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  1. #1
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    First Long Trip - 12V Power Problems

    We are on our first long trip fulltiming in route from Livingston Texas to Kokomo Indiana, 1100 miles, and now 12V power problems. Last leg of our trip, Marion Illinois to Kokomo In, got up in the morning in Marion to start to hitch up and saw that the interior lights were dim. Some quick TS and found battery power low. Converter not working correctly, not outputting 12V or charging the battery. Ground Control 3.0 reporting low power, will not power up, can't raise jacks, can not hitch up. Can not bring slides in. Quick TS, Power disconnect switch in storage compartment OK, accessible easy to check breakers good. No easy to fix or reset to get converter working. No time now.

    No panic, told wife we'll get hitched up, make it to our destination Kokomo Indiana and troubleshoot it there. We'll be there for 2 months. Connected truck to RV, engine running, helping RV battery. Was able to bring slides in, but really slow. Ground Control 3.0 will power up with truck connected and running, cord connected to RV, we were able to bring rear and mid jacks up. Now to raise the front jacks to get hitched. Not enough power, front jacks start then stop. Wait just a little to allow truck engine to provide enough charge to the RV battery, rise the front jacks a little more then they stop, not enough height yet to hitch. Wait a little longer with the engine running, third try got the front jacks up high enough to hitch. This took @ 15 -20 minutes. We are hitched up and ready to go, 5 hour trip to Kokomo, truck will have charged the RV battery a little bit, 220 amp truck alternator option, just hope its enough to get unhitched and the RV leveled up and slides out.

    Made it to the campground in Kokomo @ 5pm, left truck running and connected to RV, we have enough power, jacks down, leveled up and slides out, AC power on, we are set up and stable. Quick check of RV battery power with meter on batt terminals, 12.3 volts. No converter charge voltage. OK, it's getting dark, lets get settled and we'll find problem in the morning, mean while disconnect battery positive terminal to keep batt from going flat and really damaged. Of course that means no 12V power, no fridge, no furnace, no hot water, no interior 12V lights, no alarms or monitors. OK we have AC, and AC powered lamps, we'll get by. We have the AC fire place to keep the chill off, we'll get by for the night.

    Now got to really get into TSing. Will check voltages at distribution panel, but most likely have to empty out storage compartment, remove the back wall, and get to the converter to check it out, AC in and DC out. Worst case converter bad, best no AC power to converter or bad fuse, loose wire/terminal, wishful thinking.
    Last edited by Steven@147; 10-23-2020 at 05:24 AM.
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
    2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
    Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel

  2. #2
    Long Hauler geotex1's Avatar
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    First my fellow 3350 owner, I'm sorry for the trouble! Second, because I have had so much trouble with the jack system, it's been replaced completely. So, I know it well. You can manually raise and lower any if the jacks with a 3/8" ratchet. Go to the motor head on the jack and pop out the black poly plug and that is where your ratchet goes.

    Do check the fuses when you get into the belly of the beast. In the meantime, may want to pick up a battery charger and take advantage of the 120VAC on the hookup post.
    Last edited by geotex1; 10-22-2020 at 07:11 AM.
    Rob & Nikki + Cloverfield
    2020 Grand Design Solitude S-Class 3350RL
    2015 RAM 3500 Longhorn Laramie Crew Cab, Long Bed, 4x4 Dually Cummins/AISIN

    Mountains of Pennsylvania

  3. #3
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    Steve if your converter is out go ahead and upgrade to a Victron or Magnum inverter/converter/charger 2000 to 3000 watt. Sorry to hear about your issues but it looks like you got a handle on it.

    BTW What the hell is a Texas boy doing going to IN in the winter? LOL

    Red
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
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    Quote Originally Posted by geotex1 View Post
    First my fellow 3350 owner, I'm sorry for the trouble! Second, because I have had so much trouble with the jack system, it's been replaced completely. So, I know it well. You can manually raise and lower any if the jacks with a 3/8" ratchet. Go to the motor head on the jack and pop out the black poly plug and that is where your ratchet goes.

    Do check the fuses when you get into the belly of the beast. In the meantime, may want to pick up a battery charger and take advantage of the 120VAC on the hookup post.
    Good info Rob.
    Location - Wherever the road takes us...Full-timers
    2015 Momentum 380
    2019 Ram Dually

  5. #5
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Well guys first things first, the things we do for family, right? Nice warm weather in Texas to now 50 last night. Its going to be in the 30s at night in a couple days. Just wonderful! NOT!

