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Old 03-05-2015, 03:45 AM   #1
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Electrical Gurus -- DC

Weird one...left today, turned the outdoor LED strip on since it would be dark upon return. Got back, LED strip was out, I thought that maybe I did not turn it on....wife came in and said it was on...and about half of the ceiling lights were out when she turned them on. She turned the furnace on (she was chilly) and everything DC started working... Any ideas? Keep in mind, we full time, so we have not moved or changed anything in a couple months. I honestly do not recall any electrical problems prior to tonight, but nothing has been glaringly wrong. I have my thoughts as to what the problem may be, but wanted to see if anyone has experienced such a problem before.

Thanks,
Cale
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Old 03-05-2015, 04:32 AM   #2
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Not sure about this specific problem, but most weird DC problems are usually ground related. It can do some strange back feeding when a ground is compromised. I would verify the little stuff, and if you have a multi meter, get familiar with it.
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Old 03-05-2015, 10:18 AM   #3
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I agree, sounds like a ground issue... the fun part will be tracking it. I have one right now that has me scratching my head.

I was pulling fuses to isolate circuits so I can determine just what is on which one. Pulled the ALL the 12v fuses and I have one light that comes back on That tells me something ain't wired right! Suspect it is a daisy chained ground somewhere. I am pulling lights trying to build a wiring diagram.

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Old 03-05-2015, 11:46 AM   #4
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I agree, sounds like a ground issue... the fun part will be tracking it. I have one right now that has me scratching my head.

I was pulling fuses to isolate circuits so I can determine just what is on which one. Pulled the ALL the 12v fuses and I have one light that comes back on That tells me something ain't wired right! Suspect it is a daisy chained ground somewhere. I am pulling lights trying to build a wiring diagram.

Aaron
What is weird, we have not moved in nearly three months, so hopefully nothing just popped loose sitting in place. It has been working like a champ on a daily basis... I guess I need to pull the power panels out and do some looking....that can wait until Friday...

Cale
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Old 03-05-2015, 01:05 PM   #5
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If you have not moved in a while. Look around to see if a rodent has gotten in somewhere and chewed on a wire.
-Jeff
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Old 03-05-2015, 02:04 PM   #6
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If you have not moved in a while. Look around to see if a rodent has gotten in somewhere and chewed on a wire.
-Jeff
or corrosion....
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Old 03-05-2015, 04:15 PM   #7
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I'm sure you've already probably done this but start simple, check the fuses. Those light's could all be on one circuit. Never know with these things!
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Old 03-05-2015, 09:59 PM   #8
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If you have not moved in a while. Look around to see if a rodent has gotten in somewhere and chewed on a wire.
-Jeff
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or corrosion....
or a screw finally worked it way through the outer insulation, etc. Even with a trailer parked you have thermal cycling as well as movement of the people inside. If something was borderline it may have just let go. We had a back porch light that would go wonky every now and again from the kids letting the screen door slam. I finally fixed it permanently by soldering the connection.

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Old 03-06-2015, 12:01 AM   #9
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Check that your 12 volt fuses are not loose, and are all seated properly. The fuse blocks they use are pretty cheap, and the blades can get loose.
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Old 03-06-2015, 04:20 AM   #10
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Thanks all, I am going to go through everything this weekend, however, the folks across from us mentioned there was an electrical spike a couple nights ago, we weren't home....they said their trailer brights got real bright, then super dim, then back to normal...their Progressive Industries Surge Protector is now showing an E10 error. Mine is not showing any error, but can the converter have some sort of fail safe mode? I am assuming it is all solid state, does it need to be "rebooted"?

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Old 03-06-2015, 11:55 AM   #11
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If your converter is behind a surge protector then it should not have been affected.
My last TT had a crappy fuse box that would allow the fuses to work loose, and be intermittent. Maybe the furnace set up enough vibration to make a connection again.
Start with the easy stuff first. Check that you have power, check that it is getting where it is supposed to in the breaker/fuse box, then check connections going out from there. That should help to isolate the failure.
Remember, KISS, Keep It Simple Simon!
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Old 03-06-2015, 02:46 PM   #12
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^^^ At least he said "Simon"!
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Old 03-06-2015, 03:10 PM   #13
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Just for reference, the E10 error on your neighbors surge protector indicates the unit needs to be replaced. If this was due to the surge event you referred to, I think that may be your smoking gun here. If you have a VOM and only if your comfortable working on AC line voltage verify that you actually have proper voltage on all legs feeding your trailer. The step down circuitry in your inverter may have been damaged. Also check for DC voltages at the fuse box with all fuses removed, you should have consistent power across one side of all the fuse locations. If you don't then that is where the ground/power issue is and that would lead me to believe the inverter has seen better days. Hopefully this helps and not confuses with your investigation. Keep us posted with your investigation, I'm interested to know what the actual cause is/was.

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Old 03-08-2015, 01:25 AM   #14
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^^^ At least he said "Simon"!

Yeah, made that mistake once, and the individual I was talking to got a little "perturbed".
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Old 03-11-2015, 03:44 PM   #15
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^^^ At least he said "Simon"!

Yeah, made that mistake once, and the individual I was talking to got a little "perturbed".
Should have told them to fill out a "Hurt Feelings Report" and file it with someone who cares....


On the bright side, the lights acted wonky again Sunday, I quickly went to the fuse panel, there was a flashing red light (the furnace was running), I pushed on the fuse and all is well so far. I guess the vibrations from the furnace (and maybe the central vac) caused the fuse to slip out of the holder enough to cause mischief.

Cale
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Old 03-11-2015, 10:38 PM   #16
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Should have told them to fill out a "Hurt Feelings Report" and file it with someone who cares....


On the bright side, the lights acted wonky again Sunday, I quickly went to the fuse panel, there was a flashing red light (the furnace was running), I pushed on the fuse and all is well so far. I guess the vibrations from the furnace (and maybe the central vac) caused the fuse to slip out of the holder enough to cause mischief.

Cale

I would consider swapping the fuse panel out with a better quality one. I like the Blue Sea stuff. I have used them in the past. These friggin' RV assemblers are using the cheapest stuff they can find. I would also look at maybe upgrading to DC breakers vs the fuses.

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Old 03-12-2015, 01:13 AM   #17
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I don't know how many blade fuses Cale has in his rig but I just counted 15 blades in mine with several AC breakers.

That would take one big load center to handle 15 blades converted to breakers, even slims would take space that isn't available.
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Old 03-12-2015, 01:28 AM   #18
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Good to hear it was something simple, thanks for the update.

Cheers
Daryl B.
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Old 03-12-2015, 05:31 AM   #19
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I don't know how many blade fuses Cale has in his rig but I just counted 15 blades in mine with several AC breakers.

That would take one big load center to handle 15 blades converted to breakers, even slims would take space that isn't available.
A 16 position DC breaker panel is 10.5"x7.5" for the Blue Sea version. It is not as large as a 120v AC panel of similar size. I have seen several 5vers with circuit breakers in them rather than fuses, but they are the exception.


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Old 03-12-2015, 01:31 PM   #20
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Yep, seen them in some of the watercraft I've serviced. But 88 square inches is still premium space and that doesn't include the cubic space needed.
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