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Old 01-30-2017, 07:24 PM   #1
Captain Troy
 
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1977 31' Sovereign
Vicksburg , Mississippi
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Help Power Issues - New (To Me) Rig

And the honeymoon ended rather abruptly with a significant electrical issue. DIW until I can locate this seemingly rare 50A buss fuse. I'm still happy with her though. A big lesson that I have a lot to learn.
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Old 01-30-2017, 07:45 PM   #2
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Oh, shoot, Cap'n. You're not DIW around here. Lots of folks to help you right the ship and get back on course. Maybe post a description of the issues you're having. Better now when in dry dock than when under way.

Jim

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Old 01-30-2017, 07:52 PM   #3
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1977 31' Sovereign
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Ok thank you! So I've been on shore power for about a week with no glitch. Yesterday evening the fridge shuts down and lights begun to dim. Then smoke in the cabin smelling of burning wires. Battery was deemed to be better used as an anchor so it was replace however problem persisted. Today two fuses were found faulty. The 50A was ordered.
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Old 01-31-2017, 01:36 PM   #4
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Help Power Issues

I'm a proud new owner of a 77 sovereign. Having power issues. Currently no power. Looking for someone to coach me through. I'm living in and have shore power access.Thank you to anyone willing educate me. 7078152244. Troy
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Old 01-31-2017, 03:18 PM   #5
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I know nothing about that vintage trailer, but here are some generic questions:

1. Do you know where the battery disconnect switch is? It is probably a two position rotary switch with a lever handle on it and may or may not be labelled as such. It may just have an ON/OFF label or like mine, have no label at all. If it is OFF, there will be no DC power to the lights or appliances that use it.
2. Do you have a shore power cord, and is it hooked up? If not you'll need to get one. Size it based on the main breaker in your trailer's AC breaker box.
3. Are the breakers on and not tripped? Test your outlets with an outlet tester available at big box stores or just a table lamp.
4. Locate the converter. It should be a metal box with an AC cord and some large DC wires connected to it. Places to look are under the sofa or beds. It may be behind a metal door in a cabinet base. Make sure it is plugged in to a working AC outlet. When connected to shore power it should be making DC to charge the batteries and operate the DC stuff such as lights, and appliances that need DC.
5. Do you have batteries, or has someone removed them? If so, check to be sure they are connected, the water level is correct, and that they are getting charging power from the converter. If the converter is working you should read around 13 volts on the batteries. In that vintage trailer, I think there are some large (30A or more) cartridge fuses between the converter, batteries and the main DC power panel for the trailer. Make sure those are good. Make sure the smaller fuses to the individual circuits are good.

Good Luck. Total Loss of power shouldn't be hard to find, but if the trailer has not been used in a while there may be multiple issues to find and correct.

Al
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Old 01-31-2017, 06:11 PM   #6
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Welcome to the forum Troy. Do you have the owner's manual for your trailer? It should help you get oriented and be able to follow the recent suggestions.

If no manual available, they are available at Airstream's trailer page:

https://www.airstream.com/travel-trailers/

where you would go to Service at the top right, and click on Manuals in the drop down menu, after which you have to enter a year, and then find the manual you need. The 1977 manual is here, but it looks like the scanning did not go well, as most of the pages are gibberish:

https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...0003.0110i.pdf

The 1977 Excella manual is here:

https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...xcella-500.pdf

but not sure if this covers your unit. The Electrical System section starts on p. 73 [p. 79/98 in the PDF numbering system].

If you could provide more information and feedback on Al's questions in Post #2, hopefully you will be able to figure out your lack of power.

Good luck!

Peter
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Old 01-31-2017, 06:25 PM   #7
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Troy I see that you have an earlier thread with more detail, so it might make sense to stay in that thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f368...ia-162077.html

No point in having two threads going at the same time IMO.

Your call about where to reply, or maybe the moderators will merge the two threads.

Good luck!

Peter
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Old 01-31-2017, 10:14 PM   #8
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1977 31' Sovereign
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Thank you otra.... so trouble shooting went well today and believe there's a short somewhere within the forward 12v lights or outlets. That adventure begins tomorrow. Btw how does one advertise original furniture? Ie. The folding table or corner kitchen cabinet.
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Old 02-01-2017, 02:35 AM   #9
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Good luck chasing down that short!

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Old 02-01-2017, 09:45 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Al and Missy View Post
I know nothing about that vintage trailer, but here are some generic questions:

...

Al
Somehow I missed your post about it working before the smoke incident. So most of my questions were irrelevant. Sorry for the confusion.

Al
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Old 02-03-2017, 05:25 PM   #11
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The only electrical problem other than fabricating new battery cables with Anderson connectors for both battery compartments was a short in the 30 amp shore plug. I tried to track down the problem and even bypass the spring loaded reel on my '77 Excella 500 31' model. New plug head fixed that problem.
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Old 02-03-2017, 05:37 PM   #12
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Ok thank you David :-)
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Old 02-03-2017, 08:19 PM   #13
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Is the Univolt original?
Where is the fuse located?
I would think a branch circuit fuse would have blown if you have an internal short.
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Old 02-03-2017, 08:29 PM   #14
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1977 31' Sovereign
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I haven't had time to look at it the last few days... right now everything works except for the forward 12v outlets, the two front reading lights and the bar light. I'm hardly putting any load on the new battery to even know if the inverter works. The lights on it are on but no fan in days. It's some aftermarket inverter that nobody has ever heard of. Made in China was all I needed to see.
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Old 02-03-2017, 10:13 PM   #15
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Inverter? Or converter? Did a po install the wrong device?
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Old 02-04-2017, 06:06 AM   #16
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Grrr.. I'm showing my ignorance. You are correct.. converter.
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Old 02-04-2017, 06:21 AM   #17
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So did the short trip a breaker or blow a fuse? You say everything else works, so you are able to energize the trailer's 12v system, in general? No smoke or smell from this? Good news in a sense IMO.
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Old 02-04-2017, 06:42 AM   #18
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1977 31' Sovereign
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Yes I cleaned up the mess of wires at the battery and converter. Some of which were melted and could very well have been part of the problem. As soon as I enjoy this amazing new coffee press I'll drill out the outlet rivets on the one I believe is the culprit. Many thanks to all for helping me out... Still lots to learn about my new home but I love her more every day :-)
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