House wiring for 1985 HR Alumulite XL33

[cortezit]

I am acutally posting this search for a friend of mine who is 76 years old and who just purchased this 1985 Holiday Rambler Alumalite XL33 in a non running condiditon. My friend Pete, the new owner, is a "tinkerer" and "just needed another project". He is hard to keep down.

He is having trouble tracing a short in the shore to coach power supply. Every time he plugs in the shore power it trips the breakers in his RV shop. He has finally located the inverter but is at a loss as to where to go next. He has built some "pigtails" and by passed the main power cord supply to the coach and is now using low voltage to trace the wiring. In short Pete
needs a wiring diagram for the coach both chasis and house if they are available.

I own a Cortez and an FMF.

Tom Dangelo
Poulsbo Washington

[RV Wizard]

Hello and We are glad to have you join us here and we look forward to reading of yours and your friend's adventures and experiences. I am sure you will enjoy our website and forums. Good luck, stay safe and keep us posted.
I am not sure a schematic exists. The power cord should go into a transfer switch box where the generator and conductors for the coach distribution box will connect. From there the coach can be fed by generator or shore power but not both at the same time. What size service does the coach have? 30 amp?
If so, 30 amp service is 120 volts only. If 220-240 volts have been applied then major damage could result. Are the circuit breakers tripping GFI? The more information, including pics can be very helpful in us being able to be of assistance.

[Gary RVRoamer]

I doubt if the inverter (if it even has one - more likely a converter/charger) is the problem. He needs to start with the shore cord itself and verify that it is not shorted (an ohmmeter across various combinations of its prongs) and proceed from there to the transfer switch (if it has one) and load center or power distribution panel. There aren't a lot of places the main power feed could be shorted.

Of course, this assumes the short is in the main feeder. Has he tested with all the breakers off, to eliminate the branch circuits? Hard to know what his electrical diagnosis skills may be. Getting at the short to repair it may be a challenge, but isolating the location should not be difficult.