Blackout/Brownout

[rpenczek]

Finally used my new to me 2005 Classic last weekend. Noted that while toaster plugged in (not on) to outlet near stove, light over dinette on and light over sink on, when the water pump kicked on all the lights went out. No other lights in the unit or other outlets lost power, just the ones I noted.

Any thoughts?

[xrvr]

Are you plugged in or on battery only?

[rpenczek]

Sorry, should have said that, on shore power, 30 AMP.

[Al and Missy]

Lights and water pump are 12 volts, outlets are 120, so probably not significant what was plugged into outlets. You said no other outlets failed, perhaps indicating that the two you mentioned did. Is that correct? I wouldn't think the water pump could affect 120 volt outlets.

Did the pump work and move water? If not, the pump may be frozen up and drew excessive current.

Did the lights come on when it stopped? If not, maybe the pump tripped a circuit breaker.

Were you connected to city water? If so, maybe the pump didn't like pumping against the city water pressure, although mine doesn't seem to mind.

Al

[rpenczek]

The pump moved water (while the lights went out) and as soon as the pump stopped, lights came back on (no tripped breakers or blown fuses). Finally, we were not connected to city water. Only shore power hooked up, water was coming for water tank.

The outlets I mentioned operated after this blackout occurred, but I they were not in use during, so I don't know if they blacked out.

Thanks for the comments.

[HiJoeSilver]

Your battery is at a low state of charge or dead/dying. Check your converter is on. Check battery voltage and water levels. When the pump starts and runs. It's pulling enough power that the battery voltage is dropping significantly. When pump stops battery can recover to the lighter demands.

[aftermath]

HiJoeSilver covered the main ideas here. I would add that your converter might be bad. Plugged in, battery good, so converter is not converting 110 to 12 efficiently.

[cwf]

Check battery.. they can last a long time... but 11 years... welllllll. Gotta check it out.. Definitely check 12VDC and that the converter is actually working!! AS said above... if there is not enough amperage and voltage stuff won't work...

Now... what gives me pause is that this happened when only the toaster was plugged in... that should NOT have an effect not the 12VDC circuit(s).

The battery and converter work together. If the battery is dead / shorted internally, the converter probably won't be able to provide adequate power to operate 12VDC systems... nor can the battery provide enough power.

We have a small "cigarette plug voltage monitor" which remains plugged in whenever we are in the AS... Also, as long as the AS is plugged into the AC power and converter is running(on AC), we have good voltage (about 13.4VDC). When I run all the 12VDC items (lights, water pump, Water Heater and Fridge on LP, radio, TV antenna booster(that engages all the 12VDC circuits)), everything runs great when NOT on AC power... voltage remains above 12.5VDC. When I leave it run on the DC a while... say 20 minutes (of course the water pump won't run all the time.. so I do activate the water pump as well.. Voltage remains stable.

When I have the AC connected, the converter running, the voltage will be a little higher...

My stock converter from 1999 died in 2014.. big smoky mess. I replaced with a PowerMax and the system has been flawless.

Now, on a side issue, there may be a problem with your AC circuits.. just plugging in an electric device should NOT cause the problem you mention... I don't know about your 2015 AC wiring... but, it should be in your manual. Check to see if the Converter and the outlet you plugged the toaster into are on the same AC circuit.. if they are, then you may have both... failures of the battery and converter...

Now, don't forget... you must have a good 'connection' between battery terminals and their connection points.. the NEGATIVE to 'frame ground'... then the positive to the 12VDC distribution / breaker / fuse panel. Also, the Converter will connect to those systems also so that it can charge and support use of 12VDC when you are connected to AC.

Anyway, if not comfy with the testing, get professional help... you may be enjoying Glory rather than your AS... Just sayin'

[HiJoeSilver]

I think the toaster is a red herring.

[rpenczek]

Thank you for the replies and insight.

Now that I better understand that the lights and water pump are working off 12V even when hooked to shore power, and outlets and air conditioner are running off 120, I'm fairly certain the toaster being plugged in was not relevant.

So, I'll check out my batteries and my converter.

Thanks again.