AC/DC/Solar Power Issues

I have a 2017 Bighorn 3575EL (with solar) I purchased used a couple of weeks ago in Oregon. On the way home from Oregon we stayed in Yreka and plugged into shore power (50 amp) with no issues. I got the trailer home and stored it in an RV garage, but it was plugged it into a 30 amp receptacle the entire time. Today I pulled it out for a trip we have planned and the batteries were almost dead. I pulled it out of the garage (still plugged into 30 amp) and tried to level the trailer, and it said low battery. I fired up the refrigerator on gas and tried to switch it to AC, and it displayed no AC, low DC. I also could not get one of the inverters to stay on from the solar system. It would show an E1 code and turn off. My question is why wont my AC power override the DC and solar power? I would think when the trailer is plugged in, AC would run everything (depending on the amp of circuit) and charge the batteries. When AC is not plugged in, the batteries would run the 12V system and when in the sun, the solar system would charge the batteries.
You guys have any thoughts on my issues? I checked all fuses and breakers and they are good. Also, the AC power (30 amp) is good.
Thanks

 

NP_Chief

Well-known member
Congrats on the new rig and welcome to the forum! On 50 amp service, you have two hot legs that provide power to your rig. On 30 amp, there is only one. It could be that the things that are not working are powered by the leg that isn't getting power from the 30 amp connection.

One of the moderators here, Dan, is pretty good at diagnosing electrical gremlins and should be along shortly.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi Darren,

Your solar installation adds some unknowns because we don't know anything about those components or where they fit in.

But generally, if plugged into a 30 amp receptacle, your Power Converter would provide 12V DC to run all of the interior 12V DC systems, including the interior lights, and the gas absorption refrigerator, set to propane mode. If you were plugged in and those things were not operating correctly, there's no output from the Power Converter. That would also explain why the battery has run down. You can check the output of the Power Converter at your tank monitor test panel. The right-most set of lights indicate battery charge level if not on shore power, and Power Converter output when on shore power. You should have 4 lights when plugged in.

If you don't have 4 lights:

Your trailer has two hot legs on the 50 amp shore power cord and wiring to the main circuit breaker panel. If one leg is missing, that might explain why the Power Converter isn't running. So the first possibility is a defective 50-->30 amp adapter. A second possibility is the shore power cord not being twist-locked where it connects to the trailer. If you check all of your 120V appliances, a missing hot leg should show up as 1/2 of your 120V AC devices not having any power.

If everything does have 120V AC power, the problem may just be with the Power Converter. First make sure the circuit breaker in your main panel hasn't tripped. You'll probably have to turn if off and back on to be sure. The next thing to check is whether it's plugged into its outlet. You'll have to take down the rear wall of the pass through basement storage to check this. If the plug came out of the receptacle, you'll need to plug it back in and tie it into place so it doesn't happen again.

If it's plugged in, and you have a volt meter, unplug it and take a voltage reading.

If all is well at the outlet, there are 3 on-board blade type fuses on the Power Converter. They protect against reverse polarity battery installation and burn out if polarity is wrong for even a moment. You'll have to pull each fuse to check it. If the fuses are good, and the converter outlet has power, you may just have a Power Converter that's failed.

While checking things, you'll want to make sure the 12V DC mini-circuit breaker near the battery hasn't tripped. It has a teeny-tiny manual reset. There's a row of these breakers covered by red rubber boots. There are usually 3 thick wires on the buss bar breakers. One comes from the battery cutoff switch (which of course needs to be ON). That one provides 12V DC to a copper buss bar that spans all the breakers. Another thick wire goes to the hydraulics pump. The third goes to the Power Converter. I've attached a picture of a mini-breaker showing the teeny-tiny, very hard to see reset button and a picture of a buss bar/breakers (yours will look a bit different).

As I mentioned, your solar installation is an unknown. Even with a Power Converter that has no output, I would have expected the solar controller output to be connected somewhere near the battery, working to keep the battery charged. But without more information, it's impossible to say why that's not happening.

We have an Electrical User Guide with pictures, diagrams, and explanations that you may find helpful. It's in this folder.

Let us know what you find.
 

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