No AC power to fridge only propane

[dwilli1]

I have a new 2022 Starcraft 212FB and a new garage. My electrician installed a 30A RV outlet in the new garage but wired it to a 30A double pole breaker (says he wired it 220) before he realized what I needed. My Hughes Power Watchdog showed an error "L1 & NEUTRAL REVERSED" as the error. He came back and fixed immediately (Power Watchdog is now showing all green lights, i.e. all good) but my fridge will not run on A/C, only propane. Appliances all work, TV, sound bar, all fuses are good and I reset all breakers just as a precaution. A/C and furnace both work. Should I disconnect the camper battery and try things? I get the feeling everything is running off the battery.
Thanks anyone in advance.

[dxrobertson]

Originally Posted by dwilli1

Should I disconnect the camper battery and try things? I get the feeling everything is running off the battery.

If the air conditioner and microwave are working, they are 120V, thus its not everything is running off battery (unless you have an inverter). Disconnecting the battery wont do anything as long as the converter is operating.

Has the refer ever worked on 120V? Sometimes the installer forgets to plug it in at the outside access panel.

[dwilli1]

Originally Posted by dxrobertson

If the air conditioner and microwave are working, they are 120V, thus its not everything is running off battery (unless you have an inverter). Disconnecting the battery wont do anything as long as the converter is operating.

Has the refer ever worked on 120V? Sometimes the installer forgets to plug it in at the outside access panel.

I don't think so. I checked and it's there. I unplugged and replugged just to make sure. Checked all the spade terminals...all ok. Of course the dealer is closed til Tuesday but I just brought it home and haven't even had it out yet.

[dxrobertson]

Something else to try is resetting the refer control board. This is done on mine by turning off power to the refer; make sure all 12V supply is off- disconnect the battery, unplug 120V to the trailer. No power to trailer 12V nor 120V. Let sit a minute, then plug back in and reconnect and see if that fixed it.

[RedHorse1]

Unless it was working on 110 during the PDI I expect it was dead when you picked it up. Plug something into the fridg’s outlet to see if it is working. If it is I’d expect the heating element or control board.

[dwilli1]

The outlet is working by testing with a power tool charger...light comes on so I know it's working. I tried resetting the refer control board, nothing. When I disconnect the battery and run on straight electric I have no lights, no fridge, no range hood, no bathroom lights but I do have the TV and some outlets. Could it be a bad breaker?
Things worked during the dealer demo but I suspect things were running off the battery at that time.

[Parrott]

Do you have the fridge control on auto?

[dwilli1]

Originally Posted by Parrott

Do you have the fridge control on auto?

I do but it only runs on propane. If I switch it to straight electric it shuts off. I think it going to point to the converter. I checked resistance from negative battery cable to positive battery cable (unhooked from the battery) and got nothing. The meter should read 13.6v.

[dxrobertson]

Originally Posted by dwilli1

When I disconnect the battery and run on straight electric I have no lights, no fridge, no range hood, no bathroom lights but I do have the TV and some outlets.

This sounds like the converter is not working. All lights, hood fan, bath fan, etc are all 12V. With the battery disconnected and plugged into 102V; all that should work off the 12V supplied by the converter.

The converter should have its own breaker.

Regardless, even if the converter is bad; you should still have a functioning 120V refer, by running from the battery (converter not needed).

It sounds like maybe something in the refer 120V side is bad and the converter may be bad.

You are correct in your volt measurement; with the battery disconnected and plugged into 120V, there should be voltage at the battery cables (supplied by the converter).

[dwilli1]

Originally Posted by dxrobertson

This sounds like the converter is not working. All lights, hood fan, bath fan, etc are all 12V. With the battery disconnected and plugged into 102V; all that should work off the 12V supplied by the converter.

The converter should have its own breaker.

Regardless, even if the converter is bad; you should still have a functioning 120V refer, by running from the battery (converter not needed).

It sounds like maybe something in the refer 120V side is bad and the converter may be bad.

You are correct in your volt measurement; with the battery disconnected and plugged into 120V, there should be voltage at the battery cables (supplied by the converter).

Thanks dx. Regardless I'll let the dealer handle it on Tuesday. It's brand new and I just picked it up 5/26. Thanks again. I'll update after I talk to them.

[JimD]

Very easy way to test whether it is the 120 volt supply to the fridge or the actual fridge. If you have 120 volts at the power outlet that the fridge is plugged into and the fridge won't work on 120, the problem is internal to the fridge. Doesn't matter on how the 120 gets to that outlet.

The inverter should not be part of this equation since the fridge is a gas/120 volt unit. It would not make any sense to power it through an inverter when gas is an option.

If the fridge was set to AC mode when you plugged into 220 volts you probably fried either the heating element or the relay that controls the 120 volts to the heating element. More likely it would be the heating element.

