No 120 v power when on inverter only to front desk, entertainment center or TVs

[Breakin Wind]

Hello fellow Palazzo owners.

We have a brand new 36.1 that we have had less than a week. We generally love it but have ran across a couple of issues.

While driving or boondocking with the inverter on, we have no 120-volt power to the receptacles at the front passenger work space, in the entertainment center, or at either inside TV. Didn't checked the outlets over the sofa or dinette so there could be more without power.

The fridge, microwave and the outlets in the kitchen, bedroom and rear bathroom do have power.

All of the outlets have power when connected to shore power and I believe they also have power when the generator is running....but not when only on the inverter.

I called Thor today and was told that someone probably made a wrong connection and I needed to take it in for warranty repair.

What I don't understand is how these outlets would have power when connected to shore power or on the generator but no power when only on the inverter????

Any ideas as to why or how to correct? Anyone else experience this problem?

thanks,

Pat

[ABrask]

Originally Posted by Breakin Wind

Hello fellow Palazzo owners.

We have a brand new 36.1 that we have had less than a week. We generally love it but have ran across a couple of issues.

While driving or boondocking with the inverter on, we have no 120-volt power to the receptacles at the front passenger work space, in the entertainment center, or at either inside TV. Didn't checked the outlets over the sofa or dinette so there could be more without power.

The fridge, microwave and the outlets in the kitchen, bedroom and rear bathroom do have power.

All of the outlets have power when connected to shore power and I believe they also have power when the generator is running....but not when only on the inverter.

I called Thor today and was told that someone probably made a wrong connection and I needed to take it in for warranty repair.

What I don't understand is how these outlets would have power when connected to shore power or on the generator but no power when only on the inverter????

Any ideas as to why or how to correct? Anyone else experience this problem?

thanks,

Pat

Okay...I'm thinking you probably checked the breakers, but if you didn't, they're under the foot of the bed (a little black plastic door covers them). If none of the breakers are tripped, I'd check to see if a GFI fault has tripped in either the bathroom or the kitchen area. No doubt there are more outlets connected to those same lines. I have a 33.2 and I'm 600 miles from the coach right now, so I can't check to see what is on the same line as the outlets you're reporting as not working, and mine might be different, in any event). Hope this helps.

[ABrask]

Wait...I just re-read your post (sorry...did it too quickly the first time) and realized the same outlets work when connected to shore power. Hmmmm.... That's an entirely different issue. The logic on the controlling unit will determine what outlets or appliances to power, given the demand from appliances or equipment already running. You might want to try a re-set of the inverter and control unit to see if there's a glitch in the logic. I had a similar problem once where my washer/dryer wouldn't power, and a re-set did it for me. Good luck...sorry I can't be more helpful.

[Breakin Wind]

Thanks for the reply...How is the best way to reset the inverter? I'll try anything to not have to take it in for service so soon.

I did check the breakers under the bed but all were on. I also see a fuse box with about 20 fuses next to the breaker panel under the bed.

Any idea what these fuses are for?

Some, but not all, have labels such as: awning, lights, rear, entertainment, etc., but they do not seem to be labeled correctly because there are more fuses than there are numbered lines in the list. I plan on pulling all the fuses and seeing if any are bad tomorrow.

[ABrask]

Full instructions are in the Palazzo Owner's manual, but from memory...disconnect from shore power, remove the positive battery terminals, check to insure that the screen on the remote control unit (above the door in my model) is blank and pushing the power on button has no effect), and wait a couple of minutes before re-connecting the batteries and turning the inverter and charger back on again. I'd also suggest turning pretty much everything in the coach off before doing this to prevent any damage to delicate electronics. When I did it, I turned off all of the breakers before doing the re-set and staggered the re-set of the circuits over a few minutes. This allowed me to restore power first to the devices that had lost it to insure they were working again before going any further.

[Breakin Wind]

Thanks again...I'll give it a try over the weekend.

[plasma800]

A question I wonder about.. are ALL outlets wired to the inverter??

I've seen units where only specific plugs were supplied power by the inverter, and they are usually grey in color.

The gentleman who replied earlier could probably help clear that up for you.

[ABrask]

Also....while you were driving and found that those outlets weren't working, what else in the coach was turned on that that time? If you inadvertently had the charger turned off (so that the alternator wasn't being tapped), it's possible that you were already at the maximum current draw for the inverter, in which case the control unit wouldn't accept an additional load. Running one of the roof air conditioners, the refrigerator, a crock pot, and a bunch of lights for instance, could easily push you over the 2,000 watt capacity.

[ABrask]

It's a good question, and I haven't tried every outlet in my coach while on the inverter, but in my experience the outlet at the passenger station works for sure, so I think the OP has some other issue.

[Breakin Wind]

Originally Posted by ABrask

Also....while you were driving and found that those outlets weren't working, what else in the coach was turned on that that time? If you inadvertently had the charger turned off (so that the alternator wasn't being tapped), it's possible that you were already at the maximum current draw for the inverter, in which case the control unit wouldn't accept an additional load. Running one of the roof air conditioners, the refrigerator, a crock pot, and a bunch of lights for instance, could easily push you over the 2,000 watt capacity.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Only the fridge was operating...the microwave had the clock blinking so it had power but we were not using it. Nothing else was using power that I know of. No AC, no cooking, nothing.....I also verified that the charger was on.

[NettieRegina]

From your description, I'd bet that the Thor tech advice is correct. I've attached the 120v layout from my 33.2 which is not identical to yours but likely similar in concept.

