No 12v power in 2016 reflection 313rlts

[Kbr549p]

Anyone know why the 12v power would just go out? I have no radio, no refrig off electric, no 12 lights, slide outs and awning won't power. Wired co/gas detector going off and showing green/red light bill pattern indicating fault. Is the power converter (or inverter?) a reasonable focal point? Is there a breaker or reset for it maybe? And where would I find the power converter/inverter. Would running on an amply generator cause this? I purchased a ground plug for my generator in the event the generator was creating a floating ground issue for the camper.

waiting for shore power to be installed to eliminate the possibility my new inverter generator is contributing to this. The 4500w should be plenty to run most off the camper.

any help would be appreciated. No searches done so far are coming up helpful so I am hoping members or this forum have some insight. Thanks in advance.

[Country Campers]

Is there a red handled switch in the front pass thru storage on the door side? If so it needs to be pushed in and turned so the handle is not able to be removed.
Also if you follow the positive battery lead to the frame there may be a fuse in that line.

Brian

[Kbr549p]

Thank you Brian. The battery disconnect seems to have no effect. I will check the lead to see about a fuse. If it turns out to be the converter where would i find it?

[howson]

Thank you Brian. The battery disconnect seems to have no effect. I will check the lead to see about a fuse. If it turns out to be the converter where would i find it?

Most likely in the bottom of the hutch, just to the left of the circuit breaker panel.

[Jlawles2]

You may need to find the self resetting breaker and test it. If the breaker goes out (I have seen this first hand on someone else's unit) everything starts doing strange things.

Follow the positive power wire from the battery to the breakers. While there check the negative lead to the chassis of the unit. And as always double check the battery connections and ensure the battery is topped off with electrolyte (distilled water).

[Kbr549p]

self resetting breaker where is that located? I did find the converter on the adjacent wall in the bathroom behind a panel. When converter shows no output power but fan runs. So I take it the converter the life expectancy is not great on these and it is shot? Also noticed there is no grounding wire from the battery to the panel box. The panel box shows a connection opportunity. It does not appear that anything has been connected.

Will the furnace "always" use battery power or should it use shore power when it is hooked up?

Thanks all for your help with this?

[howson]

self resetting breaker where is that located?

What Jlawles2 was referencing is the trailer's battery wire to self-resetting circuit breaker. All of the self-resetting circuit breakers are just behind the "A" frame at the front of the camper. This means you have to crawl underneath and then look up. Usually they are closer to the street side of the camper.

Here's how my 315RLTS looks (yours is probably similar):



If Joseph is right the breaker that may be causing your issue is breaker 3 -- note how it's electrically between the converter and Power Distribution Panel (physically it's located at the front of the camper as previously mentioned).

Will the furnace "always" use battery power or should it use shore power when it is hooked up?

Both or either can do the job. The converter creates 12vDC from 120vAC (aka "shore power"). The converter both charges the battery and provides 12vDC to the camper. The battery acts like a "shock absorber" to provide the extra power when there's a spike in demand that the converter can't keep up with.

Howard

[familytruckster4]

Keep in mind that this style of breaker is far from being waterproof and prone to corrosion. There are more robust choices available.

[Kbr549p]

Could this be a contributing factor? Also, there is no grounding wire from the battery to the panel box. The panel box shows a connection opportunity. It does not appear that anything has been connected. IF you have recommendations for the self-resetting breakers please share.

[Cate&Rob]

The white wire will likely ground to the frame. The battery negative will also ground to the frame. The RV industry (RVIA) uses white wiring for 12V negative (ground) . . . apparently their interpretation of aligning with 120VAC wiring code.

Rob

[howson]

Kbr549p --

The assumption is we're looking at a WFCO 8930/50 Power Center (similar to what's in my '19 315RLTS). Note the diagram is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise to make reading the labels easier.



The white wire circled in your pic is the negative from the battery. It looks like that screw is not tightened down? The black wire is the positive, so be very careful not to short those two metal connections when working around them (assuming the battery disconnect is "on", meaning there's power available).

When you put a multimeter on the black and white metal wire connections, what does the meter measure? (Black lead of multimeter on the white wire, red lead on the black wire, meter set to DC and auto range.)

I'm not sure how you determined there's no connection between the 12vDC negative wire on the Power Center box and the battery. Please elaborate.

Please don't be offended, but from reading this thread again it appears to me that troubleshooting an electrical problem is not in your wheelhouse. Again, no offense intended. In post 7 I gave you all the information needed to troubleshoot the self-resetting breakers.

There are times it's best to have a professional look at a problem (or call a friend that knows what they are doing).

Howard

[Cate&Rob]

Just reading back through this thread . . . (some of these thoughts may have already been addressed.)

If you are running off a generator, have you linked the neutral and ground circuits at the generator?

WRT your furnace question, the control circuits and blower always run on 12V. This can be supplied by the battery or from shore power through the converter.

Rob

[TedS]

Could this be a contributing factor? Also, there is no grounding wire from the battery to the panel box. The panel box shows a connection opportunity. It does not appear that anything has been connected. IF you have recommendations for the self-resetting breakers please share.

There is no dc grounding to the panel.

[Yoda]

Kbr549p I have not seen this question asked, but do you have a multimeter and what are the voltages at you battery and elsewhere like the convertor or from you generator;

As for the panel that white wire (negative return) will run to the frame and will probably be tied to the 120v ground wire at the same location. Here is a picture of how it was don on my 220RK


I found this connection on the passenger side frame below my distribution panel and traced the wiring back. My suggestion is check if you have 12v power across the self resetting breaker.

Keith

[Kbr549p]

Thank you all for the feedback! I did find the power converter on the opposite wall in the bathroom in a hidden panel. Replacing the power converter seems to have fixed the issues!