Power with battery but not when plugged in?

bjsayles · 02-05-2013, 06:38 AM

I'm not very trailer savvy but we're troubleshooting an issue with our 1993 Sunline Solaris. We just purchased this TT and are still learning the details about it.

I realize there is no internal battery charger.

The problem is that when the TT is plugged in the internal outlets will work but the refrigerator/furnace/etc do not. What could cause this? Is it a external power issue? Is there a converter switch that I haven't located? Could it be a fuse?

mainah · 02-05-2013, 06:46 AM

Do you have a camper battery installed? A lot of the more modern converter/chargers won't work with out a battery on line. It should charge your battery also when it's plugged in. A properly working converter should both light the lights etc. and charge the battery at the same time.

bjsayles · 02-05-2013, 09:56 AM

Yes, the battery was installed at the time in question. It's in storage now so I can't plug it in and check

It's been driving me crazy since we winterized and put it away.

mainah · 02-05-2013, 12:52 PM

You have the number of the charger at home maybe?

bjsayles · 02-06-2013, 11:16 AM

Everything is in storage until April. I will just have to come back then and work this out. I was hoping it was a common issue and easy to fix..lol

Poppy & Nana · 02-06-2013, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjsayles

Yes, the battery was installed at the time in question. It's in storage now so I can't plug it in and check

It's been driving me crazy since we winterized and put it away.

You say the battry was installed but was it turned on? I do believe that the furnace & fridge need a battery ON to run.....someone will correct me if I'm wrong!

rebellious78 · 02-11-2013, 06:44 PM

I believe I wont use would check all the breakers and check all fuses before replacing any equipment. If you are plugged in they should work..When you are dry camping the fridge and furnace will use the battery for power.. Even though they run on gas they use the Battery for powering the controls...

bjsayles · 04-20-2013, 11:56 AM

I could use some help troubleshooting a power issue with our 1993 Travel trailer. When this trailer is plugged into a power source everything works (as far as I could check) except the furnace. IS there a switch that I need to flip to make the furnace work when plugged in. It does work off the battery.

Some of the possible solutions that I've been given are a bad fuse or possible bad inverter. Does this sound feasible?

Brandy

bjsayles · 04-20-2013, 12:08 PM

The furnace works from the battery but NOT when it is plugged into power???? What could cause this?

**JohnB** · 04-20-2013, 12:41 PM

H'mm Something does not sound right.

Please confirm.

Is the camper new to you? Did the furnace ever work when plugged into shore power? Trying to figure out if this is a new to you problem or a problem that prior owner had. If it worked at one time that means it is at least wired right or high odds of it

You stated the furnace works when the battery is on, did we understand this correct? BUT it does not work when plugged into shore power. Is this correct?

If so then the furnace at least works but the power source feeding it may or may not be.

Do you have the battery hooked up when the shore power is plugged in?

When on shore power and "everything works" except the furnace, is the battery hooked up or not?

When on shore power do the lights work? Water pump? Describe what "everything" is.

What model and brand power converter do you have? Some of the older ones had a flip switch kind of mode to them. It was sort of either in battery charge mode or in power the camper mode. The newer ones do not have that, everything works all the time.

Do you have a volt meter? Soon you will be on the hunt for what does and does not work and a volt check is a good place to start with.

Hope this helps

John

**JohnB** · 04-20-2013, 12:53 PM

Hi Bjsayles,

I moved your post and my reply from the community forum here to your post on the same topic in the repair section. This helps keep it all together and there is info here that I did not have when I typed my response. This way we do not want to have 2 posts running at the same time on the same problem.

It is OK, we help our new members until they get the hang of the forum. No worries.

Those of us who are regulars read every post.... But we too some times miss one. If you do not get any help, then post again in your own post, "Any one with some suggestions?"

Hope you get your camper working. Keep feeding us info and we will keep helping.

John

bjsayles · 04-20-2013, 12:53 PM

The camper is new to us. We purchased it from Craigslist and are finding things wrong with it that were not disclosed but ... that's a different issue

The furnace does work when the battery is charged and hooked up. When the battery is removed and connected to shore power the furnace does NOT work. We did try having the battery hooked up and plugged in to power and the furnace worked but how can I be sure that it wasn't drawing off the battery not the outlet? The microwave, fridge, lights, and outlets all work when the battery is removed and the trailer is connected to shore power. I was told that this trailer does not have a battery charger?? Is this possible?

