Jump to content

Sunrader lost all coach power - on the road currently


wadingthroughlife

Recommended Posts

On the road currently, and I noticed the water pump didn’t power on when going to flush. It worked yesterday all day, along with the rest of the coach.
 

Now we have no coach power. 
 

I’m guessing something rattled loose on the forest road, but any help picking where to begin would be mega appreciated!!

 

Converter? 
 

Ground somewhere?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Check the coach battery ground cable. Terminal should be clean & tight. Also where it bolts to the frame.

 

It sounds like a ground issue to me.

Edited by fred heath
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/16/2022 at 3:33 PM, fred heath said:

Check the coach battery ground cable. Terminal should be clean & tight. Also where it bolts to the frame.

 

It sounds like a ground issue to me.

So, we went ahead to the campground we’d planned on having prepped for the trip so much.

 

When plugging in, we still get full power. When unplugged, we have no house 12v to any lights, water pump, etc. It went out intermittently the second day of our traveling after bumping around the forest road on the first night and second morning. 
 

I checked voltage on the battery and into and out of the isolator. They were high 13v. 
 

I’m guessing I may need to pull the converter to see if something rattled loose, but any other suggestions are appreciated!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have a mental list of converters, but some of the older ones have a transfer relay that shifts between 12 v from the converter to 12v from the batteries.

A wack with a screw driver handle will often "reset" things. The correct way is using 2000 grit wet and dry sand paper  to polish the contacts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, WME said:

I don't have a mental list of converters, but some of the older ones have a transfer relay that shifts between 12 v from the converter to 12v from the batteries.

A wack with a screw driver handle will often "reset" things. The correct way is using 2000 grit wet and dry sand paper  to polish the contacts.


I’m intending to replace with the one below very soon, but possibly much sooner now. I haven’t opened up the converter to check the contacts mentioned but will this week!

 

https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Converters/Progressive-Dynamics/PD4045KA.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Take a good look around and trace your wiring from the battery and especially the grounds. I had one loose ground and half my house systems were offline. 
 

I don’t know about other vintage setups, but on my system the converter is just hooked up to the 12v power and ground. IE just dumping the 12v into it. So if the inverter is broken, as long as 12v power and ground to the house battery is solid, everything is still online. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well you should have a 110 volt for shore power. Can't run that through your battery so it has to run directly to your converter. That's what converters do, they convert the 110 to 12 volt for the appliances lights and to charge your battery. 

Linda S

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, linda s said:

Well you should have a 110 volt for shore power. Can't run that through your battery so it has to run directly to your converter. That's what converters do, they convert the 110 to 12 volt for the appliances lights and to charge your battery. 

Linda S

I guess I was wondering if the whole converter had failed since 12v was out and was glad to see we still had 110.
 

I’ll check that converter relay and recheck all the battery cables and grounds I can find. I am getting good voltage to the exit wire off the isolator under the hood leading to the converter. 
 

Is there a ground in the converter box itself near where the power comes in from the battery in under the hood? I haven’t pulled the panel out to check anything there yet. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wire from isolator goes directly to battery, not the converter. The diagrams I posted should show a ground somewhere. I think all electrical systems need to be grounded somewhere but Iike I said electric is not my forte. If you take out all the drawers from your closet you can kind of see the back of the converter. Well you need a small head to get in there, your wife maybe. Or maybe good lighting and a mirror. Stick your arm in and take phone pics? Anything to see if somethings loose back there. That link I posted shows lots of ways to test the power. Go through it carefully. Doesn't matter if it's not the exact same as yours. They all work the same

Linda

Link to comment
Share on other sites

your dc works when connected to shore power indicates you have a ground. voltage at the house battery should change when you plug in to shore power. if it does, your converter is charging the battery as it should. only thing left is the relay is not making connection when converter is unplugged.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The lower line to the converter from the isolator apparently was cut and re crimped at some point. Corrosion and a lose connection from forest road bumps. I’ll have to extend it a little, but after putting in a new connector and heat shrink jacket, all seems well. 
 

Still replacing the converter, but at least it isn’t as top priority. 
 

Thanks All

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...