[Bill]

Brian -

The fact that you have a 120VAC problem on two devices which are both served by the same circuit breaker really suggests that there is a problem at or before the breaker. Breakers rarely go bad, though it does happen. But first, I'm sure you realize that if a breaker trips, you can't reset it simply by pushing it back to the ON position. You must first push it to the OFF position (SNAP!), and then to ON (SNAP!) Assuming you are doing this, you need to confirm that 120VAC is coming out of the breaker, at the black wires. Do you have a voltmeter? If not, you can buy a simple analog or digital VOM (volt-ohm-milliammeter) for less than $10 at an auto supply place, hardware store, big box store, or even WalMart. It doesn't have to be fancy. Alternatively, you can buy a 120VAC test light for about $3.

Since I believe you have a problem that is common to both circuits, I won't try to go further into it until you get back to us. But let me make a couple comments about the two individual devices - the refrig and the converter.

Most of us - about 80% according to the poll - find that our tow vehicles won't power the refrig while travelling. The problem is that the wiring in the tow vehicle isn't heavy enough. It delivers only a part of the current that the refrig needs, and the rest is provided by the TM battery. If you want to run the refrig while you are driving, the most common solution is simply to add another 12VDC supply wire from the tow vehicle alternator to the TM battery, running alongside the existing one. There is a lot of discussion - several threads - about this issue, which I'm sure you can find. It has nothing to do with your converter problem, so I'll leave it there.

Incidentally, some owners have found that in their tow vehicle, there is a fuse holder for the 12VDC line that runs back to the trailer connector, but that no fuse was installed by the factory. You'll need to confirm that.

Regarding the converter. You have an '06 3023, and I have an '06 2720. In the '06 model, TM used an American Enterprises converter. The fact that they switched to another converter after one year tells you that the AE converter was pretty bad. My experience was this. The AE converter doesn't charge the battery all the way - the tech support guy at AE admitted that to prevent overcharging the battery, the converter shuts off before the battery is fully charged. The "useless two-page manual" you found is the only manual there is, again according to the tech support guy at AE. When my AE converter died, I bought a new and expensive main board from the converter's importer. When it came, it did not have the little board with the LED indicator lights. Yet another call to the tech support guy yielded the info that the lights didn't do anything important or reliable, so they were eliminated. After a year, the new main board died, so I gave up, pulled the main board out, and bought a new charger section from Progressive Dynamics. I have not been entirely pleased with it, either, but it is a lot better than the AE unit, and at least it still works after 4 or 5 years.

Again, from what you have said, I think the problem you are experiencing is neither in the refrig nor the converter, but somewhere common to both. So don't run off the deep end, replacing either, until you have confirmed it one way or the other. But if it turns out that the converter is bad, you might consider replacing it with a different brand.

Just my experience.

Bill