residential fridge inverter, euro style hidden hinges, TV booster

[k-f-Indiana]

WE purchased our 2014 Big Country 3950FB a couple months ago. I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced these problems and has answers.

We turn the inverter on in the front basement before traveling so the fridge will run. However, it shuts itself off after a period of time and we have to turn it on again, and watch the fridge so we are aware of this.

Also, the hidden hinges have come loose from the cabinet doors on 3 of ours. My husband glues them in, but we are wondering if this is going to happen to every cabinet door.

Also, we cannot find the TV booster. It is not on the electrical outlet or antenna covers. The bedroom TV does not pull out, so we cannot see if it is behind the TV.

Has anyone else had these problems. If so, what did you do/

 

[wdk450]

Karen:

First of all. if it is all possible, I would encourage you to recoup that warranty service funding that was rolled into the purchase price of your RV. If your dealer is not local or unavailable, Heartland Service lets you use ANY RV Servicer you so choose, with prior phone notification to them. The phone number is on the top left of the "Portal" page. Many of us prefer to use a local, independent (doesn't sell RV's) RV servicer, as service throughput and customer satisfaction are vital to his business.

You may want to check RVServiceReviews.com for a local servicer, or Heartland keeps a list of independent servicers they have worked with.

The only one of your problems I have some ideas about is your inverter powering your refrigerator. Most all inverters have automatic circuitry that will shut down the inverter (usually temporarily) if the incoming voltage from the battery gets too low, usually under about 10.5 volts DC. A weak battery or poor 12 volt DC wiring can cause this due to the large pulses of current caused by the startup of the refrigerator compressor motor. This pulse might be 15 amps AC, but that converts to about 150 amps from the battery into the inverter. A 1/2 ohm resistance in the battery cables/connections in this case would drop most of the battery voltage at this resistance point. This startup current pulse is one of the reasons household refrigerators have not been commonly used in RV's over the years. You might want to consider adding a 2nd battery for better inverter/refrigerator reliability. I do not want to leave out that the problem could indeed be a faulty inverter.

Good luck!!

 

[pegmikef]

In the newer bighorns and big countries, the booster seems to be in the bedroom closet on the left side along with some cable connections. It is just a little button and you push it in to turn it on (should be a small red light when on)

 

[danemayer]

Karen,

Let me second the comment regarding low battery voltage causing the inverter to shut off. It could also be a loose connection at the battery terminals or at the inverter cutoff switch or at the 100 amp fuse to the inverter. And of course it could be a problem with the inverter itself.

By the way, you may have a remote switch in your control panel inside the coach near your other controls. It probably says MAGNUM on it and has a light next to the switch. Looks like this:

I'm also attaching an electrical block diagram that shows how the power is routed from battery to the inverter if you want to check the wiring. The drawing is preliminary and may not be 100% accurate, but it should be pretty close to what you have.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Karen, regarding the hinges, this has been discussed here on the forum many times so a search should give you some options. My solution was to remove the small plastic pieces that the screws go into, (I tried gluing these in but couldn't get them to hold) found some small hardwood dowels at one of the big box stores that fit into the holes left from removing the inserts, cut them to length, glued these in, pre-drilled a small pilot hole and then reinserted the OEM screws. Haven't had one come loose yet. Lou

 

[k-f-Indiana]

Karen:

First of all. if it is all possible, I would encourage you to recoup that warranty service funding that was rolled into the purchase price of your RV.

Bill,

We are not aware of the warranty service funding being included in our purchase price, assuming you are referring to the factory warranty. How can we determine if this is the case for us?

Thanks for the inverter info. Very helpful.

Do you make any adjustments to your fridge before traveling (assuming you have the residential fridge) such as turning off the icemaker or raising the temps?

 

[k-f-Indiana]

In the newer bighorns and big countries, the booster seems to be in the bedroom closet on the left side along with some cable connections. It is just a little button and you push it in to turn it on (should be a small red light when on)

Peg & Mike,

Thanks! Found it. They don't make it easy to get to, or at least, not with all the clothes I put in there, as we live in it & travel almost full-time.

