. So depending on which is connected or on the transfer switch redirects.

[Roxy]

I have learned a little more. My charging system is no longer working. I assume that it took 240V and fried the charging part of the inverter?
I also fried the microwave, one AC and possibly the fridge.

Does anyone know if a Xanterex model RV2012 can be repaired? If not, is there a good source to purchase a new one? Is there a better/replacement unit for the 2012?

I live in Gilchrist county FL near (Gainesville) and the only recommended repair guy I have found is on vacation until the end of the month.

We had our first trip scheduled for the 24th and it's not looking too good :(

Momma isn't real happy!

[plasma800]

I doubt the low power fried it, they are ok with taking low power to charge the batteries.

Did you check the water level in the batteries?

Call these folks

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