Partial power loss!

[Sherm2954]

After 65 days of boondocking and travel in our 2011 17B, we pulled in to a full hookups site yesterday. Everything worked perfectly including our account. It's 90+ so that's important to us. We have had hookups before and no prob. Everything worked.

This evening we lost 2 lights on the driver side plus the light and fan at the hood. I've checked the breakers and fuses at the power center....all good. All other lights are working as is the pump........

Help? Advice Comments?

Thank you all and mucho amore.

[Eggscape]

Sorry I am not more familiar with your trailer but it’s sounds like you might have tripped your ground fault plug. Sometimes they hook stuff up after the plug to save running another AC line. Worth a check. If your not familiar with what I am talking about...it is a little push button switch in the center of a plug... most likely the plug outside.

[Brian B-P]

A reasonable guess would be that everything which is not working is connected together, on one circuit. If the fuse for that circuit is good (as it appears to be), then a wiring connection has presumably failed somewhere between the power centre and the first non-working item. A broken connection can be on the +12 volt side or the "ground" side. There shouldn't be any buried connections - they should all be in the power centre or at one of the devices (lights, etc), but there might be a hidden one anyway. It's likely a matter of tracing wires and checking with meter or tester at each point the wiring is accessible.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Eggscape

Sorry I am not more familiar with your trailer but it’s sounds like you might have tripped your ground fault plug. Sometimes they hook stuff up after the plug to save running another AC line. Worth a check. If your not familiar with what I am talking about...it is a little push button switch in the center of a plug... most likely the plug outside.

But none of the listed items (lights, fan) are 120 volts AC; they're all 12 volt DC stuff which wouldn't be affected by a tripped Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter.

[sclifrickson]

Sherm, do you have the EMS system? Maybe an over or under voltage condition?

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

Sherm, do you have the EMS system? Maybe an over or under voltage condition?

Our EMS would trip all the time showing a high voltage fault ( Before Recalibration)
The 120 VAC in the trailer would shut down , the 12VDC system continued to work as normal .
As Brian BP posted it sounds like a defective splice / connection .
Hopefully all the splice were made at the devices and not in the middle of a run .

[rbryan4]

I agree with Ed. Try a simple thing first - Check your GFCI to see if it tripped. It's usually on an exterior plug.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Try a simple thing first - Check your GFCI to see if it tripped. It's usually on an exterior plug.

It's easy to check the GFCI, but how could that affect 12 V DC lights and a 12 V DC fan?

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

Sherm, do you have the EMS system? Maybe an over or under voltage condition?

Whether there is under voltage on the 120 V AC supply, over voltage on the 120 V AC supply, or a shutdown of 120 V AC power by the EMS for any other reason, how can the supply of 120 V AC power affect some (and not others) of the 12 V DC devices in the trailer?

[John in Santa Cruz]

yeah, I'd suggest instead, checking the DC fuses.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

yeah, I'd suggest instead, checking the DC fuses.

In post #1 the OP stated that he had checked all the fuses and that they were OK .

[John in Santa Cruz]

if you have a multimeter, check the light socket to see if there's power there. if there's no power, then the problem is in the trailer somewhere, if there is power, but no light, then the bulb (or LED) failed. having a bunch of stuff fail at once suggests there may have been a voltage surge on the 12VDC side of things.

were the fuses actually pulled and checked with an ohmeter? or just visually inspected in situ ? the fact that some DC stuff is working says there's power at the fuse panel, as everything comes from the same place, its the individual fuses where things split off.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Whether there is under voltage on the 120 V AC supply, over voltage on the 120 V AC supply, or a shutdown of 120 V AC power by the EMS for any other reason, how can the supply of 120 V AC power affect some (and not others) of the 12 V DC devices in the trailer?

I don’t know, I’m just spitballing. Maybe it could damage the converter which then puts out wonky 12V, which some things are more sensitive to than other things? Yeah, I know this is far fetched, but you asked! And I wasn’t suggesting that over/under 120 voltage is causing this, I was asking the bigger brains if that is a possibility. Like I said, just spitballing.

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

I don’t know, I’m just spitballing. Maybe it could damage the converter which then puts out wonky 12V, which some things are more sensitive to than other things? Yeah, I know this is far fetched, but you asked! And I wasn’t suggesting that over/under 120 voltage is causing this, I was asking the bigger brains if that is a possibility. Like I said, just spitballing.

the GFCI *only* effects a few of the 120VAC outlets, typically the kitchen side one(s) and the curbside outdoor one.

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

the GFCI *only* effects a few of the 120VAC outlets, typically the kitchen side one(s) and the curbside outdoor one.

My question did not involve GFCI.

[Ron in BC]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

were the fuses actually pulled and checked with an ohmeter? or just visually inspected in situ ? the fact that some DC stuff is working says there's power at the fuse panel, as everything comes from the same place, its the individual fuses where things split off.

Absolutely, I no longer rely on "it looks OK". Use a multimeter to check the power in and power out terminals.

Unfortunately there are probably some hidden splices but I'd check every item I could to determine where the power is and where it isn't.

Multimeter, don't leave home without one.

Ron

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by Ron in BC

Multimeter, don't leave home without one.

Ron

And the instructions on how to use it.

[Jim Bennett]

I would be willing to bet that if it isn't a fuse, it is a connection somewhere in the circuit, either on the positive or negative side. Tracing the circuit with a multi-meter will tell the tale.

Unrelated, but mentioned here, the GFI plug on the exterior usually only protects that plug and the kitchen plug, as they are the only ones requiring ground fault protection.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

were the fuses actually pulled and checked with an ohmeter? or just visually inspected in situ ? the fact that some DC stuff is working says there's power at the fuse panel, as everything comes from the same place, its the individual fuses where things split off.

Great question. I'm not sure what the poster did, but I was thinking that I wouldn't rely on the little red LED fuse blown indicators that are built into the WFCO converter. I would pull each fuse and take a closer look if this hasn't been done. Also test for voltage across the fuse terminals on the DC board. Maybe that circuit went bad? In that case the DC board could be popped out, wiring terminations moved to a spare slot and problem solved.

[Sherm2954]

update:
the lights and fan are working - don't ask me why. that actually bothers me more than them not working at all. We are in an older park for a few days, but it seems unlikely to me that a power surge or deficit would impact two lights and the hood (all in a row on the driver side). I have a Power Grip circuit analyzer? plugged into the 30 amp between the supply and my cord and it indicates the wiring is correct - but that obviously doesn't address the issues of power surge....also, in the middle of the night our gfi outlet next to the sink tripped. nothing plugged in and i checked for moisture in the cabinet - all dry...i'm baffled

I did a visual on each fuse, pulled it and checked it and replaced it. I'll be taking the bed apart this afternoon to get behind the converter.
I don't have a multi-meter, but I'll be buying one and learning how to use it.