Total loss of power

[durawelder]

I have tried searching and haven't found anything yet so I have to ask as I am in a bind. I live fulltime in the trailer in my sig, I just bought it last friday and now I have no power at all. It will not run off of the campground power or a generator. I lost the leads to my multimeter and am in a small town in South TX so I don't have a lot of means of troubleshooting electrical problems right now. I'm wondering if there's something common that will do this. Also the lights don't stay bright very long when I turn them on (maybe 5 seconds) the dealer put 2 new interstates in it. Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[danemayer]

Hi durawelder,

Shore power and generator come together in the transfer switch. Someone recently found a loose connection inside theirs. I'm not sure where it's located on the Big Country. On our Landmark, I believe it's behind the basement wall. Disconnect from shore power and have the genny off before investigating.

You might also want to take a quick peek at the main circuit breakers in the breaker panel. If something tripped them, that would be easier to deal with.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi durawelder,

I hope you have reset the breakers that are on the supply pedestal that your plugged into and also reset the breakers in the trailer. If it is equipped for a generator then you have more breakers or relays in the front compartment with the transfer switch. Have you plugged in an extension cord to any of the outlets outside or tried the 20amp plug that is usually in the pedestal to make sure you have power to the pedestal.

Next,,, where are you in S. Tex?

Jim M

 

[scottyb]

Durawelder, I had my transfer switch go out on my one week old Cyclone. As soon as I removed the basement wall, I could smell it. It had power going in but nothing coming out. You can test it easily if you can get your multimeter going. My dealer 1st told me to rap on it sharply with something to make sure it wasn't just sticking, but to no avail.

 

[durawelder]

I just went and bought a cheap meter at oreilly to get by. I did however find that the batteries are only showing 11.xx so I put a charger on it for now. I did also pull the basement wall back and find that the fuses in the converter are good. I'll go look for the transfer switch now. I'm in Cuero right now, I'm starting to get a little bit north in S. TX. I'm down here working.

 

[durawelder]

I also need to add that my trailer is not gen prepped, my welding machine has the correct plug and my trailer inlet says 120/240 so that is why I say it won't run off of a generator either. It produces 11kw so it's got plenty of juice. So is the transfer switch something for the generator or will mine have it?

 

[durawelder]

I'm sorry to keep posting in this thread but I would also like to add that I'm seeing 122 volts at my hook up, at the end of my cord, and in my inside outlets now that I have a charger hooked to the battery. I have been in this same spot since about May 8th and have had no trouble with the power in my other trailer.

 

[danemayer]

If your original post was because your lights wouldn't stay on, or the refrigerator stopped, or the furnace wouldn't run, they all depend on 12V. Assuming you've had shore power, but the battery is discharged to 11V, that might explain a lot. If the converter is unplugged or has failed, that could be why the batteries have run down.

On the generator discussion, I'm not sure what you're saying with respect to the welder plug. However, you might want to take a look at this website which discusses RV electrical and deals with wiring. Your welder plug may not use the same wiring arrangement.

 

[durawelder]

The fuses in the converter are good and it is plugged in, I'm going to assume that the converter has failed. I'll check the output on the plug on the machine compared to the outlet for the trailer spot to see if it's the correct configuration. Thanks to all.

 

[hoefler]

Sounds like you have a convertor problem. Make sure you have 120 volts to the outlet the convertor is plugged into. Check the convertor for output voltage. Check for a disconnect switch between the batteries and the convertor. Check for a breaker between the batteries and convertor. Plug the convertor into a heavy extension cord that is plugged into a confirmed good outlet.

 

[Jimmyt5]

When my converter craped out I went to Wally World and got a cheap battery charger and plugged it into 110V, kept stuff going till I could get new converter...

 

[cookie]

I'm sorry to keep posting in this thread but I would also like to add that I'm seeing 122 volts at my hook up, at the end of my cord, and in my inside outlets now that I have a charger hooked to the battery.

I am getting a little confused here. Having a charger hooked up to the battery will have nothing to do with 120 at the outlets.
Are you or have you been without 120 volts? Or have you only lost the 12 volt?
In an earlier post you said that your dealer installed two new batteries. Have you verified that was done correctly? Have you checked all the cable connectors and connections? It is not uncommon to find a loose wire that would prevent charging.
When you do get it figured out please come back and let us know what you found.

Peace
Dave

 

[wdk450]

Durawelder:
A common point on your AC wiring that has been known to have problems before, is the main AC input jack on the trailer. Sometimes the wiring screws on the jack receptacle have been found to be loose. Other times there is intermittent contact between the plug-receptacle blades. From what you posted I am assuming you are using your welding generator as an external power source.

I would guess that you know how to simply test your DC convertor by putting a DC meter across the batteries and then turning the convertor AC power off and on. I might switch the whole trailer's power off and on as the breaker for the convertor has been known to be mismarked (or the convertor plugged into the wrong outlet). The DC reading across the batteries should be higher when the convertor is charging it. Typical wiring has the convertor output going through a DC circuit breaker to a 12 volt DC Buss which is tied to the battery's positive. The 12 volt buss is then tied to the 12 volt loads through other resettable breakers. This breaker has a TINY red reset button under a red rubber covering cap that is used to reset the breaker.

One last thing. New batteries have been known to be bad. A load test when they are fully charged would not be a bad idea.

 

[durawelder]

I started this thread not knowing that I still had 125 volts ac. The dealer I bought it from gave me a new converter today and that seems to have fixed the problem. With the charger on the main battery it was showing like 12.5 volts and now its more like 13.5 with the new converter installed. I would also like to a big thanks to everyone, I have never seen such prompt responses to a problem on a forum.