Weird electrical issue

[Trainerdude]

Have a 2011 Jayco jay feather lite 221 sport and I am plugged into 30 amp service at our park, battery is disconnected. We lose all our lights and our fridge goes off from time to time for no reason. Opening and closing the converter door sometimes brings it back, and all other outlets and appliances are not affected. Just the lights and fridge. My dad thinks it’s a power issue at the park, but that doesn’t make much sense to me. I think it may be a loose connection, but don’t know where to start. Thoughts??

Dave

[JFlightRisk]

By your description, it does lead me to think there may be a loose 12 volt connection in your converter. The fridge needs 12 volts for the control, and the only other thing that goes out are 12 volt lights.

First thing, touch the 12 volt fuses, starting with the one marked for the lights, to see if there's any touchy fuse terminals. Can you duplicate the trouble by wiggling the fuses? Safety first!! Then unplug the TT from the pedestal, seeing if the 30 amp socket is loose, worn, or looks like it has arced. At that point it's just checking all the wire connections in the converter, starting with the 12 volt side. Do any connections or wires look burned. Wire connections can and do loosen up.

Good luck, and be sure to let us know what you've found.

[TWP723]

I agree with JFlightRisk, opening and closing something and noticing a difference means something's loose and not making consistent contact. Use electrical pliers with a rubber handle to check the fuses and go from there.

[Trainerdude]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

By your description, it does lead me to think there may be a loose 12 volt connection in your converter. The fridge needs 12 volts for the control, and the only other thing that goes out are 12 volt lights.

First thing, touch the 12 volt fuses, starting with the one marked for the lights, to see if there's any touchy fuse terminals. Can you duplicate the trouble by wiggling the fuses? Safety first!! Then unplug the TT from the pedestal, seeing if the 30 amp socket is loose, worn, or looks like it has arced. At that point it's just checking all the wire connections in the converter, starting with the 12 volt side. Do any connections or wires look burned. Wire connections can and do loosen up.

Good luck, and be sure to let us know what you've found.

Thanks for this. I will be going back up this weekend and will give this a try. I appreciate all the input here. I am not at all comfortable with electrical work, but I have to learn sometime.

[Trainerdude]

Originally Posted by TWP723

I agree with JFlightRisk, opening and closing something and noticing a difference means something's loose and not making consistent contact. Use electrical pliers with a rubber handle to check the fuses and go from there.

Thanks! Will do on the rubber handle pliers! Good tip indeed.

[Trainerdude]

So I went through as much as I could but my converter seems to be behind a wooden box. Anyone ever seen this and know how to access it?

[Trainerdude]

Here is the pictures

[RogerR]

I had a similar problem and found that the ground bar for all the wires was never tightened. They just stuck wires through the holes and never properly tightened the screws to make sure of a good connection.
Second issue could be the ground to the frame. Usually a wire runs through the floor to a screw on the frame somewhere below. Rust and corrosion there will cause intermittent problems.

[Trainerdude]

Originally Posted by RogerR

I had a similar problem and found that the ground bar for all the wires was never tightened. They just stuck wires through the holes and never properly tightened the screws to make sure of a good connection.
Second issue could be the ground to the frame. Usually a wire runs through the floor to a screw on the frame somewhere below. Rust and corrosion there will cause intermittent problems.

Thanks. I will look for it this weekend as I get ready to close up for the winter.

Does anyone have any clue on how to access the converter through the box in case I need to replace?

[Trainerdude]

Ok. So I am told that the converter is built into my power unit. That makes more sense now.