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Azarius · 05-03-2012, 08:28 AM

Alright, a bit of a wierd one... Couldn't find anything similar after searching, so here it goes.

I recently picked up a 2000 Innsbruck travel trailer... I towed it to the lake yesterday and set everything up. Turned the heat on, adjusted the temperature and it fired right up... Fan spinning, heat coming out of the vents. All good.

For about 5 minutes. Then it shut right off, the lights on the 12v system shut off and there was a loud single tone coming from the furnace area. It stayed off for about 15 minutes, then would come back on for about 5 minutes, then do the exact thing.

This was WHILE I had the RV plugged into the generator, and was watching TV with a couple of 120v lights on. When the furnace/12v lights went out, the tv/etc all stayed on.

Once the generator was off later that night, the furnace or lights would not go on at all - it was a chilly night!

I was thinking battery was no good, and the only 'real' test I tried was to press the slide it/out button briefly and I heard the motors start to fire up.

Does the furnace run off of ONLY 12v? I figured with the generator on, it wouldn't be an issue, if it's an electrical problem as power's going into the unit. I thought maybe if the battery was bad, the generator was feeding it a bit of juice for 15 minutes - enough to turn things on for 5 minutes, then the battery runs dry and everything shuts off...

Also perhaps it's a dirt issue or something with the furnace, but if that was the case why are all the 12v lights shutting off?

I'm a little worried, as the trailer is over 2 hours away in the bush, and the next time I'm out there is for a week in 3 weeks ~lol~.

I'm going to bring up a new deep cycle battery, as well as my air compressor to blow out the furnace and hopefully that'll solve it - but I was wondering if anyone had any direction that my ease my mind ~lol~

Thanks folks!

Kevin

clyon51 · 05-03-2012, 10:45 AM

Yes the furnace runs on 12v only. I would first check the battery with a volt meter (the first tool any RVer should acquire). With everything off, the voltage should be between 12.1 and 12.7. If its less, then its below 50% discharged and damage can occure. If its around 11, its pretty much dead, but not necessarily shot.

Now plug into generator. The battery should now show over 13v. If not the converter/charger is not working.

Azarius · 05-03-2012, 01:42 PM

Ya, I've already gotten a volt meter on my "list" to pick up next week before I go out!

Does anyone else have a 'list' they keep in their trailer to jot down things they need before they forget they need them? lol

Thanks, I'll be checking that for sure!

Azarius · 05-11-2012, 08:09 AM

Fixed.

It was a duo-combination problem.

#1) Bad battery. It would charge to full, but drain completely within three hours. It has been replaced.

#2) In line fuse from the batter (20 amp) had blown.

Replaced both and we were good to go! WOO!