RV Fridge inop, no 12v lights in slides

[pritch272]

2021 Grand Design Transcend 31RLK

New unit, about 100 miles to dealer, so want to resolve without taking to dealer. Moved trailer for cement pad install, left it hooked to tow vehicle, slides in, ready for travel. After a week, set trailer up on pad, leveled, extended slldes, connected to shore power. Went to turn on fridge, the power light briefly illuminated, never to illuminate again. Checked AC at rear of fridge, ok. checked all breakers, ok, pulled and checked all fuses with multi-meter, all good.

Observations that I think are related:
the overhead lights in both the 2 front slides (opposite sides of trailer) don't work (1 slide also has the fridge)
the last 4 fuses when removed did not cause the red 'blown fuse' indicator to light.

I pulled the distribution panel out, looking for anything amiss, checked the 2 35amp fuses on the converter, both were good.

I'm not at the trailer currently, will get and post pictures of the front of the panel that show the breakers and fuses....
I will also check for 12v at those 4 fuse locations.

Is there a wiring diagram for this model available that may help direct me?
Any other advice will be greatly appreciated.

[ncitro]

2021 Grand Design Transcend 31RLK

New unit, about 100 miles to dealer, so want to resolve without taking to dealer. Moved trailer for cement pad install, left it hooked to tow vehicle, slides in, ready for travel. After a week, set trailer up on pad, leveled, extended slldes, connected to shore power. Went to turn on fridge, the power light briefly illuminated, never to illuminate again. Checked AC at rear of fridge, ok. checked all breakers, ok, pulled and checked all fuses with multi-meter, all good.

Observations that I think are related:
the overhead lights in both the 2 front slides (opposite sides of trailer) don't work (1 slide also has the fridge)
the last 4 fuses when removed did not cause the red 'blown fuse' indicator to light.

I pulled the distribution panel out, looking for anything amiss, checked the 2 35amp fuses on the converter, both were good.

I'm not at the trailer currently, will get and post pictures of the front of the panel that show the breakers and fuses....
I will also check for 12v at those 4 fuse locations.

Is there a wiring diagram for this model available that may help direct me?
Any other advice will be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like you’re on the right track for troubleshooting. Given you don’t get the red light I’d search for 12v on those fuse terminals. I assume you do not have 12v at the refrigerator 12v terminals? if you do not have 12v at those fuse terminals then I’d guess a problem with the distribution panel. Possibly loose screws on the terminals? I’ve never heard of the actual distribution board going bad.

You can call grand design with your vin and they will give you the electrical “plan” but it won’t be much use for troubleshooting this kind of problem. It does not contain color codes, fuse locations, or specific routing.

[Jlawles2]

You state 2 interesting things here. Worked when you closed slide, and no red light. That immediately trips me to think you have a broke wire most likely in the umbilical to the slide. closing the slide either pinched the wire or extending pulled it out of somewhere.

I'd start with the control board for the Refer to see if it has power (be advised that seeing 12V does not indicate that it can carry the load needed), from there, I would look under the slide and inspect the wiring for breaks. The red light needs to find ground somewhere for it to come on, if the main power wire to the slide is broke, it cannot find ground to show blown.

[Country Campers]

All good advice so far. I will add that the "blown fuse" indicator may not be trusted. I had a blown fuse , caused by me , that did light the LED. Checking the fuses with a meter is good but you may also try to replace each one with a new one as you may find a blown one.

Brian

[howson]

2021 Grand Design Transcend 31RLK

What make/model refrigerator?

Is there a wiring diagram for this model available that may help direct me?

Sorry, no.

[pritch272]

I've been side-lined with visitors, so haven't done anything additional. The first chance I'll get back at the trailer will be Monday afternoon, so I'll spend some time, and not have any competing priorities....

I'll let everyone know what I find, thanks for the suggestions!!!!

[pritch272]

RESOLVED for now...

ok, it's been a while, other priorities, finally got back to this issue. pulled the distribution panel again, looking for anything amiss. My son was helping me (electrician). Didn't find anything amiss. Being there was no 12v for lights on both LR slides (BR slide had 12v), we started underneath checking where the umbilical comes out of the frame for each slide, there is an access with 2 screws to allow wiring to be pulled out some from the frame. On the passenger side, there were a few wire junctions where 3 brown/white wires were connected together, another for yellow/white, an ac junction, one for 3 white wires. Checked the back of the 12v distribution, found the brown/white connected to the fuse for 'slide', so, checked for 12v at the dist, ok there. Cut one of the wires at the junction, the one we 'thought' was the feed for the other 2, it was 7.5 volts, so we started chasing wires. Pulled down some of the undercover, cut some of the undercover, traced back towards the distribution panel, wires on top of a tank, back inside trailer, removed drawers, found the wiring going around the heater ducts, never did find the wire from below that was coming from the dist, elected to not remove more underbelly, propane on that side, too much to recover from with the underbelly cover. I was doing a lot of shaking/pulling wires back and forth up top while my son was trying to see anything moving below. Decided to check the other 2 brown/white wires at the slide access panel for voltage just in case we chose the wrong wire to check for voltage on, cut those other 2, each had 0 volts, rechecked the first that had 7.5, it now had 12 or 13 volts, checked lights and fridge controls, everything was now working..... so, although we didn't find the exact location of the wiring fault, we pulled wiring enough to resolve. Buttoned up the belly underpanel, gorilla taped the areas we cut and called it a day.

Eventually, I'd like to replace that underbelly covering with something more 'user' friendly in being able to access items, such as wiring, etc. It wasn't too bad with the 2 of us, and it certainly helped that the trailer was on a cement pad, but it was still a royal pain. maybe 4 foot interlocking panels that can be removed and replaced easily.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Glad it's working but I'm thinking that is coming back at some point in the future.....
I don't have a TT, but I hear there is a non-waterproof box on the frame that may have multiple wires on studs. Check them.

[ThePowells]

pritch272 I'm sorry that I didn't see and acknowledge this before, but Welcome to the family and the forum!

When you have a chance, the moderators have taken the time to create a Welcome Letter to help new members navigate the forum, create a signature line and search tips hoping to give members the best possible experience on the forum. You can find it at https://gdrvowners.com/forum/main-fo...to-new-members