Loss of power

[richeyb]

Our Montana HC 380 has the living area: Tv cabinets couch’s and lounge chairs all up front. Has anyone seen the Converter hid up front in one of Thor cabinets or behind tv???

I might try jumping trail from my pickup and opening front slideouts to look in the front living area. I’ve been afraid to open that they might not close, leaving me stuck in the country.

[BB_TX]

As Carl said, somewhere near the power distribution panel. You may have to pull that panel out to see behind it if you can't access the back side any other way. Some have said their converter was mounted on a wall of the area behind that panel. And I seem to remember someone saying theirs was mounted to the underside of the floor near the power panel. Maybe even under the stairs to the bedroom.

[jsb5717]

Originally Posted by BB_TX

...And I seem to remember someone saying theirs was mounted to the underside of the floor near the power panel. Maybe even under the stairs to the bedroom.

Yes, ours is mounted upside down under the bathroom near our electrical panel, which is at the stairs. Once the basement wall is out it's pretty easy to get to.

[richeyb]

Back looking.
Results from over night charge of batteries. Disconnected from coach system 11.31
Connected to system dropped to 10.31
Each post on all red CBS read same 10.31

Our Rv has living space up front, CB panel on division between kitchen and front living space. No metal box visible behind panel our under stairs beside it.

Still searching

[richeyb]

Found it by tracking plugged in black wire in back of electrical panel. Screwed to top of space behind panel.

Checked fuses Good 40amps.

Checked for 12 volts on screws hold wires in box. Zero volts

Will look for converter in town

Thanks for all the help.

Just need a midget to help get it changed out��

[BB_TX]

Did you verify you have 120 vac to the converter?

[richeyb]

Found new Converter on sale at Camper World and installed in about 1.4 hrs. Not an easy place to get to.
Found tracing power cord from back of CB Panel to ceiling of are behind crawl space wall.
Replace in about 1.5 hrs and charging batteries and all DC stuff working.
Hopefully batteries will all accept charge

Thanks for all the help!

[BuckandTeresa]

Originally Posted by BuckandTeresa

My friend has a similar problem on his 2017 Keystone Sprinter. Truck powers the awning and electric (not hydraulic) slides, shore power and batteries alone won’t. They checked good with a multimeter while disconnected. All other 12V lights and systems work on all power sources. It sounds like the circuit breaker you are describing might be the issue. It can’t be a self-resetting one like the pictures of red self-resetting ones here since it doesn’t self reset. Can you describe it, and better, show a picture? He has 3 sealed AGM batteries wired properly, but they may be blocking the visual line of sight on this CB.

__________________________

Update: a friend of my friend with the power problem confirmed some of what I read on the forum. The red junctions of wires are self-resetting circuit breakers, not bus bars. The one I had my non-mechanical friend work on was broken internally (we think he may have torqued it too hard). A visit to the RV supply store, four bucks and a half hour later all was fixed and the new shutoff switch installed.

[BB_TX]

Auto reset circuit breaker sounds like some sophisticated electronic device. Actually it is nothing more than a cheap piece of bi metal with an electrical contact on one end and inclosed in a metal can. Every time it opens and closes it arcs and burns the contacts a little more. Here is mine that failed.

[richeyb]

Replaced Converter and also 4 new batteries! Fixed all my issues and had a great Fall camping trip last week.
Thanks to everyone for their comments and advise!!

[BB_TX]

Good to hear.