Last year, I had intermittent trouble with the bathroom lights. They would sometimes work after heading out for a camping trip. Most of the time they were dead.
Dead Fridge (20 years old):
Pulling my camper out of storage a week ago, I found the fridge has lost power to the front panel. There is power at the outlet for the fridge. I confirmed that the ground is good for the outlet. I checked the fuse and it looks good. I took the fridge directly to the house power (bypassing the trailer wiring) and the fridge still didn't have power on the front panel.
All the non-bathroom lights:
I just went into the camper which had been sitting for a few days since the last time I had been in it with all of the interior lights on, and none work today. I haven't moved the trailer. I have power at all of the outlets, but no lights or water pump.
I risk going in the wrong direction by sharing the whole story, but I also don't want to leave out any potential clues.
Your help is appreciated!!
__________________ Mark
72 Sovereign: L couch, mid-twin, rear-bath
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra
Dead Univolt, blown ground fuse, bad connection at battery or Univolt. Check all the fuses and connections, as well as the battery.
Is the fridge a newer model that requires 12 volts for the control board? If so, that's probably why it won't work, at least this time.
I had the same problem with mine. Take a volt meter and see if there is power coming out of the inverter. Mine wasn't . I just switched the wire to a circuit that had power. I had blown the circuit on the board that the power was coming out off..
__________________
Jason
May you have at least one sunny day, and a soft chair to sit in..
Just changed all fuses in the inverter and the 50 on the floor outside the inverter. I can't tell if the inverter is humming like it used to.
The fridge is a 1989 Dometic 2803. I will check but I think I remember a warning sticker that talked about 12v connection.
Last weekend we checked the battery, which is bad, but with it connected to the trailer it held a load from the tester. Suggesting the circuit was okay then.
I will check the battery connections to see if something changed there somehow.
__________________ Mark
72 Sovereign: L couch, mid-twin, rear-bath
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra
Start with the battery. Is it charged? Is it good? Will it hold a charge? If the answer is "no", charge and/or replace as needed.
Now that you have a known good charged battery, check the connections to it. Use your test light. Does the light light when you touch it to the positive terminal of the battery, and the negative terminal? (this makes sure it's working). Next, touch the tester to the positive terminal and ground, such as the trailer skin. Does the light light? If yes, move into the trailer, and start checking the fuse panel at the Univolt. If not, go inside and turn on something, such as a light. Now, come back out and touch the negative terminal and skin of the trailer with the test light. If it lights, you have a bad ground.
If you get to this point and everything is good so far, come back and let us know, and I can give you the next steps, such as checking output from the fuse panel.
If the trailer is plugged into the 110, I should be able to get a 12v drop from the terminal of the battery to the trailer skin if the Univolt is working correctly. Am I wrong? Isn't that exactly what the Univolt does, charge (boil in my case) the battery when shore power is connected?
__________________ Mark
72 Sovereign: L couch, mid-twin, rear-bath
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra
If you got a go on the suburban and tried a direct line on the AS battery and then a no go. Then your battery is bad. You should get a light coming out of your inverter..
__________________
Jason
May you have at least one sunny day, and a soft chair to sit in..
Okay. So I put a Charger on the battery while still connected to the Airstream. I have internal lights. I also get a light from the positive post of the battery to the skin of the trailer. I do believe I have a bad Univolt. (yes I still have a bad battery that needs replaced). Put an order in on BestConverter.com and we'll see if next day means tomorrow or Tuesday.
I also tried turning on the Fridge to see if the missing 12v to the board of the fridge was the problem. The front panel does not light up. I'm not able to light the fridge on gas. Bad fridge still?
__________________ Mark
72 Sovereign: L couch, mid-twin, rear-bath
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra
Fuses on Univolt seem to be integrated with the blue case of the Univolt. I would rather not replace the fuse panel.
Did you mount the Intellipower somewhere near the Univolt and just bypass it?
Did you cut the case of the Univolt to keep the fuse panel?
Did you install a new fuse panel?
Pull the fuse panel out of the Univolt, you can re-use it. There are a few things that won't work without modification, because they were intended to be used with the Univolt. The "power on" light and ammeter will not work, or will not work correctly.
I'm having trouble getting the Univolt out of the hole. I had to remove the tub to get to the bolts holding the unit to the floor.
I needed a sanity break so I thought I would ask in advance ...
To remove the fuse panel from the Univolt, it would appear to me that I need to disconnect all wires to the fuse panel (as they run through the blue case) and then drill out the three or so rivets to get the panel separated. Is this correct?
Please keep in mind, I still don't have the thing out to get a good look at the blue case, but it feels like there should be a better way. I'm wondering if I could cut the blue case between the panel and the univolt so the panel still has a frame and door, removing the rest of the blue Univolt to make space for the Intelipower and outlet. Am I crazy? What haven't I seen yet?
__________________ Mark
72 Sovereign: L couch, mid-twin, rear-bath
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it"
"It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much."
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else." - Yogi Berra
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