No 110V when hooked to shore power

[StanandLynn]

I have a 2012 27'FB. The A/C went out right after we bought it and it was replaced by a local dealer. Everything was fine then the A/C stopped and I noticed only the 12v system was working. I first checked all the breakers to make sure they were on. I had shore power plugged into the generator outlet on the trailer so I changed to the side receptacle. It worked...for a while. Then it stopped again. I checked everything again and changed the plug back to the gen receptacle and it started working, but just for a few minutes and stopped again. I opened the Parallax and started checking with my voltage meter. .10 volts registered. I unpluged the two breakers to the right and turned off the A/C breaker and 130v registered. I turned on the A/C breaker and it alternately went for .10 to 130v and then I heard the clicking in the A/C coinciding with the alternating voltage. I turned it back off and plugged in the other two breakers, left them off, and checked voltage only on the 30amp breaker. Very unstable. It started high and diminished down to around .40v and did so every time I tried it. We're starting to swelter here in North Georgia. Any ideas? Converter? A/C? Stumped.

[drew05]

What was wrong with your original AC? Ws it replaced by an Airstream dealer, or AC dealer?

Are you connected to a generator? Can you connect to true 30 amp shore power - not a generator? If so what happens when you turn the AC breakers:Off?

With the breakers off, do you have 120v?

What happens when you turn the breakers on, and keep the A/C off?

What happens when you turn the AC on?

[garry]

Sounds like you are overloading the generator.

Could be the A/C pulling to much current or not enough generator .

What size generator and what size A/C/ are you using?

[StanandLynn]

I am on 30 amp shore power, plugged in to the grid. It is on 10 gauge wire about 50 feet long from the service box. I don't know what was wrong with the original A/C, only that it quit working in a campground not far from the dealership as we were trying it out after we bought it. The A/C is a 15k heat pump.

[StanandLynn]

I should also add that when I pulled the two double breakers out and left only the 30amp main and the 20 amp A/C breakers, turned off the A/C breaker and checked the voltage on the breaker bar it was a steady 130v. When I turned on the A/C breaker it begins the intermittent voltage in conjunction with the clicking in the A/C unit. 110 power is off at all points when all breakers are in and on. Does this indicate the Parallax is bad?

Another thing: is there an automatic transfer switch for the two hookup points on the trailer? If so, could it be bad?

[ROBERT CROSS]

"When I turned on the A/C breaker it begins the intermittent voltage in conjunction with the clicking in the A/C unit. 110 power is off at all points when all breakers are in and on. Does this indicate the Parallax is bad?"

Stan,

Do I ass-u-me correctly that the air conditioner is "on" when you flip the breaker on.
With the air conditioner breakers out/off is 110 working?

Past experience tells me to go back to the most recent repair. If everything is working properly with the air conditioner out of the loop I would re-check that install.

That being said our P-lax went defective shortly after we took delivery, (the trailer was left on shore power for extended periods on the drlr lot), ruined the Interstates, not good when the converter is trying to charge two dry batteries. Changed to an IOTA 55a IQ4 DLS.
You might try taking the batteries out of the loop.

Bob

[Bill M.]

"I should also add that when I pulled the two double breakers out and left only the 30amp main and the 20 amp A/C breakers, turned off the A/C breaker and checked the voltage on the breaker bar it was a steady 130v."

That sounds good so far.

"When I turned on the A/C breaker it begins the intermittent voltage in conjunction with the clicking in the A/C unit."

Sounds like you are overloading something with the new AC. In addition to the breakers, is there some type of overload protection somewhere? Not sure what a Parralex is. Is that just the 12 volt charger and converter, or is it also some type of 110 regulation also?

Does this trailer have some sort of surge/overload protector built in to it or connected some how? Did it come with a 15 btu heat pump or is that and upsize?

[drew05]

If all of your other 120v (115-120vAC) devices work with the AC off, and breakers off/ out of the electrical loop, then there could be an issue with the AC circuit and/or AC itself.

Is the shore power really 30 amp service and is it delivering 26-30 amps? As a previous poster mentioned is the demand for supplied power from other trailers/sites pulling the whole supply down?

What kind of power cord do you have? 50 feet seems a little long to me. I forget the maximum 'suggested' length for a shore power cable before you begin to lose some power due to the increased resistance.

Do you have a way to measure the current through the shore cable? If so I would test with the AC off. breakers out/off etc and try to determine actual amp draw. If things seem ok, then as someone mentioned earlier, you may have a bad P-lax, or even bad/weak breakers.

The bad news is if you are on vacation it sucks... the good news is these are all warranty repairs. sorry

I am hoping though is something simple and quick to fix

Good Luck

Drew

[drew05]

Oh yeah, when testing the various scenarios, I would ensure your thermastat (CCC?) is off before applying power, this will help prevent any potential surges when the AC compressor trys to kick in...

[xrvr]

Be sure the air cond is off at the thermostat before testing. A 15 ac unit and 50 feet of cord could be a problem. Also, what do you mean shore power plugged into the gen outlet? If the shore power at the source is iffy that could be your problem. Hope you figure it out. Jim

[garry]

One of the quickest way to kill an A/C is to run it on low voltage. Anything below 110 is very hard on the compressor and at 105 it will self destruct.

You need to know what is the voltage with the A/C on and the compressor running.

If the voltage starts out OK (115 to 130V) and then drops a short time after the AC is on you could have a bad connection in the wiring between the A/C and the plug or a bad A/C.

