New (to me) rig with potential electrical "issues" - Page 2

xcnick · 10-08-2013, 10:37 AM

Sorry you have such a rats nest. The road trek group has a nice web page showing what is going on with their electrical systems. It can give you a basic idea of what is going on.

http://www.metrotrekkers.org/utility/electrical.htm

mikracer · 10-08-2013, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ford_6L_E350

If the breakers are OFF, when you plug into shore power, nothing much happens. Power goes to the breakers and stops. Turning on the breakers should put AC power to a converter/battery charger and to the AC outlets. Then the DC appliances continue to run on DC, but the DC is supplied by the converter.

Mike

Got it, thanks. I do have a microwave so with the breakers on, that should be functional. Just to clarify, the converter also charges the batteries when plugged into shore power? The house batteries are 6 volt...not sure if that would make a difference with the converter.

Ford_6L_E350 · 10-08-2013, 11:43 AM

2 x 6V batteries in series makes 12V. Since I'm not aware of 6V appliances, I'm going to assume whoever put it together did it correct electrically and the charger will work properly.

Mike

mikracer · 10-08-2013, 11:52 AM

They are wired in series. The positive on one battery is connected to the negative of the other.

mikracer · 10-08-2013, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xcnick

Sorry you have such a rats nest. The road trek group has a nice web page showing what is going on with their electrical systems. It can give you a basic idea of what is going on.

http://www.metrotrekkers.org/utility/electrical.htm

Thanks for the link. It's nice to see the schematic to get a visual of how things work.

86Scotty · 10-08-2013, 12:00 PM

Also, just to clarify, the only things on your SMB that are AC powered are the microwave and possibly the fridge, though most Rv fridges run on AC or DC. The things that are DC are most likely your furnace (fan powered by DC and fuel it uses is propane) and most if not all lighting. Do you have auxiliary air conditioning? That could be AC powered or just powered (by DC) when the engine is running.
I really think you need to go over all this in person with someone. It's hard for me to believe someone would even sell it to you without explaining how it works. Do you have a local RV place that could give you a tutorial in person?

mikracer · 10-08-2013, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 86Scotty

Also, just to clarify, the only things on your SMB that are AC powered are the microwave and possibly the fridge, though most Rv fridges run on AC or DC. The things that are DC are most likely your furnace (fan powered by DC and fuel it uses is propane) and most if not all lighting. Do you have auxiliary air conditioning? That could be AC powered or just powered (by DC) when the engine is running.
I really think you need to go over all this in person with someone. It's hard for me to believe someone would even sell it to you without explaining how it works. Do you have a local RV place that could give you a tutorial in person?

I do not have secondary air conditioning. I have the original book that came with the SMB that details what appliances I have (model numbers), so I will check that to see which Norcold fridge I have. At this point, I will plug in shore power and see if the microwave and the other standard wall plug work. If they both work, then I will need to investigate further to see where those pos/grd wires go to. I'm not sure what that other wire with the connector goes to yet, but I do have a multimeter so I can check if it is live. The rest of the "nest" is excess wires that I can trim down and clean up.

Thanks again to everyone who has posted on this thread. Any and all help is appreciated.

86Scotty · 10-08-2013, 01:22 PM

Cool, plugged in to shore with breakers on your microwave should work.

mikracer · 10-08-2013, 09:38 PM

I did some investigating today after work and luckily most everything is good.

I plugged in the shore power and the breaker switches do what they're supposed to. With the switches on, the microwave, wall plug, and converter all work as they should. The only downfall is the converter makes a whining noise when on.

The loose red/white power lines are still loose and I couldn't find where they lead to. There is no power to them and the loose end is the end that connects to the power supply. I followed the wires under the fridge and from there it goes into the paneling and I dont know where they end. There is an outlet behind the microwave, but they don't go to that because the microwave outlet works. I didn't pull the fridge out, but I'm guessing it may end somewhere behind the fridge. The fridge works without shore power still.

The other loose white wire appears to be some sort of ground but not sure for what connection. The rest of the "nest" is just excess wires that can be trimmed down and routed to make it cleaner.

I also looked into the battery situation. They are 6 volt batteries wired in series. I bought an innova 3721 battery monitor and plugged it in. When no shore power is connected, the volts drop to less than 13 almost immediately (I think I had the fridge running). I imagine I will need to get some new batteries if I plan on using the house batteries for any extended period of time. With the shore power/convertor on, it shows 13.2 volts.

Thanks again to everyone who has offered insight to my situation. I was a bit nervous at first since there is a mixture of both AC and DC power, but I now have a better understanding of the "house" power as its mostly a 12v system.

larrie · 10-08-2013, 09:52 PM

Glad to hear you have it figured out and that you are getting comfortable with the system.

Something else to check is all the switches for the 12v stuff. Does something turn on when they are on? You may find that the two loose wires are switched.

The PO of my van removed the water tank and pump and left me two wires hanging out. I traced them back to the pump switch. Switch on the wires wee hot. Switch off they were dead.