Electrical problems...

[DbackFan]

I just purchased a '96 34' Excella, my first A/S. Before moving it, everything electrical that works off the solar charged batteries checked out.....lites, fans, etc. After arriving at my storage area, the back bedroom ceiling lite, bathroom lites, and bathroom fan would not work. Everything else works fine. The bulbs check out in the other lites, so that's not the problem.....any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks very much, I look forward to many years of enjoying this forum and A/S ownership.

[john hd]

welcome to the forum,

sounds like a quick check of your 12v circuit breakers is in order.

consult your manual for the location of them.

a test lamp or voltmeter will confrim if you have voltage on both sides of the breakers (they can go bad).

john

[apple 1]

My 96 30' has a fuse panel behind the sofa on the front wall of the trailer. You need to open the sofa into a bed to get to the panel. You could have a loose fuse or blown fuse.
Jim

[Pahaska]

The items in question should all be on the same fuse. Open the top-half cover of the converter. There should be a row of 20A fuses. Pull them one by one and hold them up to the light. You will probably see a blown filament in one of the fuses. You can swap fuses to confirm. Replace the bad fuse (there may be spares).

If the fuses are all good, the next probable cause would be a loose connection somewhere. There will be a screw connection right below each fuse. Make sure each of these is tight.

If all this fails, unwscrew a light fixture and check the wire color. Each circuit is wired with a different color. The same color will be attached to one of the fuses. That is the circuit that is giving problems and there could be a loose connection anywhere in that circuit, probably at a light fixture or a switch.

[John]

The DC fuses in my trailer are the circuit breaker type. They have a small button on them that you push to reset.

John

[DbackFan]

Thanks very much to each of you for responding to my question so quickly. I will work on finding the crux of the problem today, and will let you know what happens. Thanks again!

[DbackFan]

I didn't have too much success the other day....my fuses are also of the circuit breaker type....and none appeared to have been tripped...Pushing the reset button didn't do anything...the univolt at the front of the trailer is all wired, there didn't appear to be anything I could really test.....I have a friend who does electrical work coming over with a voltmeter during the next week or so, we may be able to trace down the problem...I haven't checked the batteries...though the solar charging unit appears to have them fully charged at 12V....Thanks again for everyone's interest and response.....Dave

[nwclassic]

DBackFan -- Don't know if this is of any use but a table in the RV Solar book lists 12.7V as 100%, 12.1V only 25% state of charge. Hope you find your gremlins.

[john hd]

sounds like having your friend helping with a voltmeter is a good idea.

most likely not the batteries because you stated the other 12 volt stuff was working.

as to the state of charge, that could be an unrelated issue.

confirming weather each of the breakers has voltage on the load terminal will tell alot!

keep us posted!

john

[DbackFan]

One of the circuit breakers in the 12 volt distribution box had been tripped......reset it, and voila, the lights came on and the bathroom dome and fan were live.......I read the manual and looked at the diagrams....just couldn't quite see the reset buttons until tonite..and they sure aren't very big. They look to protrude much more in the diagrams, hence I actually thought they didn't exist on my model. Gotta just stick those fingers in there and press, I guess. Will be interesting to see if it gets tripped again...which might indicate a short of some sort...Thanks, again, to everyone for their helpful suggestions! Dave