Dale.Traveling wrote:
The AC to DC converters Thor used are either part of you AC breaker panel (the bottom half) or have a short power cord that plugs directly into an outlet on the back of the breaker panel. Pretty much you're going to need to get to the back of the panel. My coach it's all under the bed so all I had to do was pry off the thin wood panel covering the top (after raising the bed) and there was the my power transfer switch, converter and other power stuff.
First thing to try is cycle the AC breaker. All the way off then all the way on. Next check the converter fuses or breaker. Depending on the converter manufacture the breaker can be a pop out push button looking thing that will look like a small push button but might have a number painted on the face. Pull it out and push it in. If fused check them with you meter not just a visual inspection. If the converter comes back to life you'll see it with the battery voltage increase or sometimes the converter will quietly hum.
If the convertor has failed just insure the replacement is a smart or three stage type (lots of reading on what they are) of at least 50 amps capacity. Lots of on-line retailers have them at discounted prices so shop around for the best price. Since the 30Q doesn't have slides and probably no jacks your biggest DC power consumer will be the furnace blower or generator starter so 50 amps will just about power everything when you have shore power with the battery giving you the extra amps when needed.
Finding and solving this problem is a priority. Your coach won't work very well without reliable DC. No HVAC, water pump, fridge, ceiling lights, water heater, generator starting power and such. Not high power eaters but each use DC to power the controllers.
Tell us what you find.
I think I have the same setup as you. Under the bed on the right side is a panel cover for the AC breakers and DC distribution fuses. I reset everything and they all seemed ok. As you mentioned, there is a wood panel that covers the right part of the bed when I open up the bed lid. I haven't yet pried it off but as soon as I have time, I will take a look inside. Thank you for the pointers. Dale: You have definitely been helpful.
Here's what I saw:
https://drive.google.com/a/hightideprop.com/file/d/0BxibHClKNcc5T1IxZmUwOVRtNW8/view
https://drive.google.com/a/hightideprop.com/file/d/0BxibHClKNcc5c1g4ZHBtWGMzVU0/view
As another aside, this morning, I tested the battery again and it's a lower 12.3v and although the engine started up, the dash radio and plug would not work again when the headlights were on. So they definitely seem to be dependent upon the voltage of the chassis battery being sufficiently high. I observed the chassis battery voltage being spiked up to 14.3 when the engine was on, but the house batteries were at 12.8 but did not spike up when the engine was on. So apparently there must be some sensor that detects if the chassis battery is low and the alternator must focus on charging only the chassis battery.
I looked at the RV manual to see if there are more helpful info, but it is very cursory and did not have any useful info.