50ft@10 gage should give you about a 2 or 3 V drop after the compressor initial start-up.

[StanandLynn]

Well, after a day of testing, jumping and running inside and out to turn the power on and off, I narrowed it down to the automatic transfer switch. Airstream customer service returned my call and verified that they have had some problems with the transfer switches and confirmed my findings. I now have the service entrance directly wired to the front receptacle (which showed the most stable power according to my volt meter) and (thank God) we are cool tonight! Thanks for your responses!

[tchur4]

We bought a brand new 2012 25' Eddie Bauer Airstream from Camper Clinic II in Buda TX. It's the worst purchase we have every made! Everything that can go wrong has. The worst part was being stuck in Utah with no air conditioning of any kind followed by no electricity at all. Thank goodness my husband is mechanical because he ended up having to remove the transfer switch and just tying the wires together. Airstream just kept telling us to take it to a dealer. Well, that would be nice but there is not one any where close to where we are staying. We've also encounter problems with refrigerator temperatures, missing rivets in the ceiling, and a leaking hose under kitchen sink. Since I was a little girl I always thought it would be so cool to own an Airstream. Not the case. Poor service-no help. Once you buy it they don't care!!! Pick another brand if you are looking to buy.

[Friday]

Originally Posted by tchur4

We bought a brand new 2012 25' Eddie Bauer Airstream from Camper Clinic II in Buda TX. It's the worst purchase we have every made! Everything that can go wrong has. The worst part was being stuck in Utah with no air conditioning of any kind followed by no electricity at all. Thank goodness my husband is mechanical because he ended up having to remove the transfer switch and just tying the wires together. Airstream just kept telling us to take it to a dealer. Well, that would be nice but there is not one any where close to where we are staying. We've also encounter problems with refrigerator temperatures, missing rivets in the ceiling, and a leaking hose under kitchen sink. Since I was a little girl I always thought it would be so cool to own an Airstream. Not the case. Poor service-no help. Once you buy it they don't care!!! Pick another brand if you are looking to buy.

Come on now... you have to do your part to maintain the mystique and pretend Airstream's never have problems.

There is a lot of talk about things getting better... but I'm not seeing it in the absolutely trivial mistakes that are being made putting them together. I just replaced one of my tank vents... buried under an inch of sealant... which was needed to hide the fact they cracked 3 out of the 6 mounting screws putting it on.

Totally unacceptable in a $60K+ unit.

If Airstream 'knows' there is an issue, they should be sending someone out to fix them, or arranging for someone to come get it. They produced several model years of my model that had collapsing outriggers/frames. No recall... just let them get passed around from person to person until one sorry soul ends up with a lemon.

I like my Airstream trailer... I hate Airstream.

[donabston]

Stan and Lynn: I sent a note to your gmail address. I bought my 25' FB in April; one week later I lost power and eventually determined it was the transfer switch.
Had the converter replaced. All good til today (Sat, 30th). Same problem while here at the International Rally in Sedalia. Fortunately, I'm now good at direct wiring. Will start the logistics hassle on Monday. I think it would be better if they had put in a manual cut-over switch...don

donabston@att.net

[mtntime]

We have a 2012 25FB as well with the same power problems. Please keep us updated and perhaps we can chat about it next week. We are planning a west coast tour and am thinking not at this point. I have no convidence in this trailer. Thanks, Howard

[redwoodguy]

Originally Posted by tchur4

We bought a brand new 2012 25' Eddie Bauer Airstream from Camper Clinic II in Buda TX. It's the worst purchase we have every made! Everything that can go wrong has. The worst part was being stuck in Utah with no air conditioning of any kind followed by no electricity at all. Thank goodness my husband is mechanical because he ended up having to remove the transfer switch and just tying the wires together. Airstream just kept telling us to take it to a dealer. Well, that would be nice but there is not one any where close to where we are staying. We've also encounter problems with refrigerator temperatures, missing rivets in the ceiling, and a leaking hose under kitchen sink. Since I was a little girl I always thought it would be so cool to own an Airstream. Not the case. Poor service-no help. Once you buy it they don't care!!! Pick another brand if you are looking to buy.

What a shame. Just pitiful, really. I have a lot of empathy for you. Unfortunately, you will soon discover that "complainers" are really frowned upon here. You will soon be visited by a host of people telling you that you are being "too negative" and "not accomplishing anything by complaining." The Airstream Priesthood just don't allow reality to intrude into their mythology.

I think your best strategy is to return the unit to the dealer's lot ASAP, and retain a lawyer that very day to write a letter of rescission to the dealer. I don't know if that will work, but I have seen it work in other similar situations. Lawyer first, everything else second.

[xrvr]

I hope this is not another AS problem on new units If so, it will be interesting to see how the factory handles it. If the transfer switches are bad or suspect then the factory could nip this in the bud and do a recall of sorts? Jim

[drew05]

Don, I think there are reps from the factory in Sedalia this week. Last weekend I had stopped by the Bill Thomas (BTC) area, and one of salesmen said Shue would be there during the week. I thought I also saw a large cargo truck that looked like it may be a mobile repair shop. I don't have any maps, but the BTC guys are over by the Armory and Exhibit Hall. If parts are needed I'm sure they can get them rather quickly, hopefully before the end of the Rally.

Good Luck
Drew

[drew05]

I have sort of a dumb question. Is the transfer switch part of the converter, or is it a stand alone device? I've not paid much attention to it, but with the recent issues people are having, I would like to be prepared.

Drew