I may have "messed up"

[Woodyacme]

I believe that I had some electrical issues since sometimes the electrical step was not coming down, and some of the DC lights were only working from time to time. I am not sure what "that" issue was, however, now after my latest flubber, something major is now wrong.

I was under the assumption that the large 3 prong plug was 220. I bought a female receptacle that matched the plug from the RV. I tapped the plug from my 220 line for my welder. Plugged in the RV to the 220 and left it for about 7 or 8 hours.

NOW, most of the DC electrical does not work, and some of the AC electrical does not work. Any suggestions? I have not started checking fuses, but I think that the "box" that converts the AC to DC is the culprit.

Any suggestions?

[Aviator]

Your Airstream was designed for 110v and the plug is a 30amp 110v. Hopefully the damage is limited to fuses and doesn't extend to melted wiring.

[lsbrodsky]

The 3 prong RV plug is 120, not 220. No telling what you have fried with your efforts. Suggest you get an RV electrician to look everything over.
Larry

[Woodyacme]

I don't smell any melted wiring or anything of the such.

Where would I start with the fuses. The ones between the drivers seat and the passenger seat? Are there any fuses or fusible link by where the shore wire is connected to the RV?

[idroba]

You most likely have toasted your converter/charger which changes 120 volt AC power to 12 volt DC power. They don't like double input voltage. Hard to say if it caused any problems on the 12 volt side prior to burning out.

If your refrigerator was on, you easily may have burned out the 120 volt heating element. Same with the water heater.

There is some potential you damaged some or all of the 120 volt circuit breakers, especially the GFCI one (s).

Sorry to say it is not "I may have messed up" but it is most likely correct to say it with the "may" taken out. Repairs probably will be expensive.

Sorry for your problems though.

[NavyCorpsman]

You probably cooked the rectifier in the converter. If you have a surge protector, that would have caught it. When the converter fries, it has that distinctive "electrolytic" smell. That you don't smell anything is a good sign. Check for the simple stuff first. Fuses, Breakers, Surge protector. I agree with all in having an RV electrician check it out. Hope its simple and an easy fix. I fried a portable stereo in my early days with 220v. Scared me half to death. I walked away but had to sing to myself the rest of the day......

[ShinyPete]

It most likely didn't take 7 or 8 hours but 7 or 8 milliseconds. I did that years ago on our 50 amp motorhome, plugged 30 amp adapter into matching plug at a fairgrounds wired for something else. As I recall it took out 3000 watt Xantrex inverter/converter, micro/convection oven, 2 tube tvs, vcr, stereo,etc,etc. 😣

After all was replaced I installed a surge protector that wouldn't deliver improperly wired power.

As mentioned already, start at fuse panel and test with a meter one circuit at a time (or get someone qualified to do it). You may have taken out devices but not circuits if that makes sense.


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[cwf]

The stuff works on 'smoke and mirrors'.. if you break the mirror or let out the magic smoke, it is all over.

Suggest you spend the money to get yourself electrically checked out.. But if that advice is no good... do you have a properly wired outlet to connect to?

[Woodyacme]

I have re-wired the outlet for 30 amp, 120V.

I do not have a lot of experience in the AC/DC arena (RV's) so this part of it is new to me. I have an RV repair guy coming over to take a look. The refrig and hot water heater were not on at the time, in fact, nothing was on at the time. The lights for the microwave are now out, and the auto step is not working, but was only working from time to time, prior to plug in.

I will start with the AC/DC converter and move into the coach from there. The front A/C unit is working (has worked all day today) and the rear one wants to work, but seems to have a motor frozen up due to sitting. I do not think that things are as bad as could have been. Some things I think needed replacing anyway.

I will be open to more suggestions if anyone has some, I will start one circuit at a time and will update you when I have some answers, which may take a couple of days.

Thanks all for the help so far.

[cwf]

Put a good converter in there.. not a 'stock' one...

[carl2591]

Originally Posted by Woodyacme

I have re-wired the outlet for 30 amp, 120V.

I do not have a lot of experience in the AC/DC arena (RV's) so this part of it is new to me. I have an RV repair guy coming over to take a look. The refrig and hot water heater were not on at the time, in fact, nothing was on at the time. The lights for the microwave are now out, and the auto step is not working, but was only working from time to time, prior to plug in.

I will start with the AC/DC converter and move into the coach from there. The front A/C unit is working (has worked all day today) and the rear one wants to work, but seems to have a motor frozen up due to sitting. I do not think that things are as bad as could have been. Some things I think needed replacing anyway.

I will be open to more suggestions if anyone has some, I will start one circuit at a time and will update you when I have some answers, which may take a couple of days.

Thanks all for the help so far.

the AC compressors tend not to freeze up they are 'hard to start".. try smacking the comp with the wooden butt of a hammer couple time sorta hard. If they don't work try a hard start kit to see if that will loosen it up.

Over time the valves will stick and the start circuit is not enough amps to bump it over.

the hard start kit is like a kick in the mouth by a pissed mule.. only harder

if that dont work its time to change the unit. !!

[tjdonahoe]

This would be like putting 120 down the neutral line,everything which was on might be toast..3 Wires 1 neutral, 1 120Vo , 1 ground.. Very easy to do once!!

[Woodyacme]

tjdonahoe: I wired the outlet with 220 because it looked very similar to my welder and also the dryer & stove cords. I was unaware that it was ONLY a 110v system. Since I had the 220v power within 5 feet of where she is parked, I just "assumed" that it was a 220v system.

Fortunately, the only thing that was "on" was the microwave (plugged in and time blinking) but upon checking today, I have NO 12v system working at all. I will start tomorrow with checking the each fuse individually. I looked at the converter (where the 110v cord is connected in the trunk) and the neutral wire is has "scorched brown" so I will start there and see if I have any power from that point forward. I think that might be the problem (or one of them) and move inward from there.

good night to all! Will have some news tomorrow...

[Woodyacme]

Bit of an unexplained situation...

I charged the single battery under the hood, it has not been holding a charge very well, will be replacing it soon, however, I left the battery switch on last night (since I did not see anything working when I turned it on) and this morning, the interior lights were on, they did not come on when I flipped the switch (shore power is disconnected)

So my question is this:
1. what battery(ies) run the lights when not connected to shore power? the single battery or the 2 that are wired together (I assumed it was the 2 together, and the single battery was the one for starting the motor)

2. Is there some sort of delay, relay, auto-breaker, safety that takes time before the DC power turns on? When I flip the battery switch next to the door, I hear a click under the dash somewhere. Almost like it blows a breaker, then it re-sets after a period of time...

3. In examining the book that came with the RV, it says that it is pre-wired for solar with the wires being "tucked" somewhere behind the refrigerator. Does anyone know about this?

I should have an update tomorrow afternoon. THANKS EVERYONE for the assistance so far! I certainly have strapped on a set of training wheels with this one...

[68 Overlander]

Steve,
Don't feel too bad. I get several calls a day on this and most of them are electricians! They get hired to wire a power outlet a somebody's house/lot, etc or they did it for a friend. It does look like 240V to a trained electrician, but its not. The converter/Univolt NEVER survives. It is the first component to get hit. Beyond the Univolt/converter it becomes a game of luck. AC and Microwave are very vulnerable but not always damaged. Fridge, TVs and anything on the circuits are fair game but sometimes survive. An RV surge protector is pretty cheap insurance.