AC Power Issue

[Del]

Hi,

I was doing some work on my 2011 17b trailer and ran into some electrical issues. Issues as in there's no AC power when hooked up.

The AC power to the air conditioner works.

I am unable to get power elsewhere. The LED lights flickered when I turned 2 on, then they went dead. Fridge and other appliances won't turn on.

I installed some tank cleaners and mounted them to the bottom of the body under the shower. There were some factory holes so I figured that might be a good location as any for 1" long screws. Hoping I didn't get unlucky and hit a wiring harness...

Other time I've neglected the electrical system is when a dri-z-air humidity catcher fell and the pellets went everywhere on my electrical panel. That was a while ago. These pellets absorb humidity and create water. Very difficult to clean them up.

Any thoughts on these issues? I checked my fuses and panel. It has a WF-8900 series by WFCO.

TIA.

[John in Santa Cruz]

If the Air conditioner comes on, their must be A/C power at the circuit breaker panel in the power center, the other A/C circuits come off of additional breakers (outlets, the power converter itself, and the A/C side of your fridge). It sounds like your DC side is out, this is all dependent on both the battery, and the power converter in the bottom of hte power center, that acts as both a supply and battery charger. The converter gets its power from one of the breakers (should be labeled), and feeds the DC fuse panel where the battery is tied in via the dual 40A(?) 'anti-reverse hookup' fuses. Many RV fridges require a little 12VDC for their control board, even if you are running them off A/C power.

[John in Santa Cruz]

on 1" long screws are definitely too long, and those holes are for draining any condensation inside the fiberglass body. I have no idea if there's any wiring in that channel on your 17.

[Del]

Hi John,

Thank you for your response.

I'm pretty green to RVs and such. I've had a camper before but never had it hooked up to a battery. Everything was functional off 110v AC when plugged in.

I purchased this off an elderly couple. The guy had Parkinson's and wasn't helpful on certain things. I've assumed these batteries are roached.

I have a lithium ion battery that I'm planning on attaching. It's self contained with the inverter on top. I haven't figured out how I would like to connect it yet. Anyways, probably a different post which I'll search the board for.

From your response this WFCO WF-8955PEC:

Distributes AC power
Converts DC power to supply appliances and charge the batteries.

The DC side which I assume is the transformer etc on lower area is where my issue might be. Edit - the instructions verify this.

So I can probably troubleshoot as per the instructions. If the unit doesn't work, it's the issue. Normally I'd rather fix a wire... I really don't want to cut into fiberglass or remove a shower 😵*💫🤯😵*💫🤯

[John in Santa Cruz]

integrating one of those lithium self contained portable power packs will be troublesome at best.

I would instead get a PD4655L and replace the electronics side of the WFCO 8955 (its pretty darn simple, 4 or 5 wires total), and get 1-2 plain LFP batteries such as LiTime 100AH or SOK 206AH... if two batteries, wire in parallel... and replace the lead acid with these. If you have solar, replace your solar charge controller with a MPPT controller that supports lithium batteries (I used a Victron SmartSolar 100/30)... and disconnect the tow vehicle charging wire as its just problematic with lead acid in the vehicle and lithium in the trailer. I'd also considering getting a bluetooth capable smart shunt battery monitor, I used the Victron SmartShunt, and wiring that into the battery circuit (again, quite simple), then you can monitor the battery state from your phone at any time.

[Del]

So I went to run the test and there was a bang! Smell of dead electronics, the DC end is dead.

Good and bad news.

Bad - I'm spending more money.
Good - I'll be connecting a lithium ion pack to the converter.

I have a battery pack that I'm reluctant to take apart. It would be nice to tuck it away in the trailer. I also want to be able to use it in my truck without the trailer 🤔

I have a 200AH Renogy LI battery hooked up to a charger in a unit. I open up the box when in use. I have a 3000watt sine wave inverter on top.

I was going to spend the second half of my day hooking up my DC-DC charger on my truck. I have welding leads and battery connectors that run to my box.

I have a couple of fold up solar panels that hook up to my battery. Controllers are all contained.

So if I do the battery outside of the unit, I can connect to the old battery terminals or upgrade them. Use the items you've recommended.

What about connecting inverters on these units? Any recommendations? So far I've only connected my converter to the RV plug.

[John in Santa Cruz]

that looks like a 100AH lithium battery? I don't think those have the peak output current required to run a 3000W inverter at anywhere near its capacity... thats like 250A DC... I have 2 x 206AH batteries in parallel, and run a 2000W inverter, this requires 166A peak, and my batteries are rated for 100A output each. you need to use some heavy wire to connect the inverter directly to the batteries, like 0 AWG..

you have two choices for wiring an inverter into a trailer's systems. you can wire it to a dedicated outlet or two, so when the inverter is on, you can plug stuff into those outlets and run them off inverted battery power (that's what I did, its certainly simpler), or you can wire most of your A/C loads *except* the converter into a transfer switch with its own subpanel of circuit breakers, then when the inverter is switched on, your batteries can run all the A/C loads of your trailer. Don't expect more than an hour or two of Air Conditioning before you completely flatten your battery even with dual big batts like I have... Typical RV A/C unit draws about 1400 watts off the AC input, a single 100AH lithium is only about 1200 watt*hours, my dual 206AH is 5200 watt*hours.

[Del]

It's a 200ah battery. Max charge rate of 100 amps, max discharge of 400 amps, continues max drawdown of 200 amps.

"[Max. 6% More Capacity] Renogy 12V 200Ah Core Series Battery provides max. 6% more power compared with the rated capacity, ramping the usable capacity up to 212Ah. [True All-Round BMS Protection] Built in with a reliable 200A battery management system (BMS) for regulating high discharge current up to 200A. The included low-temperature cut off makes for safer charging in winter and consistent performance in the long run. [Responsive Customer Support] Whether you need help with sizing, installation tips, or any other support, we strive have you covered with timely assistance in 24 hours. The Renogy 12V 200Ah Core Series Battery comes with a 5 year limited warranty."

Needing an extra 50 amps to get the most out of my inverter make sense. It works for everything but doesn't have enough kick to power up the AC compressor. I don't have a soft start installed. I bought the 3000 watt as it wasn't much more money than the 2000 watt during a sale. I don't think I want to drop another $1000 for a battery. More expensive as I'm in Canada, 39 minutes away from escape trailers.

AC for me is a luxury. Where I live the climate is the same as Seattle. The maxifan cools off the unit quickly once the sun drops.

I have a Honda EU2200i generator. It's just under the amount of power needed to run my AC. I was planning on picking up a companion for more power. I only need it for the AC.

Wondering if I could get by on 1 generator if the AC had a soft start. �� It would be cheaper and one less item to haul or lose.

I'd rather not run items peak though....

[brroberts]

I have an older Honda EU2000 and it runs my AC. Doubt you’d need the second parallel one. Try it first. I have the Coleman 13.5 NDQ.