Thanks for the information. We're going to get the trailer out of storage soon and I wanted a head start on trouble shooting the issues that have been driving us crazy all winter! We've only had it out once to find out the furnace didn't run off power

I will have my husband check for a switch and power converter.

**JohnB** · 04-20-2013, 01:18 PM

Ahh, good. Now we have some things to go on.

The micro wave, 120 volt AC looking normal outlets only run on 120 VAC. They will not work on battery, ever unless someone installed an upgrade known as an "inverter" that takes 12 volt battery and creates 120 VAC. While not impossible, I doubt you have that in the case.

The fridge, if the fridge is the original from Sunline, it was a LP gas fridge and ran on 12 volt battery and 120 VAC and had to have both AC and DC on at the same time to run on AC. BUT.... many prior owners choose not to spened $1,000 on an RV fridge when it dies and they install a 120 VAC dorm room type of fridge which means it runs on shore power only. You may have one of these.

Now to not having a power converter to charge the battery and to run all 12 volt things in the camper, well they may have removed it. It died and they never fixed it. In this case then the furnace will only ever run off of battery.

And then there is the water pump. That usually is only 12 volt DC to run off the battery. Did you flip it on and hear it run?

BUT... there is always a but... The lights, they are normally 12 volts DC and while not impossible, we have not heard of any one changing from a 12 volt lighting system to a 120 VAC.

Many of the older power converters needed a battery installed to allow the converter to work right. So, pending what you have, running on shore power only and no battery may not work the 12 volts.

OK at this point, you may have many things that are no longer original and you being new to a camper may not know what is suppose to be there.

Any chance you can take some pictures? Somewhere there is a power converter or the hole for one. This is where the fuses are. We need to see what you have. and the make/model. If hubby feels OK doing this, unhook battery, unplug from shore power and pull the cover off and take pics inside. It may be gutted and no power converter exists. If this is the case, yup they are right, there is no battery charger... and the 12 volts will only ever run off the battery.

Takes pics of what does work and what does not work. We can see what is Sunline original and when the PO changed.

If you need help posting pics, let us know, we can help there too.

If you find there is no power converter or it is dead, we can help suggest how to install a new upgraded one. A very common occurrence as they only last so long.

Hope this helps

John

bjsayles · 05-20-2013, 10:47 AM

Here's a silly question... where is the breaker/fuse box in the 1993 Sunline Solaris T2653??? I can't even find it anywhere that is obvious.

**JohnB** · 05-20-2013, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjsayles

Here's a silly question... where is the breaker/fuse box in the 1993 Sunline Solaris T2653??? I can't even find it anywhere that is obvious.

I do not know your exact camper, however follow the heavy shore line power cord you plug into the power post. The fuse box and converter are generally just inside where the heavy cable goes in.

bjsayles · 05-20-2013, 03:43 PM

So it may be on the exterior of the trailer while I am going crazy looking for it inside..lol

Thanks off to check it out!

**JohnB** · 05-20-2013, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjsayles

So it may be on the exterior of the trailer while I am going crazy looking for it inside..lol

Thanks off to check it out!

Well no, must of missed this part

Quote:

The fuse box and converter are generally just inside where the heavy cable goes in.

Meaning, follow the cable "inside" the camper, it will lead to the fuse panel/breaker box.

Happy hunting

awellis3 · 05-21-2013, 06:55 AM

Stand in the hallway, look at the bathroom door, now look down at your right foot. Your pinkie toe is pointing at a box cover on the wall. Unscrew the thumb nut at the top and lower the cover. There are the breakers and fuses.

Good luck,
Teach

EMD_Driver · 05-21-2013, 04:44 PM

Teach is right on the money! The power cable comes in under the sofa and the converter/breaker box sits over the front axle. Oddly enough, the converter is located directly below where the shower faucet is in the bathroom...

bjsayles · 05-24-2013, 08:49 AM

UPDATE:

Once we located everything It was a thrown breaker and one bad ground wire. THANK YOU EVERYONE for all of your help and information!