Zone 2 went missing and can't be found

[hhendrix]

For those of you with two A/C's the front one is on the thermostat panel is Zone 1. The second A/C (rear) is Zone 2. I was getting an E1 message when trying to start Zone 2. Tried the reset as in the manual, no change. I found the phone type connectors reconnected them as suggested on another forum thread.

After that, Zone 2 disappeared entirely and won't come back.

Bad thing about that is you need Zone 2 to turn on the furnace.



It seems that reconnecting the RJ plugs made things worse and that is suspicious.



Any other thoughts out there?

[GMFL]

So was the RJ cable disconnected? If so that’s what the E1 error code was ( a coms) error. You may have to do the turn power off for 20 min reset, then reset the thermostat for it to pick up zone 2 again.

[Daquenzer]

This happened to me. The 50 AMP outlet had a dead leg. Reset the outside post and see if that works. It did for me. I picked it up on my EMS. Resetting the breaker worked.

[OTRA15]

Guessing the last two posts will get the job done IMO:

Originally Posted by GMFL

. . .
You may have to do the turn power off for 20 min reset, then reset the thermostat for it to pick up zone 2 again.

Originally Posted by Daquenzer

This happened to me. The 50 AMP outlet had a dead leg. Reset the outside post and see if that works. It did for me. I picked it up on my EMS. Resetting the breaker worked.

hhendrix, are you using a Progressive surge protector for the shore power? It might help sort this out IMO.

You also might want to peruse the Furnaces etc. sub-forum for similar related threads:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f427/

Good luck,

Peter

PS -- An oddball suggestion is to make sure the date and time are correct +/- on the stat. Sounds crazy but . . .. read it someplace a while ago . . . . . . maybe going through those motions helps in some way? . . . worth a shot . . .

[Dmmdtm]

Originally Posted by hhendrix

For those of you with two A/C's the front one is on the thermostat panel is Zone 1.

So stupid question: By "front" do you mean nearest the hitch or nearest the door?

[rmkrum]

Hitch is generally considered the ‘front’ or ‘nose’ of a trailer. The other end is the ‘rear’ or ‘tail’ of the trailer.

Nose and tail is the more usual truckers term.

[hhendrix]

Originally Posted by Dmmdtm

So stupid question: By "front" do you mean nearest the hitch or nearest the door?

Not a stupid question, but often confusing. Example, Flying Cloud 27FB designating the Front Bedroom model which puts the bedroom at the hitch end. Popular model because most campsites are back in and then the dining area (usually where most time is spent) looks out to the campground instead of looking at the rear of your tow vehicle.

[hhendrix]

All Fixed. So here is the story. We were camping at a very good RV park along the middle fork of the Willamette River in West Fir Oregon. Rainfall was very heavy. I was connected to the 50 amp post and we seldom use the heat pumps on the overhead units due to noise. We just use a small electric heater which is quiet and works well.

I didn’t turn the small portable electric heater because we sleep better when it’s cool inside the trailer. In the morning I wanted to warm up the trailer quickly and tried to turn on the propane furnace which is in Zone 2. Zone 2 functions for both the rear A/C and propane furnance. That’s when I got the E1 message which translates to no communication between the thermostat control and the appliance attached to that zone.

A little research into the Dometic manual said to reset by holding the zone and mode buttons at the same time. When you do that reset, it tries to initialize the communication to the appliances (A/C, heat pump, and propane furnace). I did and though it found Zone 1, it couldn’t communicate with Zone 2.

A little more research on the forums suggestion disconnect the power and wait a period of time and try again. Several tries and no success. Another suggestion was the communication problem could be the RJ type connectors between the thermostat, A/C units, and the sensor. Fortunately on ducted air trailers, access to the RJ connectors can be reached from inside the trailer by removing the air intakes. I disconnected all three and reconnected while still off shore power and batteries. I turned every thing back on again and went through the reset process, this time with Zone 2 disappearing altogether. That’s why I was suspicious about the RJ connectors. At this point I thought it might be a control board issue and made an appointment with our local AS dealer.

