No 12 Volt Power

To all who reponded - we are back home now and resolved the problem last night (didn't travel with our laptop for a long weekend so couldn't post back).

Turn out to have been a breaker. I had no idea that a breaker would cause a lack of 12v power. I had already checked the switch in the bathroom wall by noticing that the front shell had no power either, so that ruled that out. I replaced ALL the fuses with spares that we always carry, and was truly stumped.

On a whim (because I had tried everything else) I started flipping breakers off, then on. When I flipped the (I think) third one from the top - voila! Lights are on! Don't know if that breaker is weak or what but I think I will replace it prior to our next outing.

Question: It looks like that breaker has two wires attached by screw terminals on the left side of the breaker. Once those wires are marked for correct reattachment, does the breaker simply "pull out" like a normal household breaker? Doesn't look too tough, but I don't like electrical stuff.

Again, many thanks to all.

Bob

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by Bob&Karen

To all who reponded - we are back home now and resolved the problem last night (didn't travel with our laptop for a long weekend so couldn't post back).

Turn out to have been a breaker. I had no idea that a breaker would cause a lack of 12v power. I had already checked the switch in the bathroom wall by noticing that the front shell had no power either, so that ruled that out. I replaced ALL the fuses with spares that we always carry, and was truly stumped.

On a whim (because I had tried everything else) I started flipping breakers off, then on. When I flipped the (I think) third one from the top - voila! Lights are on! Don't know if that breaker is weak or what but I think I will replace it prior to our next outing.

Question: It looks like that breaker has two wires attached by screw terminals on the left side of the breaker. Once those wires are marked for correct reattachment, does the breaker simply "pull out" like a normal household breaker? Doesn't look too tough, but I don't like electrical stuff.

Again, many thanks to all.

Bob

On that model converter, they must have put a breaker before the transformer (makes sense). I wouldn't change it unless you have another problem. If it blows again, you may well have a bad transformer. That is more likely than a bad breaker. Breakers don't "Normally" go bad. They really don't do much. If you pull it out and see black marks from arching, you may want to change it.

[Bill]

Question: It looks like that breaker has two wires attached by screw terminals on the left side of the breaker. Once those wires are marked for correct reattachment, does the breaker simply "pull out" like a normal household breaker? Doesn't look too tough, but I don't like electrical stuff.

That particular breaker has two wires coming out of it because it serves both the converter and (if I recall correctly) the outlets. To answer your question directly, yes. If you pull both of these wires out from under the screw in the breaker, it removes exactly like a household breaker. That's because it IS a household breaker.

This two-wire arrangement annoyed me, so I popped in another 15-amp breaker (5 or 6 bucks at Home Depot, etc) and put one wire on the original breaker, and the other wire on the new breaker.

I agree with Wayne that breakers seldom go bad or "weak". I wouldn't replace it in the hope that this will fix the problem.

Bill

Thanks, all - I think I will leave it alone for now. It's buttoned up for the winter at the storage lot and won't see any use until around April. When we go on vacation, we'll see what happens. It's possible that the breaker wasn't making good contact.

I might do what you suggested, Bill, and put in another breaker. After we got 12v back on this trip, we turned on every light in the camper - I wanted to make sure the little fan in the converter was working and that it wouldn't overheat, possibly tripping the breaker - but everything worked fine.

Thanks,

Bob

Not sure what part of Tn you are in, but if the battery was completely dead as you mentioned, and the converter was not putting out 12V ( charging it) there is a reasonable chance it could freeze and crack then leak. Just to be safe, I would at least open enough to get to the battery and remove it if you have not already done so. In addition, a dead battery will freeze enough to make it unusable next year even if it doesn't crack.

Thanks, Bob - we are in northeast TN. The battery is fully charged now (got the converter working the night before we pulled the TM home) and then pulled it for 6 hours the next day. After we leveled it at the storage lot, we opened it up to unpack (ran the fridge on gas on the way home so the battery would get the full benefit of a charge). Before closing down, removed the main fuse at the battery to remove any parasitic loads. Hopefully, that'll help. We've never had a problem with a frozen battery before.

Thanks again,

Bob

Glad to hear you got it fixed. Batteries will not freeze if they are charged, but a dead one can. Sounds like you are ready for next spring.

Happy Holidays.