Power Surge Damage

[Jvandenbrink]

Hello! We experienced a power surge recently which blew our converter. We have since replaced that and I was hoping that would take care of some of the other issues we are experiencing, but it hasn’t. I’m hoping someone can shed some light on other issues.

1. Refrigerator only works in LP mode, even when plugged into shore power.
2. Hot water heater, same issue. Plugged in and only works in LP mode
3. Inverter outlets only work when inverter is on, even when we are plugged in. Before the surge when we were on shore power the inverter did not need to be on for inverter outlets to work.

2 and 3 we can live with but I’d like to get 1 fixed. Any thoughts of advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

[azflycaster]

Check for blown fuses on the circuit boards for the fridge and water heater. If no bad fuse, the board may have been damaged by the surge.

[BayouBiker]

The refrig has a circuit board in the outer compartment separate from the controller and there are both 12 V and 120 V fuses, your 120 fuse is blown as Richard indicated. Same situation with water heater, only most models, the fuse is epoxied into the controller board and can't be accessed, so a new controller may be in your future. Amazon has them at a low price, lot's of different part numbers are compatible with each other so good luck with that.

Edit: There is also often a fuse on the 120V heater element also mostly to protect against an element short due to a leak into the element. It may have blown.

There is a circuit breaker on the 120V power center for the shore power to inverter branch circuit. Check that first. the leads go to the inverter cut-off which detects shore power and energizes the circuit. The part of the inverter that does this job may be damaged. See if you can find a troubleshooting guide. Perhaps there is a fuse....

[ROBERT CROSS]

All of the above...Then get an EMS

Bob
🇺🇸

[Jvandenbrink]

Following the lead of you all I:

1. Pulled both 5 amp fuses on refrigerator and both are still in tact. There’s a small automotive looking one and a glass one. I’m seeing 120v at the outlet for AC side of the refrigerator. And when I check voltage on heater wires I’m also seeing 120v.
2. There’s a 2 amp fuse on the water heater that I pulled and that is in tact as well. It looks like there might be another one epoxied to the board but it’s hard to tell without removing the board completely. Which I plan to do.
3. Inverter breaker is not tripped, nor are any others at the power center. I examined the inverter and only see one fuse, a large one, that is functioning properly because I’m seeing current across the fuse.

Any other thoughts? Thanks everyone!
Joel

[BayouBiker]

For the refrig, the heater element relay may be damaged. Here is a website for parts and many of the service manuals to help you troubleshoot. Perhaps the tests will lead you to the part needing to be replaced. https://myrvworks.com/manuals/

Edit: Oh dang you are in Seattle, you may just get hold of the folks who run the website, they are in Port Angeles surely they can help!

I would probably replace the Water Heater controller board at this point but you can continue to troubleshoot. The same website has water heater manuals also.

Inverters are expensive. I would try to track down its service manual also or send it out for repair.