2008 Melbourne No Electrical Inside

[Robertmac]

2008 Melbourne M-29. Was leaving on a trip today. Generator running. AC and TV on for passengers. AC and TV stopped just stopped. Taking a closer look noted that all electrical inside not working. Looked at fuses and breakers. All looked good. Generator works fine. Returned home. Plugged coach into outlet. Now the GFI keeps tripping at the outlet when I plug in even though ac tv interior lights are not turned on creating a large load on the GFI.

Any suggestions on where to start looking to fix the problem?

Thanks

[JimD]

A couple of notes. Lights should all be 12 volts and should run off the battery. If they don't work I would start there. Could be a battery disconnect switch accidentally activated, blown inline fuse at battery (if there is one). The battery should be fed to the fuse panel (not circuit breaker panel) and from there it will be routed to all 12 volt items.

The 120 volt section is separate from the 12 volts. Either shore power or generator power will come in and be connected to a transfer switch which will select one or the other. If the generator is on it will select that feed to pass through to your circuit breaker panel.

The circuit breakers will route the 120 volts to all outlets. The GFI outlet, which may be in your bathroom, only protects some of the power outlets if it trips. Those most commonly are in the kitchen and bathroom, mostly outlets that are near water. If the GFI trips you should still have 120 volts to many other outlets.

So, where to begin? I would first try getting the 12 volt side of things operational and then work on the 120 volts. Remember, the 12 volts are protected by fuses while the 120 volts are protected by circuit breakers. You can try resetting all circuit breakers.

Please let us know what troubleshooting steps you have gone through so we can offer additional tips. A multimeter is a must have tool for all RVers!!!!!

Last thought - your 12 volt side of things can be powered by the converter which is the gadget that converts 120 volts to 12 volts. If there is no 120 volts it will not work at providing the 12 volts but the battery will still do the 12 volts.

[Robertmac]

Thanks for the response. Interior lights work with engine on or off. Double check in line fuse at battery. No blown fuses. Turned all breakers to off. Attempted to connect via the 30 amp cord to exterior power source. Upon plugging in the GFI at the exterior power source the GFI trips. Tripped multiple times as I would unplug 30 amp cord -reset GFI - plug in again - immediate trip following each reset. Unhooked exterior source. Turned on generator. AC - microwave - TV would not turn on.

Any additional suggestions?

Thanks

[JFlightRisk]

It seems there's a dead short somewhere in the 120v side. I'd start by checking connections in the transfer switch.

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by Robertmac

Thanks for the response. Interior lights work with engine on or off. Double check in line fuse at battery. No blown fuses. Turned all breakers to off. Attempted to connect via the 30 amp cord to exterior power source. Upon plugging in the GFI at the exterior power source the GFI trips. Tripped multiple times as I would unplug 30 amp cord -reset GFI - plug in again - immediate trip following each reset. Unhooked exterior source. Turned on generator. AC - microwave - TV would not turn on.

Any additional suggestions?

Thanks

Since nothing works on Gen power I would start at the Transfer switch. Check Voltage in. (two places. Gen and shore.) and voltage out. Check the gen breakers.

[Vicr]

GFCI's aren't circuit breakers OP.

[Robertmac]

Will check transfer switch. Thanks, Robert

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by JFlightRisk

It seems there's a dead short somewhere in the 120v side. I'd start by checking connections in the transfer switch.

How do you know there is a short???? I have not herd mention of a tripped breaker!