Hi, New to the forums. Just got our first TT. 2005 Dutchmen 26F. I've been upgrading it and redoing the inside. Everything was finished and we were ready to take her out on our first trip when all of a sudden every 120v device stopped working. The A/C, water heater, all outlets, everything just stopped. I checked the power converter and i have 12v coming in from the main board and nothing coming out to the breakers.My question is, do i have to stick with the same converter or can i get a different brand? As long as its 55amp and fits in the hole, any should work right?I currently have this one...https://www.amazon.com/Parallax-Power-55TCRU-Converter-Charger/dp/B00C5MGCGWWas thinking of replacing with this one...https://www.amazon.com/WFCO-WF8955PECB-Center-Converter-Charger/dp/B004BC59S6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1497199731&sr=1-2&keywords=7355+power+converteror https://www.amazon.com/Parallax-Power-Supply-Converter-Distribution/dp/B002SSEWF6/ref=sr_1_2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1497199593&sr=1-2&keywords=parallax+7155But I have no idea about these things. I'm a real handy guy, I just have no clue about brand name products when it comes to the TT

The converter charges your battery and powers the 12 volt DC systems when you are on shore power, 120 volt AC. It wont power the Air Conditioner or outlets from the battery. Is that what you were trying to accomplish? Getting 120 Volt AC power from your battery requires an inverter. a totally different piece of equipment.

There seems to be some lack of knowledge of how things are suppose to work and what they are called... Here is a typical 30AMP Trailer Electrical setup showing how everything works around the 120VAC Power Distribution Panel where the BREAKERS are located and the 12VDC Power Distribution Panel where all of the FUSES are located... google imageAs you can see here these two panels are the heart of your trailer operations... These two power distribution panels is where every thing in your trailer gets it power from...The items you are describing for replacement are called an DC Converter (Sometimes called a Power Converter or a Converter/Charger) and its function is to take the Shore Power or Generator 120VAC output and convert it to 12VDC which in turn feeds the 12VDC Power Distribution Panel to power up all of the 12VDC items you see above.This has nothing to do with the 120VAC Breaker side of the 120VAC Power Distribution panel. When plugged into shore power or running off of generator the Power Converter unit also will become a battery charger for your trailer battery.Not having any 120VAC around the 120VAC Power Distribution Panel BREAKERS means something is wrong with the Shore Power or Generator connection feeding the trailer. Need to check your 120VAC Input Source... Totally confused here on what you are wanting to do from your description of events...Roy Ken

Ok. I guess I'm a little confused as well.I have my TT hooked up to 120v external power. Everything worked like it was supposed to last week. Now all the 120v stuff isnt working. The way this whole panel is wired up is kind of confusing to me. My battery was completely dead when i plugged the TT into shore power. If I disconnect my 120v source, all the 12v stuff works. So this tells me my battery is working.If I pull my breakers and test the bus bar behind them, I dont get any voltage at all there. You guys are saying that that bus bar should have 120v power all the time when connected to the house? The DC converter is connected to the breaker that is for the GFCI outlets in the TT. If my converter was bad, I would still have 120v, just all my 12v stuff would be gone once the battery drained......correct?As long as I am connected to a 120v outside source, all my 120v stuff should work?

The distribution part of the unit is pretty simple- power goes in to the main breaker, through the stab block the breakers hook to and out the branch circuit breakers. The most common failure on these is the neutral buss being fried due to a loose connection. It is pretty rare, though not unheard of for the stab block to fail, more common for the main breaker to go bad.IOW, a lot to look at before replacing the whole thing, but if you did, Progressive Dynamics is the way to go.

kris77 wrote:Ok. I guess I'm a little confused as well.I have my TT hooked up to 120v external power. Everything worked like it was supposed to last week. Now all the 120v stuff isnt working. The way this whole panel is wired up is kind of confusing to me. My battery was completely dead when i plugged the TT into shore power. If I disconnect my 120v source, all the 12v stuff works. So this tells me my battery is working.Yes all correct Yes, correct to this point. If I pull my breakers and test the bus bar behind them, I dont get any voltage at all there. You guys are saying that that bus bar should have 120v power all the time when connected to the house? The DC converter is connected to the breaker that is for the GFCI outlets in the TT. If my converter was bad, I would still have 120v, just all my 12v stuff would be gone once the battery drained......correct?Are you still plugged into the house power at this point?As long as I am connected to a 120v outside source, all my 120v stuff should work?YesFirst, are you sure you still have 120 AC house power at the outlet? If you were plugged into a 15 amp outlet turning on the Air Conditioner and some other items at the same time may have tripped a breaker or GFCI in the house. Test the house outlet with a droplight or other appliance to ensure you have power there, and then if the trailer still isnt getting power check the breakers there.

Power converter question | Good Sam Community

troubledwaters
Explorer III
Jun 12, 2017
I guess my experience has been the opposite of yours Roy. I've had one of those round adapters for about 15 years now and it still works fine. I think it cost me about $3.00 at Walmart so I guess I got my money's worth out of it.
pianotuna
Nomad III
Jun 12, 2017
Is there a generator? Do you have a transfer switch?
kris77
Explorer
Jun 12, 2017
Ok, so i checked everything. I get 120v from my house to the camper.