The red light does not come on. However I assume pushed in is "on". I hope no light does not indicate that it is not working.

 

[k-f-Indiana]

Karen,

Let me second the comment regarding low battery voltage causing the inverter to shut off. It could also be a loose connection at the battery terminals or at the inverter cutoff switch or at the 100 amp fuse to the inverter. And of course it could be a problem with the inverter itself.

By the way, you may have a remote switch in your control panel inside the coach near your other controls. It probably says MAGNUM on it and has a light next to the switch. Looks like this: View attachment 29214

I'm also attaching an electrical block diagram that shows how the power is routed from battery to the inverter if you want to check the wiring. The drawing is preliminary and may not be 100% accurate, but it should be pretty close to what you have.

Dan,

Thanks! I found the remote switch, which I had seen, but didn't know what it was for. This is sooo much handier than standing on my head to reach into the front basement.

I printed out a copy of the electrical diagram for Fuzz. Much appreciated!

 

[k-f-Indiana]

Lou & Bette,

Fuzz has made similar repairs on 3 of ours and they seem to be holding. I just wondered if this is a common problem, and we will have to fix every door with this type of hinge. It does seem to be happening on the ones with the spring-loaded arm.

Thanks for your info

 

[wdk450]

Karen:

First of all. if it is all possible, I would encourage you to recoup that warranty service funding that was rolled into the purchase price of your RV.

Bill,

We are not aware of the warranty service funding being included in our purchase price, assuming you are referring to the factory warranty. How can we determine if this is the case for us?

Thanks for the inverter info. Very helpful.

Do you make any adjustments to your fridge before traveling (assuming you have the residential fridge) such as turning off the icemaker or raising the temps?

What I was getting at is that when you purchase ANY item with a warranty, a hidden part of the purchase price you pay is what the manufacturer expects to spend on average for warranty repairs to your purchased item. I used to work on the in-house service department for a large university hospital. We had our work order system so configured that when there was a problem called in on any piece of equipment that was under warranty (and we had warranty expiration dates loaded into the computer system), big type words "UNDER WARRANTY" would be printed on the workorder. At that point, the only service we would do would be to phone the equipment manufacturer's service department for THEM to service the item. We didn't waste our labor and materials costs on anything under warranty - those costs were part of our purchse price of the equipment.

On the 2nd question, I only change my refrig/freezer temp if it is not right inside. I have thermometers in both the refrig and freezer. I have a traditional RV ammonia gas adsorption refrigerator/freezer.

 

[kseagle]

Karen, you might check the Landmark forum. There is a lot of chatter there about the inverters that HL recently installed and the residential refrigerators. If you too are having problems, HL needs to know and this could be a systemic problem. Basically it appears that the 1000w inverters recently installed (April builds) are not adequate for the start up of the refrigerators and trip an overload fault in the inverter. If you start with a cold refrigerator (from shore power) it may take a couple of hours for the compressor to kick on and the inverter to trip and you won't notice it if you are going down the road. HL has only supplied a couple of 2000w inverters on a test basis but that appears to be a good fix by the reports. Not sure why they are balking at retrofitting all of the units with problems.

 

[bdb2047]

For hinges that are coming loose,seams to be a common problem for some time now. When mine came out I thought screws where not expanding plastic inserts enough for them to hold. I bought longer screws and cut end off so no longer had a taper on end of screw. They have held for a couple of years now.

 

[k-f-Indiana]

Thanks to all for your help & suggestions. Most of the problems have been solved, except the refrigerator inverter. According to Heartland warranty just a few days ago, they are now providing a reworked 1000W inverter that will take the surge caused by the compressor coming on during travel. They seem to think it will work, as they have tested it. However, we also discovered the indoor inverter switch does not work, so that is suppose to get fixed when the inverter comes in. I'm afraid that's not going to happen before we leave for an extended trip later this month. All part of RV ownership, I guess. We are disappointed that in less than 6 months, we have had more problems with this unit then we had in all the almost 5 years we owned the previous one. But, we do still love the layout and roominess. Good luck to all with your units.