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SGTJOE's avatar
SGTJOE
Explorer II
Aug 04, 2019

When it rains, It pours--HELP

This is about my 2001 National Tradewinds model 7390 Cat 300


1. I posted about my generac generator not staying on while moving and that it would stay on if I wasn't moving.
Well now it won't stay on sitting either.

THIS GETS BETTER
2. I posted about my Dometic fridge NDR1292 not cooling and that the end of June a "certified" Dometic mechanic came to look at it. He disconnected a white wire and never called, answered or came back. I started using a tall house fan outside blowing towards the back of the fridge, it actually did cool better. So I shut down the fan and fridge and the next day my propane alarm went off so I shut the tank off, (wasn't using it anyway) was told that these things only last 5 years. Then later that day the Carbon monoxide detector started beeping, when I opened the door it really smelled bad. So now I knew I needed a new cooling unit for sure.

3. I have an appointment on this Tuesday for this RV place to look over the interior so they can give me a solid quote to replace the cooling unit inside the mh on the floor.

Here's the straw that is breaking this Camels back.

I have fully charged batteries and when I went to start the MH it made a few funny noises and then nothing. The dash lights won't come on at all. So I got out and checked the fuses in that rear side compartment and found a blown 15amp fuse, love the way they have a little red light to show you which one is bad.
I thought easy fix, sure not for me. After trying two new fuses and getting them blown as soon as the made contact I quit.

Funny thing I tried the generator and it has power to start.

ANYONE REMEMBER THE KID WITH THE RAIN CLOUD OVER HIS HEAD? Well he's alive and here in Saint George, Utah.

I looked all through the books I have but none show the Fuses.

Here's the question--Does anyone know what this 15amp fuse goes to and why is it blowing new ones. It is marked as F20
__________________

17 Replies

  • I disconnected the 12volt chassis batteries but the red light stayed on in the fuse panel. So I flipped the battery disconnect switch and this shuts down the house batteries. The red light went out with no power to the MH. So when the weather cools a little I'll reconnect the chassis batteries and see if the red light on the fuse panel comes back on.

    Please correct me if I'm wrong but if the problem was my chassis batteries wouldn't the red light have gone off when I disconnected the 12volts??
  • SGTJOE wrote:
    have fully charged batteries and when I went to start the MH it made a few funny noises and then nothing. The dash lights won't come on at all.


    I'm going to go out on a limb here as I have never had a motorhome. But when I read your post it really sounds like you have a dead starter battery. When you say the batteries are fully charged how are you determining that? Do you have a meter and are measuring across the batteries, or are you using the panel in the MH? Pull the starter battery and get it tested, or put a meter across the terminals and see what it reads.

    SGTJOE wrote:
    Funny thing I tried the generator and it has power to start.


    I think the generator uses the house batteries to start.


    SGTJOE wrote:
    Then later that day the Carbon monoxide detector started beeping, when I opened the door it really smelled bad. So now I knew I needed a new cooling unit for sure.


    Definitely get it looked at, hopefully the repair is something simple. When you said it smelled really bad can you describe the smell? Was it musty, rank, moldy, electrical like ozone, ammonia, onions, propane, burning plastic etc?
  • Thanks, I'll try to trace that. Right now I'm going to pull the 12volts and have them tested.
  • Gjac's avatar
    Gjac
    Explorer III
    This happened to me several years ago and it took a while to figure out. After blowing several 15 amp fuses and no dash lights or engine starts I decided to trace the wire from the fuse and found that the wire was shorted to the frame by my slide when the slide was retracted. After replacing and re securing the wire with tie wraps all was well again.
  • Hey Grumpy3b, I've checked all my battery connections and even the starter, but nothing is loose. It looks like this one 15amp fuse has control over all the chassis things. Now if it was dead batteries that fuse holder wouldn't be sparking and blowing new fuses before they are even in all the way,right? My headlights won't even come on.

    Can't believe all this at once.
  • Can't help you BUT you have stated in the Subject the most famous advertising slogan ever.
    For those who don't know the history. In the old days the salt would cake (I guess from absorbing moisture) and would not pour out of the container. Morton's found a way to prevent the caking thus: WIRIP.
  • fuse blowing sounds like a short or pulling too much current on that circuit.

    Have you found what that circuit serves?

    Don't know what other suggestions you've received for the gennie but the not moving vs moving detail would seem yo indicate a loose connection or component in the gennie itself. Grab a PDF for your model & year generator. It should have a pretty well organized troubleshooting flowchart or steps.

    I had a bout of intermittent cutoffs on my Generac a short after i bought my rig. After a couple weeks chasing all manner of red herrings, it turned out the spring inside the glass fuse holder had popped out one day when i checked the fuse at night....the fuse would move around enough to let it run dir a minute then die. I even replace a couple solinoids. Turned out to be a 3¢ spring. I bought a new fuse holder because i couldn't keep hunting for that spring...

    good luck...it takes a minute but it WILL get better as ypu get to know the quirks-mode of your rig!