Shell off transmogrification

[truckasaurus]

Shore power is on. I didn't check the voltage but it was straight from the garage so 120V give or take. I tried grounding the "-" battery terminal in case that was it but no luck. I'll try a call to their help desk in the morning and try and move on from there.

[Wabbiteer]

The fan nudge is a good sign - have you loaded the controller so it starts warming up? 24/7 fan is maybe not needed as there could be a temperature limit to kick fan on, or a variable speed fan on sensor heat-load demand?

[nmbosa]

Originally Posted by Wabbiteer

The fan nudge is a good sign - have you loaded the controller so it starts warming up? 24/7 fan is maybe not needed as there could be a temperature limit to kick fan on, or a variable speed fan on sensor heat-load demand?

I think Wabbiteer is right. My fan rarely comes on and I have the same converter panel. It only comes on if it needs to cool everything down. The real test is whether it properly charges your battery and supplies power to your systems - both 12v and 110v.

Norm

[3Ms75Argosy]

How much voltage is showing at the battery? Also, I'd load the 12v side and then see if the voltage goes up (I think you want to see 14 volts or so). My fans on my intellipower don't go on unless it's hot.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Originally Posted by truckasaurus

Some days it just doesn't go that well.

I tried to get the wiring done but hit some roadblocks.

Attached is a picture of the Progressive Dynamics Power Control Center PD4045.

I've attached the 110V shore power (fat wires) and the main breaker and branch circuit for the converter along with battery wires to a temporary 12V battery. It does nothing; I kind of expected the fan to spin up as it charged the battery but it twitches a few degrees when I flip the breakers off and I'm stumped. The instructions are useless and I'm hoping someone out there has this figured out already.

The green wire is the ground. is it going to the plus side or the negative side terminal bar? I think you have it shorted out....

[truckasaurus]

Thanks everyone, my plan is to go nab a better multimeter and load up some 12V branch circuits see what I'm getting. Frank I've got the green ground connected to green on the bar, they all match up but if I have no success I'll take a better shot with the proper camera.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

in "110 house wiring" the the black is the negative, the white is the common, and the green is the ground. The white and the green go into the same terminal block in most situations. The black goes into the breaker. You have two terminal blocks in the photo. Also, it appears that the black "feed" wires coming into the box just goes to the 30 amp circuit. Is the 30 amp the main breaker?

[Darkspeed]

Originally Posted by 62overlander

in "110 house wiring" the the black is the negative, the white is the common, and the green is the ground. The white and the green go into the same terminal block in most situations. The black goes into the breaker. You have two terminal blocks in the photo. Also, it appears that the black "feed" wires coming into the box just goes to the 30 amp circuit. Is the 30 amp the main breaker?

In house wiring the black is both the positive and the negative - it changes 60 times a second

The white wire lets the potential on the black wire return to zero or nutural potential

Green is earth ground

[Darkspeed]

White and green only connect at one location per service and this is at the service entrance (house) where there is a ground rod. If connected at other locations you run the risk of having the shell of your trailer at lethal potential.

If your trailer cordset has a ground wire from the service outlet( it should) (and no ground rod on your trailer) you do not connect white to green anywhere within you trailers wiring system

[Frank's Trailer Works]

I better find a different electrician to come change my house then. I better find a different inspector too, for my box is marked different and both panels were installed by a licensed electrician.

[Darkspeed]

Ground is tied to neutral at one location and that is at your service entrance. It is usually done with a green bonding screw that bonds the neutral buss to the case of the service panel. The service panel is grounded to earth through a ground rod.

If you have a separate sub panel with it's own ground rod then neutral will be bonded there as well

Your trailer outlet should have a hot / neutral / ground wire. This means your case ground is handled by your houses ( or whatever ) ground rod so there should be no connection between neutral and ground in your trailer.

I have inspected many structures that were neutral bonded in the wrong locations, it is done all the time.

[truckasaurus]

It turns out the wiring was all good, it just needed a load :-) The fan is phenomenally quiet. I did however have to get a bigger (huge!) battery box as my batts were too tall (6V).

Wiring the monitors for tanks and batteries today.

[truckasaurus]

It appears the Actibrake electric over hydraulic actuator is done for. I get a barely audible click from it and frankly it hasn't been a good experience overall. (It was excellent when Greg at Inland installed it, but since I left in sitting for ages and then reinstalled it as per the manual with a house battery it's been hit and miss). I'm going to ask Inland to ship a Carlisle 1600 psi unit out tomorrow super express and should have it on Monday or worst case Wednesday. Oddly, even after $215 UPS shipping it's still a good $246 cheaper than the Dexter unit, which with 20% off locally comes in at $1086. Fingers crossed I'll have it installed by the same RV guy who'll be doing the insurance companies inspection and kill two birds with one stone.
Both the Dexter and Carlisle look like decent products and I just hope I get more life out the unit this time....it's certainly becoming a very expensive project.

[truckasaurus]

Weighed the coach yesterday. I may need to fine tune my technique but I just pulled her on the ball with no weight dist or sway to the scales which are about 2 or 3 Km away. I was really taking a trip out to see how well the drawer retainers worked and thought I'd see how much weight my reno had piled on.
So -full fresh tank 47 Gallons (US)
-probably half full propane
-still missing the AC unit, dinette cushions and Bathroom door
she came in at 4,100 lbs.

I don't think this is too bad but the true test will be next Friday when the work is all complete and I weigh up again before departing on Saturday for the first stop in Spokane WA.

[ddstech]

When I installed the same intellipower unit, I was baffled by the incoming wiring and feeding the other breakers. I couldnt get over why there were no lugs to heat up the breaker board. It just seems strange to go from the breaker box at the hookups, to a breaker in the Power unit. But I followed the instructions and all is good.

My fan rarely runs, and its inside a cabinet with no ventilation.. yet...

[truckasaurus]

Thought I'd add a couple of shots of the floor, temporary bathroom door and general galley. I'm still awaiting the new brake actuator but the trailer will go to the RV clinic tomorrow to hopefully be returned on Thursday afternoon ready for the appraiser. Then we can pack on Friday evening and head out on Saturday morning. I really don't like this extreme pressure to get her ready but hopefully it'll work out. Fingers crossed.

[reinergirl]

Fingers crossed for you! Wow, luv the interior....looking really really nice! Best wishes for a great trip.

[truckasaurus]

The brake actuator arrived at lunch time and was sent over to the RV guys to install. I've just finished painting the bathroom bifold doors and I installed the Honda EU3000 in my truck bed. It's a little heavy and awkward to be tossing around but it fits with about 3/4" of an inch height wise to spare :-)

Nearly forgot, I was given a tiny LED pad to replace the porch light with, no time to play with it yet but it seems like a good idea.

Tomorrow afternoon I get it back, with brakes hopefully, and then I'll throw in the door and upholstery ready for being appraised at 6. Whew. Then I need to set it up for departure as Friday night is for packing. I don't think I need to alter the truck tire pressure but any tips on what pressure I should have the Goodyear Marathons at for about a 4500 lb trailer?

[nmbosa]

Nothing like a hard deadline to get your project finished. I hope you have a great trip and everything works as planned. On the tires, I'd go with 65 psi. Drop me a PM if you are coming through Seattle. I'd love to see the trailer if there is time.Norm

[pbearsailor]

Congrats on getting ready for the road, truck. Everything looks fantastic.

cheers,
steve