    Now just my luck everything inside ok. Empty out the storage compartment, remove the walls, get to the converter, AC power in, no 12V power out. Damn! Yup reverse polarity fuses good.
    I do carry an external battery charger with us, so connected it and charging the batt, can operate a little at a time on single 12V battery. Gotta keep the front compartment open a crack to allow for AC power cord for external charger, we'll get by. Now to get a new converter on order, we'll see how that works out.
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
    2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
    Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel

  6. #6
    Site Sponsor Richter's Avatar
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    In a pinch, jumper cables will probably provide more power to the battery than hooking up the 7-pin connector. That would at least get the landing gear and stabilizers up. Leaving the jumper cables hooked up for a while could also put enough charge on the battery to use it to lower the trailer onto the truck, once the cables are no longer hooked between the truck and trailer.
    Tom and Janice (known as Tom in PGH on the “other” forum)

    First came the 18' Comfort bumper-pull, was great for 20 years.
    Now a 2019 Reflection 303RLS, second air, double glass, table and chairs
    2019 F350 Lariat (Diesel) 4x4 Crewcab with lots of goodies
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    Cranberry Twp. PA, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh

  7. #7
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Richter View Post
    In a pinch, jumper cables will probably provide more power to the battery than hooking up the 7-pin connector. That would at least get the landing gear and stabilizers up. Leaving the jumper cables hooked up for a while could also put enough charge on the battery to use it to lower the trailer onto the truck, once the cables are no longer hooked between the truck and trailer.
    Yup, that would work as well. Like you said better than the 7 way, jumpers can transfer more amps directly to batt. In a pinch you use what you got.
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
    2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
    Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel

  8. #8
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Out here in the boonies surrounded by corn fields, shipping of any converter is a minimum of a week out, crap! Starting today highs in the 50s, the lows will be mid to low 30s for several days. Wife found Camping World in Indy had stock of the WFCO WF9855 for $150, two year warranty. We didn't like it, but didn't want to keep fooling with an external battery charger. Lights, fridge, furnace, H2O heater and such eat up batt power in a hurry, especially when you only have one. Fast trip to Indy and two hours later we are back up and running. Now since we have experienced the outage, maybe a good idea to carry a spare converter, now we can take the time to search, get a better unit, 3-4 stage converter, reasonable price, get it shipped to Son's address. Adding a big battery bank is not an option for us as we do not intend to boondock, not our lifestyle.

    Would like to take the old bad WFCO converter apart and see what's inside. Got to drill the rivets out of the case to get the top off. Somewhere in the back of my mind I remember someone saying these things have a small fuse on the control board, or that if the fan goes bad the converter shuts down. Might just be my imagination. Just thinking about it, there really is no indication that the converter has failed. The first time you notice anything is wrong, maybe like us you notice that the internal lights are dim, or when checking the ground control console it reports batt power low. By then your single battery is is very low.
    Last edited by Steven@147; 10-23-2020 at 06:14 AM.
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
    2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
    Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel

  9. #9
    Site Sponsor Steven@147's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by geotex1 View Post
    First my fellow 3350 owner, I'm sorry for the trouble! Second, because I have had so much trouble with the jack system, it's been replaced completely. So, I know it well. You can manually raise and lower any if the jacks with a 3/8" ratchet. Go to the motor head on the jack and pop out the black poly plug and that is where your ratchet goes.

    Do check the fuses when you get into the belly of the beast. In the meantime, may want to pick up a battery charger and take advantage of the 120VAC on the hookup post.
    Rob what kind of problems were you having with the ground control 3.0 leveling system? Did you replace it with the same system or go another route? Ours seems to work ok.
    Yes I did see the manual way of raising the jacks. Pulled that plug out and it took several washing of the hands to get the black off.
    Steve & Tami Cass - Escapee's, FMCA Members, Texas Fulltimers Since July 2020
    2019 Solitude 3350RL S-Class, 2018 Ram 3500 DRW, Laramie Longhorn, B&W Companion, Texas Class A Non-CDL Drivers License
    Sharing the Fulltime Lifestyle - www.youtube.com/@tsrvadventures3219/videos, Nonprofit Channel

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