Power shuts down for no apparent reason

[Kelleys53]

I am a solo RVer and fairly new. I am currently stationary and hooked up to 50 amp shore power. 3 times over the past couple of weeks in the evenings my entire 5th wheel has gone dark. There is still power outside in the park, and no breakers seem to be tripped. The power stays off for a couple of minutes and then turns back on as mysteriously as it turned off.

The only common thing has been that I have been using my fireplace and an electric heater for heat vs running my propane furnace during the evening. Heater is in the back bedroom and the fireplace is in the front living area. I make sure I am not on the same circuit so as to not blow a fuse.

Ideas as to what is happening much appreciated.

[CoChris]

I am a solo RVer and fairly new. I am currently stationary and hooked up to 50 amp shore power. 3 times over the past couple of weeks in the evenings my entire 5th wheel has gone dark. There is still power outside in the park, and no breakers seem to be tripped. The power stays off for a couple of minutes and then turns back on as mysteriously as it turned off.

The only common thing has been that I have been using my fireplace and an electric heater for heat vs running my propane furnace during the evening. Heater is in the back bedroom and the fireplace is in the front living area. I make sure I am not on the same circuit so as to not blow a fuse.

Ideas as to what is happening much appreciated.

Hello and welcome. I see this is your first post. If you include your trailer year and model in your signature (use the search for how to add it), someone with more specific knowledge of your trailer maybe able to give you a more specific answer. A couple of questions;

1) Do you have a EMS (Electrical Management System) or surge protector? If so, does it indicate any error codes?

2) Do you have to do anything (unplug/plug cords, reset any switches/turn something off/on, etc) to get power to come back on or does the power come back on by itself?

3) Do you lose 120V AC power (fireplace, heater, TV etc.), or 12V DC (lights, radio, fans) or both?

4) Have you checked the plugs at both ends of the shore power cord to see if it is hot to the touch? I have had bad connections inside the power pedestal that caused intermittent power loss.

Trying to narrow down possible causes

Chris

[The Bone]

Does your RV have a automatic breaker? Reason I ask is because they re-set automatically. I am just throwing it out there.

[JCR GD]

...4) Have you checked the plugs at both ends of the shore power cord to see if it is hot to the touch?

and securely twisted/locked in.

[DarylB]

Seems like having all the lights going off would be a 12 volt problem?

[jkwilson]

Your lights and electric heaters are on completely separate electrical systems. If the lights are going off, that would mean you probably don’t have a battery installed.

First thing I would do is check the twist lock connector. It’s easy for the ring to bind up before it’s close to tight leaving the connector loose enough to lose contact if you move it.

[SmallBoxMaker]

If the lights are going off, that would mean you probably don’t have a battery installed.

Or possibly the 12 volt shut off switch (in the pass through?) is turned off.

[CoChris]

Just trying to get more information for the original poster. Yes, lights would indicate a 12V (converter/battery/disconnect switch) issue and heater/fireplace/TV would indicate a 120v (shore power/connector/EMS) issue.

Waiting to hear before speculating further.

Chris

[boyscout]

Do you have LED lights on either end of your 50-amp power cord that light up when you're connected to power?

Next time power fails it would be useful to check those lights to see if power is coming into your trailer, or carefully use a volt meter to make that determination. The rest of the park may have power but your pedestal may not - the pedestal or its circuit may be PART of your problem.

There is more than one problem though.

As others have pointed out your lights are on a 12-volt circuit unrelated to the 120-volt circuits that power your fireplace and heater. Losing your 12-volt lights when you lose 120-volt power makes it likely that your battery is gone - faulty, drained and not recharged, never installed by the dealer, or stolen

When you're plugged into 120-volt power a device called a "converter" is using some of it to send 12-volt power into the battery circuit to keep the battery charged. If there is no charged battery ready to supply 12 volts when the 120-volt power is removed, the 12-volt circuits go dead. Either the converter isn't keeping it charged (the battery and/or the converter are faulty) or the battery is not there.

P.S. The LED lights on the power cord are infamous for failing, so if they're NOT on when you're plugged in there is still a chance that the cord has power in it... be careful. Get a voltage tester if you want to be sure about what's happening... decent ones can be had for not-much money and they're often useful in trailer life.

[The Bone]

Another thing. If you completely drain a battery just putting it on a charger may only charge it so much. it's been my experience that you can only drain a battery 1 time. After that the battery is damaged and will look like it took a charge but is weak and will not last very long. You need to have the battery load tested. My recommendation is get a new deep cycle battery.
Also if you have a volt meter than You can check for voltage draw. You can google how to do this because I don't want to give you any misinformation.