Note the depicted tables entitled "main panel" and "sub panel". These are physically located together in the single circuit breaker box. The sub panel is powered by shore power OR generator OR inverter. The main panel is powered by shore power OR generator.

The front workstation is powered by the same circuit as the TVs (denoted "S3" on the diagram). On my unit this circuit is powered through the TV RECEPTS circuit breaker on the SUB panel not the main panel.

The problem you're describing indicates that in the circuit breaker box, the S3 wire is wrongly connected to a circuit breaker on the MAIN panel section. You can check this yourself:

...while connected to shore (or generator) power and something plugged in at the front work station, one at a time, turn off and back on each of the 15 and 20 amp circuit breakers listed as "main panel" to determine which breaker is affected. If one of these breakers on the main panel depowers that circuit (along with the TVs) then you've found your culprit. You will probably find that the culprit has a corresponding co-culprit wrongly connected to the sub-panel section and is being wrongly powered by the inverter through the TV RECEPTS breaker.

If a switched pair of wires is the only problem, it can be easily be repaired by a mobile repair RV tech or even someone who has done household wiring (someone you can trust that is).

[Breakin Wind]

Originally Posted by NettieRegina

From your description, I'd bet that the Thor tech advice is correct. I've attached the 120v layout from my 33.2 which is not identical to yours but likely similar in concept.

Note the depicted tables entitled "main panel" and "sub panel". These are physically located together in the single circuit breaker box. The sub panel is powered by shore power OR generator OR inverter. The main panel is powered by shore power OR generator.

The front workstation is powered by the same circuit as the TVs (denoted "S3" on the diagram). On my unit this circuit is powered through the TV RECEPTS circuit breaker on the SUB panel not the main panel.

The problem you're describing indicates that in the circuit breaker box, the S3 wire is wrongly connected to a circuit breaker on the MAIN panel section. You can check this yourself:

...while connected to shore (or generator) power and something plugged in at the front work station, one at a time, turn off and back on each of the 15 and 20 amp circuit breakers listed as "main panel" to determine which breaker is affected. If one of these breakers on the main panel depowers that circuit (along with the TVs) then you've found your culprit. You will probably find that the culprit has a corresponding co-culprit wrongly connected to the sub-panel section and is being wrongly powered by the inverter through the TV RECEPTS breaker.

If a switched pair of wires is the only problem, it can be easily be repaired by a mobile repair RV tech or even someone who has done household wiring (someone you can trust that is).

Thanks for your help...this sounds like you have hit on the likely cause. I will investigate this likely miswiring.

If I find that the S3 circuit (36.1 also uses S3 for the subject receptacles) goes off when one of the circuit breakers in the main panel is turned off would it likely be as simple as moving the wire from the S3 circuit breaker in the main panel to the TV RECEPTS breaker in the sub-panel? I plan on using a circuit tracer to find where the S3 wire is attached and what is attached to the TV RECEPTS breaker in the sub-panel.

Additional question.....There is a separate fuse box next to the breaker panel under the bed with 18 fuses of various sizes (5-30 amps). There is a list in the cover listing some, but not all, of the fuses showing fuse number and amps, such as 1....passenger side...15a, 2...Driver side...15a, 3....slide out motors...30 amp, 12...entertainment...15a, 13...cargo lights...15a, etc. The list is not accurate because there are more fuses than shown on the list and the amp amounts do not correspond in the same order as on the list.

What are these fuses for?

This Forum is Great!!

[NettieRegina]

Originally Posted by Breakin Wind

Thanks for your help...this sounds like you have hit on the likely cause. I will investigate this likely miswiring.

If I find that the S3 circuit (36.1 also uses S3 for the subject receptacles) goes off when one of the circuit breakers in the main panel is turned off would it likely be as simple as moving the wire from the S3 circuit breaker in the main panel to the TV RECEPTS breaker in the sub-panel? I plan on using a circuit tracer to find where the S3 wire is attached and what is attached to the TV RECEPTS breaker in the sub-panel.

Additional question.....There is a separate fuse box next to the breaker panel under the bed with 18 fuses of various sizes (5-30 amps). There is a list in the cover listing some, but not all, of the fuses showing fuse number and amps, such as 1....passenger side...15a, 2...Driver side...15a, 3....slide out motors...30 amp, 12...entertainment...15a, 13...cargo lights...15a, etc. The list is not accurate because there are more fuses than shown on the list and the amp amounts do not correspond in the same order as on the list.

What are these fuses for?

This Forum is Great!!

"...would it likely be as simple as moving the wire from the S3 circuit breaker in the main panel to the TV RECEPTS breaker in the sub-panel"

YES but there is probably a wire already on the TV RECEPTS, and if so this wire probably needs to be moved to where the other wire came from on the main panel.

You could use a similar procedure to confirm which breaker on the subpanel is powering a wrong circuit, by disconnecting shore power, generator OFF, inverter ON, then turning off/on, one by one, the breakers listed under "sub-panel". It's doubtful that you even need a circuit tracer to diagnose your problem, you should be able to do it all by selecting the appropriate breakers, and in this way you will have done 90% of the job for the technician that you eventually get to move the appropriate wires.

The other "FUSE" panel is for the "house" 12VDC system.

[NettieRegina]

Correction:


Even easier:

Shore power: DISCONNECT
Generator: OFF
Inverter: ON


Then try to use each of circuits listed under "main panel".
Whichever one powers up is wrongly on "sub panel"


Gary