HELP! We leave in the morning and are having a weird power issue

ericmatzat

New Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2024
Messages
2
Location
Nixa, MO
I'm hoping someone can help. We leave in the morning for a trip. Our 2670MK travel trailer gets stored in an enclosed garage and remains hooked up to shore power while in storage. When we went to pick up the rig today, everything was "dead" even though it was still hooked up to shore power. The front jack would not respond, no lights would work, etc. I unhooked from shore power and connected to my truck. Everything worked properly. The jacks worked, lights worked, etc. I pulled the trailer to our house, got it leveled without issue and extended the slides without issue. The inside battery level showed full. I unplugged from the truck and hooked up to shore power in my driveway so we could load and prep for the next day's departure. After a couple of hours on shore power, the inside battery is at low, the sensors are all reading low, and the basement voltage meter reads 9.82 and is slowly dropping. We disconnected our EMS to take out that variable, but the same issue is there. I checked the batteries and everything looks correct (no loose wires or corrosion) although I wouldn't know what else to look for. Any ideas?? Thank you for any suggestions you can provide.
 
It sounds like your converter is not operating. It has two heavy fuses (40 amp?) that may be blown. Check those. The converted requires 120 volt service. Check that it's circuit breaker isn't tripped. It is likely plugged into an outlet; verify that it has power.
If all else fails get a regular battery automobile charger, connect it to the battery and plug it in. That will get you through the trip.
What you describe is all 12 volt so hopefully the 120 volt is OK. Are the lights on the microwave working? If so the 120 volt is good and you can get through your trip with the battery charger. Buy a good one at car parts store or Walmart if needed.
 
Hey Eric - something similar happened to me last week. On Monday, I got to the storage lot and the battery was fully charged so I turned on the 12V fridge to the "off grid" setting. Tuesday morning I brought out the groceries, went back home to pack truck etc, then returned to hook up and drive 200 miles to state park. Unhooked without issue, lowered fridge to colder temp setting and resumed site prep and some unpacking.

A few hours after going to bed, I got up and noticed a blue light flashing and the main AC unit wasn't running. The Furrion thermostat was displaying "Lo", so I Googled that and learned that I didn't have 12V power. I verified shore power was good, back AC was still working, microwave, etc. I tried using the truck's towing 7 pin as a source, but didn't want to wake neighbors so I waited until after 7 and started truck but battery was so low that it would take too long. I called Holiday World in Katy, Texas and Rob suggested that there is an issue with my Converter and I could bypass it with an automotive battery charger, so I bought one and completed the trip though Saturday.

It seems that after getting 100% fully charged, the Furrian MPPT 25 Solar Controller and 165 watt panel would take care of the fridge and trickle charge the battery, but by evening the voltage had dropped to 12v and indicated 45%, so I turned the charger back on each evening until we left.

My unit's converter does not have a breaker or fuse on front of panel, and Rob suggested that the converter was attached to the back of the WFCO panel. So I'll be using that battery charger for rest of season until June when it's too hot to camp.

At this point, I'm sure that that converter needs work - not sure why the solar couldn't handle the fridge and keeping the battery charged, so I'll get both checked out next summer.

Also, the Solara powered awning decided to die, so I'll be changing out the motor as I had to do on last trailer.

Overall, not a pleasant first trip of the 2024-25 camping season!
 

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