Then a post by Daquenzer rang a bell with me. I didn’t test the post for both legs for power but had reset the breaker. I didn’t want to test the 50 amp post in the pouring rain and besides we were leaving for home that morning. So we got home and it sat without power for a couple of days when I read Daquenzer’s post. I’m fortunate to have a parking spot with full hook-ups next to my shop with 50 amp service. So I went to my 50 amp shore power, did the reset again and BINGO, Zone 2 came back.

So the question is; Was it a bad leg on the RV resort 50 amp connection or the time period without any power. I believe it was a bad leg on the RV resort post since I had tried the power disconnect a couple of times up to over an hour.

Thanks to all for your comments and ideas. Thanks to Airforums for a valuable research center. That’s why I’m and always have been a Supporting Member.

[Daquenzer]

Originally Posted by hhendrix

All Fixed. So here is the story. We were camping at a very good RV park along the middle fork of the Willamette River in West Fir Oregon. Rainfall was very heavy. I was connected to the 50 amp post and we seldom use the heat pumps on the overhead units due to noise. We just use a small electric heater which is quiet and works well.

I didn’t turn the small portable electric heater because we sleep better when it’s cool inside the trailer. In the morning I wanted to warm up the trailer quickly and tried to turn on the propane furnace which is in Zone 2. Zone 2 functions for both the rear A/C and propane furnance. That’s when I got the E1 message which translates to no communication between the thermostat control and the appliance attached to that zone.

A little research into the Dometic manual said to reset by holding the zone and mode buttons at the same time. When you do that reset, it tries to initialize the communication to the appliances (A/C, heat pump, and propane furnace). I did and though it found Zone 1, it couldn’t communicate with Zone 2.

A little more research on the forums suggestion disconnect the power and wait a period of time and try again. Several tries and no success. Another suggestion was the communication problem could be the RJ type connectors between the thermostat, A/C units, and the sensor. Fortunately on ducted air trailers, access to the RJ connectors can be reached from inside the trailer by removing the air intakes. I disconnected all three and reconnected while still off shore power and batteries. I turned every thing back on again and went through the reset process, this time with Zone 2 disappearing altogether. That’s why I was suspicious about the RJ connectors. At this point I thought it might be a control board issue and made an appointment with our local AS dealer.

Then a post by Daquenzer rang a bell with me. I didn’t test the post for both legs for power but had reset the breaker. I didn’t want to test the 50 amp post in the pouring rain and besides we were leaving for home that morning. So we got home and it sat without power for a couple of days when I read Daquenzer’s post. I’m fortunate to have a parking spot with full hook-ups next to my shop with 50 amp service. So I went to my 50 amp shore power, did the reset again and BINGO, Zone 2 came back.

So the question is; Was it a bad leg on the RV resort 50 amp connection or the time period without any power. I believe it was a bad leg on the RV resort post since I had tried the power disconnect a couple of times up to over an hour.

Thanks to all for your comments and ideas. Thanks to Airforums for a valuable research center. That’s why I’m and always have been a Supporting Member.

Great that you got it working! Always a bit irritating when things like this happen. You think, now what. Repairs?

One of the reasons I like the EMS system. It gives a reading on each leg of the 50 AMP. When this problem occurred for me I just didn’t even contemplate the issue being at the post until I saw my EMS. I went through all the resetting gymnastics. Now it will be the first thing I check if it happens again.

By the way another easy way that I checked was some of my outlets didn’t work on that side of the camper which made complete sense.

Also these electric posts are not always wired correctly and it can save your electrical system. My brother had his saved by his EMS a couple times.

Anyway happy things are working for you!!!

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by hhendrix

. . .
. . . I believe it was a bad leg on the RV resort post . . .
. . .

Thanks for the update!

Peter

[nryn]

That’s great. I think the thermostat in the A/S has an unreasonably high learning curve. A lot of button mashing transpired.

I too had to reset mine on my first trip. And now I can’t get the timers to work (which isn’t a big deal but would be useful for longer stays in one place). I can program them but they don’t “stick”.

I did read the manual and can get what I need out of the system now, timers not withstanding. Still—the user interface for that thing leaves much to be desired.

Thanks for passing on the info. I’ll know to check the power leg more carefully when plugging in the EMS (which is another device that could greatly benefit from a user interface overhaul)