Please help with wiring problem!

[Rhon88]

I have a 2008 Flagstaff 625d and our inside lights, water pump, vent fan, and toilet flushing system aren't working. The outside light works when the camper is plugged into Shore Power, but not on battery - none of it works on battery alone. The outlets, refrigerator, stereo, and leak detector work when plugged into Shore Power. I've been reading through the forums and found info about the kill switch and I found that one of the connections had melted off. I fixed that, but the fan was the only thing that came on, the rest still doesn't work. I then started trying to trace through the wires that come through the converter and the fan went off again. That's where I am now. I don't really know anything about wiring so if someone could give me a clue what to do next, I would greatly appreciate it. -Thanks

 

[tombiasi]

Sounds like there are some loose connections on the panel. Tighten the screws and look for wires that came off. Might be a good idea to get help from someone who knows wiring.

 

[94-D2]

If you had melted wires or connectors, that is a short. And that means blown fuses, fusible links, breakers and possibly circuit boards. You can start with fuses. Understand that there are 2 power systems on your trailer. 110v A/C and 12v DC. Shore Power is 110 v A/C and powers your residential type plugs. It also supplies your converter which produces the 12v D.C. which would run your lights, pumps, ceiling fan and stereo. The on board battery stores and provides 12v power when not plugged into Shore Power.

So, you need to start looking for the obvious, fuses and breakers, and begin verifying power from the source and out to the various events circuits. To do this, you need some sort of tester (multimeter) and some knowledge of electricity and it's components. After checking the obvious ad not getting anywhere, take it to a professional or have someone with a working knowledge of an RV electrical system to help you.

Good luck. Hope it works out....

 

[roybraddy]

Here is a basis 30A Power Plan for trailers...

Might help you know what powers what... It all hinges around the 120VAC Circuit Breaker Panel and the 12VDC FUSE Panel....

In order for the trailer to operate OFF-GRID it has to have all of the BASICS to be 12VDC items along with PROPANE items....

Then when you are at Electric sites you can have a few nice items to have on the home comfort side like Air conditioning, Microwave, etc...

The basics items like your lights etc, however require the 12VDC which can come from the battery or also from the converter unit when it is powered up by the Shore Power... When on Shore Power the converter also charges your battery to keep it going...

Roy Ken

 

[SteveP]

Assuming the melted connector was on the safety switch you need to work downstream from the switch. The next thing I would check would be the wires in the cloth tube that runs up to the roof where possibly the wires got pinched during set down. A short that strong will leave a mark or burned insulation so it shouldn't be too hard to find visually.

 

[Rhon88]

Thanks for your responses. We put new connections on the wiring that went up to the roof for the lights and we have lights again. The vent fan is working now, too. We found a blown fuse for the toilet, and can hear the converter come on when we try to flush, but it's not flushing so we ordered a new pump for the toilet. We also ordered a new water pump, so hopefully both of those problems will be taken care of. Other than that, the only thing I'm having problem with is that the lights aren't working when we unplug from Shore Power. We have a new battery and it raises the roof so I know it's good. I don't know why nothing else works off of it. Maybe the wiring between the battery and converter?

 

[94-D2]

Could be a circuit breaker in line. It looks like this.

 

[Rhon88]

That was it. Thanks!

Our pup is ready to go with all systems working great. I appreciate all the help!!

 

[94-D2]

Awesome. Glad it worked out.....