I would not mention that you plugged into 220 volts as this would void your warranty. Also, I would pick a different electrician next time.

The other 120 volt items are probably OK since they were not turned on during the over-voltage condition.

[RedHorse1]

Originally Posted by dwilli1

I do but it only runs on propane. If I switch it to straight electric it shuts off. I think it going to point to the converter. I checked resistance from negative battery cable to positive battery cable (unhooked from the battery) and got nothing. The meter should read 13.6v.

I discovered when connected to shore power and no battery my batt disconnect switch has to be ON for me to get any 12V.

[JimD]

By chance are you trying to operate the fridge on 120 volts with the battery disconnected? The fridge requires 12 volts for control even on 120 volts.

On propane it only requires 12 volts and propane. On 120 volts it requires 120 volts and 12 volts.

Normally when plugged into 120 volts you would get 12 volts supplied by the converter. It is very possible you could have fried the converter when you plugged into 220 volts. It would have been on and not reacted well to twice the input voltage.

Since the fridge operates on propane the 12 volt side is working. But if you are shutting off the 12 volts via a disconnect switch and then trying the 120 operation, you may not be getting the control voltage required. The fridge wouldn't even light up without the 12 volts.

[dwilli1]

JimD: It has always run through the Hughes Surge protector so shouldn't that have protected the 220V? There is 120V to the outlet that the fridge is plugged into; it simply shuts off when you try to turn it from propane to 120V. I don't think the fridge was even on when I got home with it and plugged it in. I'm SURE the propane wasn't on during my trip home from the dealer.

The fridge WAS working on propane when the battery was hooked up. I was not aware that it needed to have the 12V available. I'm really not convinced that it was working right at the dealer since the demo was plugged in to 120V but was also running on the 12V battery.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by dwilli1

JimD: It has always run through the Hughes Surge protector so shouldn't that have protected the 220V? There is 120V to the outlet that the fridge is plugged into; it simply shuts off when you try to turn it from propane to 120V. I don't think the fridge was even on when I got home with it and plugged it in. I'm SURE the propane wasn't on during my trip home from the dealer.

The fridge WAS working on propane when the battery was hooked up. I was not aware that it needed to have the 12V available. I'm really not convinced that it was working right at the dealer since the demo was plugged in to 120V but was also running on the 12V battery.

Just fo the heck of it run an extension cord from a good plug in the garage or home and plug the fridge into it. It will probably do nothing but it's worth a shot

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by dwilli1

JimD: It has always run through the Hughes Surge protector so shouldn't that have protected the 220V? There is 120V to the outlet that the fridge is plugged into; it simply shuts off when you try to turn it from propane to 120V. I don't think the fridge was even on when I got home with it and plugged it in. I'm SURE the propane wasn't on during my trip home from the dealer.

The fridge WAS working on propane when the battery was hooked up. I was not aware that it needed to have the 12V available. I'm really not convinced that it was working right at the dealer since the demo was plugged in to 120V but was also running on the 12V battery.

There is a guy on YouTube and his fridge had an in line fuse in the back of the fridge and another on the circuit board itself

[dwilli1]

Originally Posted by Bill Johnson

There is a guy on YouTube and his fridge had an in line fuse in the back of the fridge and another on the circuit board itself

Thanks. I tried the extension cord trick. still no go. I didn't see an inline fuse but I'm taking back to the dealer today. Geez, I just picked it up Thursday lol.

[Garry Foster]

First the electrician should pay and second you should quit guessing. It is a very simple system and if you don't understand it get some one who does. The fridge uses heat to cool. Comes from the propane flame or the resistance heater on AC. 12:volts(13.6) is required in both cases for the control circuitry. A very few 3way so have. 13.6 resistance heater to run off the battery only. Not comm ok n and has nothing do with your problem. It is trivial to see off 110ac is getting to the resistance. Heater. If it is the resistance element is burned out. If no AC at element then something in the control circuitry is bad.
Good luck

[tec]

You really have to be careful when hiring a electrician for a 30 amp service and make sure they understand it’s for a RV, and that they know it’s not 220 Volt. most should know but I have talked to some that didn’t realize that there was a difference, your average electrician associates 30 amp as 220 for a dryer.

[Cujonaut]

Originally Posted by dwilli1

I didn't see an inline fuse but I'm taking back to the dealer today.

There's a fuse on the fridge control board, hard to get to on my RV, impossible without pulling the fridge on others I've seen.

I had the same issue with my fridge, propane only, no 120V. The fuse had blown on my board, I replaced the fuse and it started working on 120V. It worked for a couple days and the fuse blew again. I ended up replacing the entire board and now it works again. I haven't had any issues with it going on a year now (fingers crossed).