New to Us Palomini 179RDS: An Electrical Mystery

[Dave_n_Patty]

Originally Posted by randomledder

Have you checked the fuses in the breaker box? There is usually a row of DC fuses inside there.

OK, so far I'm only tracking the indoor fuse box. Those fuses are all good. We had one blow but I replaced it and now it's showing good and when on shore power does everything it's supposed to.

I should add that we're brand new to this so I'm still learning where stuff is. The owner's manual was written for kindergartners and is completely useless as far as this is concerned.

"If your not getting power on the “trailer” side If the auto reset then yes. Either bad connection, bad wire or bad auto reset breaker. Disconnect wire and ohm it out (should read 0 ohms/resistance) If you have access, temporarily by pass breaker with a regular fuse and power up, see if that works. While in there and under the trailer double check ALL connections and grounds, especially main ground going to frame.

Might be worth looking at connections on the converter also."

OK, I'm not 100% sure I follow. I've checked all the connections including ground to frame. They look solid. There's aftermarket insulating paneling there which really makes this all kinds of awkward, but visual inspection is good. Not sure what you mean by "ohming it out."

Also...I'm confused about the converter. I would assume (probably incorrectly) that the converter would convert 110V AC to 12V DC so that if the converter was bad, it would not work on shore power. I'm assuming the converter is the enclosed panel next to the breaker/fuse panel inside, correct? What am I looking for in terms of problems?

[Dave_n_Patty]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Check and reset all GFI outlets. That might help some.

I had electrical issue when plugged into the house and running the A/C in the trailer I blew a breaker in the house. But reset the house breaker and everything worked on both standalone battery and plugged into the house.

Yep, did this.

Again, probably worth restating that everything works flawlessly while connected to 110V AC house power.

Also, key tidbit is that we noticed the battery power problem before the first time we connected to 110V AC house power. The week previous (the day we took possession) everything worked fine on battery.

[hillbilly3]

If everything works with shore power, but not without it, you definitely lost the battery connection, as the inverter would run everything when plugged in. It would be possible a main battery disconnect switch was installed. Look for something like this somewhere along the main battery battery cable. They may have even put it in near the fuse/breaker box inside the camper. (The dealers tech may have turned it off after they prepped it for delivery)

[Dave_n_Patty]

Originally Posted by hillbilly3

If everything works with shore power, but not without it, you definitely lost the battery connection, as the inverter would run everything when plugged in. It would be possible a main battery disconnect switch was installed. Look for something like this somewhere along the main battery battery cable. They may have even put it in near the fuse/breaker box inside the camper.

Now *I* just installed a battery disconnect at the battery itself and yes, it checks out fine at the battery...and with the disconnect removed and direct connections to the battery I still have the problem. No such a device is evident anywhere along the battery line or in/near the fuse box unfortunately other than the small one I installed today after all my troubleshooting.

[hillbilly3]

With the lights turned on, but not connected to shore power, take your meter, put one lead on one terminal of the circuit breaker, the other lead to the other terminal, if you read 12 or so volts, the breaker is open and bad, You should read 0 volts if it is actually closed.

[garry1p]

Not familiar with your rig but in most cases the converter positive output cable and the positive battery cable connect together at some point. On mine it is at a bus bar at the fuse panel.
From your description the battery positive never gets to this common point as the converter works and the battery's don't. You need to locate the connecting point and go backwards to the batteries.

[Dave_n_Patty]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I've exhausted my knowledge at this point and have tried that which I'm able. I hate to do it but, as a newb who really doesn't know as much about his own rig yet as he'd like (although I know a LOT MORE now than I did yesterday!), I think it's time for a professional.

To sum up, I'm still getting power past the autoreset breaker. Across the two terminals on the breaker is zero. No power at the DC fuse box inside...it's zero across the terminals there. Since the camper's up on base (Air Force Academy) I gave up for the night, but not before at least attempting to figure out where the connection to the converter might have gone bad. Just for schnitzengiggles I did replace every DC fuse with a new one, and--just as shore power proved--it wasn't that. So somewhere between the 12V autoreset circuit breaker and the fuse box something is amiss.

That the original owner had aftermarket insulation paneling installed covering every inch of the underside frame has made this much, much more difficult than it should have been. It's screwed to the frame so I've been working in "patches" and I know that's hampering my ability to see what all's going on.

I do think I may have "leveled up" from complete RV newbie as I unlocked the "under the rig in the dark with flashlight and multimeter" achievement.

[garywilson]

There is a good chance that the auto-reset breaker under the bottom of the trailer near the battery is for your slide-out and does not affect any other circuit.
As suggested earlier, ensure your wires are connected correctly to you battery. One will probably go to the slide breaker, another to the electric jack, another to your main panel/junction box.
When you touch the wire that goes to your main junction box to the battery, there should be a spark because of the peripheral things (radio, etc) if anything is working.
It is pretty easy to figure out which wires from the battery go to the slide and jack.

[tuffr2]

The puzzle to me is the refrigerator is working on battery power but no radio or water pump, etc.

Having just the refrigerator working means one leg from the battery works.

Is your CO detector chirping? No sure if that will tell us anything but if chirping it is not good. Plus it will drive you crazier.

Does your control panel work? Like press the battery to see how charged it is...or the black tank or the fresh water tank does any of that work?

[twinboat]

Don't trust a volt reading on an auto reset circuit breaker, JUMP across the 2 terminals with a screwdriver and see if things come on.

Next, if you haven't, Tripple check the ground connections.

Last, buy some wire and jump around the hidden wire s as a test to see where the battery power is lost. Jump the positive and then the negetive at each step.

[Dave_n_Patty]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

The puzzle to me is the refrigerator is working on battery power but no radio or water pump, etc.

Having just the refrigerator working means one leg from the battery works.

Is your CO detector chirping? No sure if that will tell us anything but if chirping it is not good. Plus it will drive you crazier.

Does your control panel work? Like press the battery to see how charged it is...or the black tank or the fresh water tank does any of that work?

The tank/battery controller panel only blinks ever-so-briefly when we press the "battery" button. Repeat pressing that button and then there's nothing for a few minutes. The other tank buttons do nothing.

[tuffr2]

The battery may need charged with a battery charger just to test it. If fully charged everything should work off battery until the battery is discharged again


The fact that you only get a dim blinking lite when you hit the battery button implies it is very weak I think.

From there it might be a bad converter that charges the battery anytime it is plugged into shore power.

This is an easy thing to check. Just take the battery out and charge it. Then put it back in. The 1st thing to check is the control panel battery button. It should indicate fully charge. Then try the lights, radio, water pump.

If that all works then it could be the converter.

[tuffr2]

Or more likely a bad battery. Check the date on the battery. If 5 years old it needs to be replaced.

Now replacing a battery. If you have access to a place that sells battery boxes you really want a bigger box and a group 29/31 battery. You get a lot more years and amps out of it.

Now I say bad battery because in my life I have see about 50 bad batteries and zero bad convertors. I know convertors can go bad but I have never seen one.

[Dave_n_Patty]

Originally Posted by tuffr2

Or more likely a bad battery. Check the date on the battery. If 5 years old it needs to be replaced.

Now replacing a battery. If you have access to a place that sells battery boxes you really want a bigger box and a group 29/31 battery. You get a lot more years and amps out of it.

Now I say bad battery because in my life I have see about 50 bad batteries and zero bad convertors. I know convertors can go bad but I have never seen one.

Dave bought the battery from Costco yesterday. It's good.