2006 EB50 Electrical Issue; help?

[Scalf77]

Originally Posted by leblanc

Correct, the compressor works fine. I will trace the power wire and see how it's connected.

The seller did mention that his father in law removed the circuit breaker....and he basically direct wired whatever wires were previously going through the circuit breaker, and ordered a new one.

Then I would suspect that the breaker was for the compressor. it looks like it was 100 amp 185 series breaker, that has been discontinued and replaced by the 285 series, get some dielectric grease and coat the connections when you install it. Put checking the terminals of that unit, on your yearly maintenance list.

-greg

[86Scotty]

@leblanc, testing your solar is pretty easy. Just pull the control panel from the wall and it will have two wires in, two wires out. The in are likely 10 guage wire red positive/black negative coming from your panel. These should show power (using a voltmeter) with the panels in any sunlight at all. If they do not, simple, it's your panel. BUT, there is probably a circuit breaker or fuse between the panel and the controller so you need to find that as well. I have no idea how it might have been done on your van but a convenient place for them to have put it would certainly be right behind the controller hidden in the wall, or out in the open obvious somewhere. Maybe near your house fuse panel?

[Twoxentrix]

Leblanc - if your solar was put on by Sportsmobile in 2006, you probably have the same as I do. My inline fuse (between the solar panels and controller) is located on the roof, spliced between the cables just before the wiring goes down through the pop top.
They are tubes about 1/2” in diameter and maybe 4” long. I had no idea what it was at the time I replaced my panels until someone here clarified. Once you take all the electrical wrap off, it just pulls apart (or screws apart), and the fuse sits inside.

[leblanc]

Originally Posted by Scalf77

Then I would suspect that the breaker was for the compressor. it looks like it was 100 amp 185 series breaker, that has been discontinued and replaced by the 285 series, get some dielectric grease and coat the connections when you install it. Put checking the terminals of that unit, on your yearly maintenance list.

-greg

It does appear that the circuit breaker is for the compressor.

And the breaker likely mounts through these holes in the frame next to the solenoid.

[Twoxentrix]

Originally Posted by leblanc

It does appear that the circuit breaker is for the compressor.

And the breaker likely mounts through these holes in the frame next to the solenoid.

That is correct - and if they removed the breaker I would encourage you to put it back in.
Mine has tripped twice since I've had the Van, and both times it was a result of constantly running the compressor for an extended period of time (airing 4 tires up from 20 to 60psi, and once from about 35 to 60)...I assumed it was telling me the compressor was about to overheat since it hasn't/doesn't happen in normal use.

[campIV]

Originally Posted by Scalf77

The large silver device is a "Converter" Converts 110 power to 12 volts, with the charge wizard it loosely becomes battery charger. A inverter will take 12 volts and produce 110 power, I do not see a inverter in any of the pictures.

Yes, the sensors one is probably propane, and one CO are always powered on and using battery power. Typically the sensors are on a smaller (3 amp) fuse, but I see the smallest you have is 10, so I/m not sure what they did. If storing for a long time you can pull the fuse to the sensors. Some builds have a disconnect switch, but this is not a normally installed feature by sportsmobile.

At this time the voltages on the surepower indicate no charge going on, one side is your house battery and one side is your starting batteries. Both are low at this time.

There is a video in this like that explains how the surepower works https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...5-a-14502.html

Try plugging in and see if the converter works

-greg

Exactly right, as Scalf77 says, and very helpful. I spent an entire afternoon trying to figure out why my inverter wasn’t working only to discover it wasn’t an inverter. As stated above, it’s essentially a charger for the house battery while you’re plugged in to shore power. The only time my 110 outlets are hot is when I’m plugged in. My fridge also automatically switches to 110 when it’s connected to shore power.

As far as the detectors go, my owner’s manual recommends pulling their dc fuse if the van is going to be parked for a long period of time so as to not deplete the house battery. I stopped doing this after I installed the solar.

Good luck with your repairs. The SMB is thankfully pretty simple compared to a friend’s Chinook motorhome.

[leblanc]

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

@leblanc, testing your solar is pretty easy. Just pull the control panel from the wall and it will have two wires in, two wires out. The in are likely 10 guage wire red positive/black negative coming from your panel. These should show power (using a voltmeter) with the panels in any sunlight at all. If they do not, simple, it's your panel. BUT, there is probably a circuit breaker or fuse between the panel and the controller so you need to find that as well. I have no idea how it might have been done on your van but a convenient place for them to have put it would certainly be right behind the controller hidden in the wall, or out in the open obvious somewhere. Maybe near your house fuse panel?

So the wires at the control panel read 3.77v in sunlight. Zamp tech support isn’t completely sure why it’s so low because those types of panels rarely go bad...according to them. He said they should read 8v to 16v or so, I think.

[Scalf77]

The first question I would have is did you disconnect the wires from the controller to take this measurement? Have you checked for a fuse between the panel and the controller. Zamp usually has fuse holder in their cable, not sure if that is what was used.


You might also check to see if there was a roof port that was used and thus maybe became disconnected. Again, not sure if that was used.



-greg