The 30 amp twist plug on the TT, does it run straight to the power center? I took the plug off and there is an orange wire connected to it. I look behind the power center and there is an orange wire connected to the Main breaker. I get no voltage on this wire. I shorted the wires together and tested for continuity at the plug....I got nothing. I think my wire is broken in two somewhere. I can rerun a new wire straight from the plug to the power center....But i want to make sure it goes straight there and not somewhere else first.

Any ideas?

EDIT:

I ran a cable from the plug to the breaker panel and everything started working. Off to Lowes to get a 10/2 MC cable I can strap to the frame and replace the one that is broken.

Just my luck a cable broke in two somewhere, somehow.

If somebody reads this and I shouldn't just rerun that cable straight from the plug to the power control center, please let me know. I have a feeling it stops somewhere first before running to the breakers, but I cant find it if it does.
wnjj
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2017
kris77 wrote:
Ok, so i checked everything. I get 120v from my house to the camper.

The 30 amp twist plug on the TT, does it run straight to the power center? I took the plug off and there is an orange wire connected to it. I look behind the power center and there is an orange wire connected to the Main breaker. I get no voltage on this wire. I shorted the wires together and tested for continuity at the plug....I got nothing. I think my wire is broken in two somewhere. I can rerun a new wire straight from the plug to the power center....But i want to make sure it goes straight there and not somewhere else first.

Any ideas?

EDIT:

I ran a cable from the plug to the breaker panel and everything started working. Off to Lowes to get a 10/2 MC cable I can strap to the frame and replace the one that is broken.

Just my luck a cable broke in two somewhere, somehow.

If somebody reads this and I shouldn't just rerun that cable straight from the plug to the power control center, please let me know. I have a feeling it stops somewhere first before running to the breakers, but I cant find it if it does.

If you have an onboard generator (or even an option for one), you may have a transfer switch installed somewhere and they can fail. They way they usually work is the power center is connected to the generator, unless there is shore power applied to the cord. When the shore power is applied, relays energize and switch the power center to the shore power. So if you have one and it's not working it will behave like you are observing. There could also be loose connections there.

If you don't have a transfer switch, you can wire directly from the shore cord to the power center breaker as you suggested.
kris77
Explorer
Jun 13, 2017
How would I know if I have a transfer switch? I have no manual or any paperwork on this model at all. I'm kind of flying blind. Would the transfer switch be near the power center? Would it be underneath somewhere?

I'm pretty sure I don't have an onboard generator anywhere. And I"m not real sure I'll ever install one if it's even possible. I think I'll go double check one last time, but probably just going to run a new wire from the plug to the power center. Seems like the easiest option and least expensive. Do I need to put any kind of surge protection inline anywhere?
wnjj
Explorer II
Jun 13, 2017
kris77 wrote:
How would I know if I have a transfer switch? I have no manual or any paperwork on this model at all. I'm kind of flying blind. Would the transfer switch be near the power center? Would it be underneath somewhere?

I'm pretty sure I don't have an onboard generator anywhere. And I"m not real sure I'll ever install one if it's even possible. I think I'll go double check one last time, but probably just going to run a new wire from the plug to the power center. Seems like the easiest option and least expensive. Do I need to put any kind of surge protection inline anywhere?

If you don't already have a generator, odds are you don't have a transfer switch. It could be located anywhere but likely near the power center.

If you run a new wire, just be sure to cap both ends of the old one with wire nuts and electrical tape, just in case they are ever hooked back up somewhere on the other end.

Surge protection is a personal choice so strictly speaking not "required". You can always use an external one inline with the cord if you want.
aftermath
Explorer III
Jun 13, 2017
Perhaps this might help. I think you can get manuals for your trailer as well as individual systems.

Dutchmen support
legolas
Explorer
Jun 13, 2017
kris77 wrote:
So, I will say this.

I did check my house breaker last night just to make sure it wasnt tripped. And it looked fine. I didn't fully have an understanding of how the TT panel was wired up, so I didnt even think to check the receptacle the TT is hooked to.

When I get home today, I'm going to double check the breaker in the house, test the outlet in the garage, test the extension cord, test the dogbone adaptor, and work my way all the way to the TT breaker panel.

I'm sure somewhere, something is tripped or burnt up. I'm guessing its either gonna be the breaker in the house was barely tripped or my adaptor connecting the 30a TT plug to the extension cord is bad. I dont have one of the ones mentioned above, i have one of the yellow round ones i bought from Amazon.

get rid of it and get a heavy duty dogbone type.
time2roll
Nomad
Jun 13, 2017
Very rare for the wire to fail in the middle. I would assume it connects to something like a surge protector or transfer switch. Has any work been done where the wire could get cut or damaged? Tough to trace through blind areas with minimal access but make an effort.

That puck is fine as long as you do not run A/C, MW or electric water heat.
kris77
Explorer
Jun 14, 2017
I just want to thank all that helped me figure this out. It was definitely a broken wire. Maybe it got caught in the slide out somehow? Nevertheless, its fixed and working now. Thanks again.

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