No power unless hooked to shore power

[dougbrun]

Four months ago I put pulled into a state park and started camp hosting. All systems were working fine at the time. Four days ago I began breaking camp, as the season was over. Surprisingly my electric hitch did not work. There was no response from the switch. On a hunch I went over to the shore power and turned it off. Inside my 2011 International all went dark.

Here’s the lowdown:

-On shore power everything works fine.
-However...the battery disconnect light is NOT on.
-disconnect from shore power, nothing works...
-...except: The inverter turns on and it will power the 4 inverter-specific outlets.
- All fuses are intact. All circuits are intact.
- I replaced batteries this week as the former batteries were holding less than 3 volts.

Any ideas, folks? All suggestions and ideas are welcome.
Thanks.

[BayouBiker]

You have a discontinuity between the battery and the converter. Most likely is one of the two thermal resetting or sometimes they use manually resetting 12VDC breakers. They are on the 12V battery bus bar between the battery and the power distribution panel.

[docflyboy]

I'd check the voltage out of your converter to the batteries. That will be about a 4AWG or 6AWG wire. See what your battery voltage is with a volt ohms meter at the battery box and then check at the converter. I think I've got a failing converter, and I'm not getting 13.7 volts at the converter, so I think I'm just making float voltage, which is not enough to fully charge the batteries. Try disconnecting your batteries and charging them and then see what you've got. I leave my trailer plugged in while in storage, and I think at the ripe old age of 15 my converter has probably blown a transistor in it's circuit. Jerry

[dougbrun]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

You have a discontinuity between the battery and the converter. Most likely is one of the two thermal resetting or sometimes they use manually resetting 12VDC breakers. They are on the 12V battery bus bar between the battery and the power distribution panel.

Thanks for this, BayouBiker. I’m not in the least competent when it comes to this.. Do you have any guidance for me? Is the power distribution panel the same panel that houses the fuses and breakers? If there’s anything you can share for this simple pilgrim to try I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.

[BayouBiker]

Yes the power panel houses the fuses and beakers. Between that is the 12V buses and the use/store switch. The positive bus has thermal breakers.

So you have three main options. 1) Get a digital multimeter and become an amateur electrician. 2) Hire a competent electrician to find the issue 3) Haul the trailer to the RV repair shop.

If you have a multimeter and generally know how to use it, I can help. Happy to share my phone if you want to talk in person and I'll even walk you through how to use the meter. Let me know how you want to proceed. I can give guidance here in posts and others perhaps better than I will chime in as well.

[dougbrun]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

Yes the power panel houses the fuses and beakers. Between that is the 12V buses and the use/store switch. The positive bus has thermal breakers.

So you have three main options. 1) Get a digital multimeter and become an amateur electrician. 2) Hire a competent electrician to find the issue 3) Haul the trailer to the RV repair shop.

If you have a multimeter and generally know how to use it, I can help. Happy to share my phone if you want to talk in person and I'll even walk you through how to use the meter. Let me know how you want to proceed. I can give guidance here in posts and others perhaps better than I will chime in as well.

You’ve really gone the extra mile here, Brian, to help me. I really appreciate it. Based on what you said I found the 12V buses and the use/shore switch. I’d mentioned above that the battery disconnect switch was not working. When I found the relay for that I pulled the fuses and found that they’d blown. I replaced them and the disconnect panel light came on. I thought I was maybe back in business but no. I still have the same problem. I checked the batteries and they’re holding 12v. I took the cover off the 12V bus expecting to find breakers but only see wire terminations/connections. No breakers. I think at this point I need to call an electrician.

Again, thanks for your help. You got me started. Any other thoughts are welcome.
Best,
Doug

[BayouBiker]

The indicator light is a bit misleading. It tells you the power center side of the relay is enegized even if from the converter but it does not mean the relay is passing converter power back to the batteries. So press the Use switch and listen for the click of the relay. If you hear the click it still may not hold. So disconnect shore power and the indicator light will likely go out. Then press and hold the Use Switch and see if the light illuminates. I probably won't, but if it does see if it stays illuminated when you release the switch. Rap on the relay moderately with a mallet and try again. If that does not work rap harder. If that does not work, replace it. Amazon sells it for $35

[suncoasteng]

When you say electric hitch, I assume you mean the electric jack. Does the light on the jack work? Follow the hot wire from the jack and check for an in-line fuse near the jack. Ask a fellow camper to check for 12V at the jack switch

[dougbrun]

Originally Posted by BayouBiker

The indicator light is a bit misleading. It tells you the power center side of the relay is enegized even if from the converter but it does not mean the relay is passing converter power back to the batteries. So press the Use switch and listen for the click of the relay. If you hear the click it still may not hold. So disconnect shore power and the indicator light will likely go out. Then press and hold the Use Switch and see if the light illuminates. I probably won't, but if it does see if it stays illuminated when you release the switch. Rap on the relay moderately with a mallet and try again. If that does not work rap harder. If that does not work, replace it. Amazon sells it for $35

Hey Brian ~ It’s weird I woke up wondering about that relay switch and found your email waiting for me. So I tried the approach you outline above, the rapping and so on, and it did not work. I found it on Amazon and it’s supposed to hit tomorrow. Fingers crossed! Thanks for all your effort.

Doug

[dougbrun]

Originally Posted by suncoasteng

When you say electric hitch, I assume you mean the electric jack. Does the light on the jack work? Follow the hot wire from the jack and check for an in-line fuse near the jack. Ask a fellow camper to check for 12V at the jack switch

Thanks for the help, Suncoasteng. Yeah, I meant electric hitch and I checked the fuse first thing, tested it too. It’s intact. And no, the light doesn’t come on.

Thanks for your help.
Best,
Doug