All Outlets Work Except Front TV/Entertainment Center - Page 2

Handy · 02-17-2018, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by txhood

The trigger wire should be purple. Make sure you are not on shore power and that the generator is not running. Snip the purple wire going into the outlet and you are good to go, even with the engine running.

I think I only have red wires that run to the outlet (with black and white) so I'm thinking that MUST be it.

RVermont · 02-17-2018, 02:43 AM

Does the command center have a voltage indicator or some sort of indicator light that the inverter is on or off? Or is this just a toggle or push button? Unless you have something that is telling you the unit on or off I would suspect the switch is bad or not fully connected to the inverter. If you can get to the inverter and see the front panel there should be some indicator lights showing if the unit is on or in standby. There should also be a switch on this as well. Test to see if this switches it on or off. Might be the wire connection is loose and the connector just needs to pushed in.
Sounds like you are getting close to solving these issues. Good luck.

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WinnieView · 02-17-2018, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handy

That's what is strange. With NO external power and running ONLY on batteries the inverter switch makes no difference if the front outlets work or if any other appliances work. Front outlets work fine, but no other outlets work on inverter (to be expected I gather). So I'm still puzzled by the inverter switch in the command center.

Thanks for the PDF and all the support!

Then perhaps if nothing is On plugged into the front outlets there would no unexpected drain through the inverter on the batteries?
Our switch (confirmed) does turn the inverter on and off, but also pops its Reset breaker each time we go on and of shore power (we think), or is it any power (genset) included.
Not sure, but we will have time to check into it later this week. It has only done it for a few months.
Oh well, we have had RVs for several years and there's always something to keep a body "entertained".

WinnieView · 02-17-2018, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVermont

Does the command center have a voltage indicator or some sort of indicator light that the inverter is on or off? Or is this just a toggle or push button? Unless you have something that is telling you the unit on or off I would suspect the switch is bad or not fully connected to the inverter. If you can get to the inverter and see the front panel there should be some indicator lights showing if the unit is on or in standby. There should also be a switch on this as well. Test to see if this switches it on or off. Might be the wire connection is loose and the connector just needs to pushed in.
Sounds like you are getting close to solving these issues. Good luck.

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Good point. The remote switch may be plugged into the inverter using an RJ-11 (phone plug) type connection. Unplug it and plug it back in, may "fix it".

If it still doesn't work try a BFH!

Fun fact: RJ stands for Registered Jack.
We do remember some things after a 30 year career in IT.

Handy · 02-17-2018, 07:29 PM

Today I installed some regular outlets to replace the ones from Jayco with the cut off relays. They worked great and now the ignition can be on with the TV working for the kids!

What I found is that the inverter stays on at all times, the RS4000 switch doesn’t do anything to the inverter and I unplugged/plugged back in the small phone line leading from the RS4000 remote switch to the inverter. Did that to both ends. The inverter works fine on AC power and does great doing its job on battery, but since I can only switch off at the inverter itself (under the bed) I have to use the battery disconnect to make sure I don’t run down the batteries overnight.

What do you think? Bad control board? Bad phone line cable? Hope not since one is expensive and the other is in a wiring harness and I’d have no way to get it to the command center again. I plan to call Xantrex on Monday.

Any other remedies you can think of to help get that remote switch to work? The light comes on when I put the switch to the ON mode but like I said, nothing happens to the inverter in the off/standby mode.

I’ll try to post pics soon.

Robbbyr · 02-17-2018, 07:36 PM

Nice work on the outlets!

I think a call to Xantrex would be your best bet. I think otherwise we are just shooting in the dark!

WinnieView · 02-17-2018, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handy

Today I installed some regular outlets to replace the ones from Jayco with the cut off relays. They worked great and now the ignition can be on with the TV working for the kids!

What I found is that the inverter stays on at all times, the RS4000 switch doesn’t do anything to the inverter and I unplugged/plugged back in the small phone line leading from the RS4000 remote switch to the inverter. Did that to both ends. The inverter works fine on AC power and does great doing its job on battery, but since I can only switch off at the inverter itself (under the bed) I have to use the battery disconnect to make sure I don’t run down the batteries overnight.

What do you think? Bad control board? Bad phone line cable? Hope not since one is expensive and the other is in a wiring harness and I’d have no way to get it to the command center again. I plan to call Xantrex on Monday.

Any other remedies you can think of to help get that remote switch to work? The light comes on when I put the switch to the ON mode but like I said, nothing happens to the inverter in the off/standby mode.

I’ll try to post pics soon.

What about the On/Off switch at the converter, does it work as expected?

Handy · 02-18-2018, 10:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2008Seneca

What about the On/Off switch at the converter, does it work as expected?

The switch at the converter works fine, hard to reach but you can do it. If the switch is indeed bad and not the control board I think I will make a cutout in the bed support for a new switch and just make sure I turn it off when needed. It won't be a the command center, but I don't know how to run a line back up there if that's the case.

Any way to test that switch and the phone cable?

Here are pics.

WinnieView · 02-18-2018, 10:44 PM

Try these possible remedies we found on another site;

Take the remote off the wall and unplug it for 30 seconds or so and plug it back it or do the same thing where it is plugged into the inverter.

Leave the switch in the bay off, then go back and try the remote to see if it will work.

Check the connections on the cord and where you plug it to.

The switch on the inverter has to be "off" to use the control panel on/off switch. If you turn the switch on the inverter "on", the switch on the remote panel doesn't do anything.

The 6-pin "phone cord" can be checked for pin-to-pin continuity using an ohm meter. Same goes for the switch, On and Off tests.

Please let us know what you find as we believe ours is the same model. The pictures and what we can see look identical.

Handy · 02-21-2018, 11:41 AM

I called Xantrex and they said the following

1. The inverter can be in the ON or Standby setting either way for the switch to work
2. It looks as if I have a bad switch because the switch LED light turns green but there is no response from the inverter.
3. Inverter works well, but has no remote shut off other than the switch

They said new switches are not compatible with my older inverter. I took the switch apart to look at the PCB, etc.. everything looks good and solid. Putting it back together and going to try one last time to see if that did anything.

If not, going to have to get a new inverter and then will have to locate the shut off switch under the bed because there is no way to route the line through the existing wire harness.

WinnieView · 02-21-2018, 11:46 AM

Hmm...It could be the switch or the cord? The switch LED only gets power to light through the cord, the cord could be partially damaged?

"It's always something!"

Handy · 02-21-2018, 12:58 PM

Wonder where I could pick up a chord to test that? Are those special 4 pin chords easily available? Time to look on Amazon.

Robbbyr · 02-21-2018, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Handy

Wonder where I could pick up a chord to test that? Are those special 4 pin chords easily available? Time to look on Amazon.

Can you post a picture of the cord connection? That might help us steer you in the right direction.

WinnieView · 02-21-2018, 01:30 PM

It may be a standard 4-pin/wire RJ-11 which is used in all households. It could also be a 6-pin. Count them up and let us know.

We have a whole box of extras in our garage after "cutting the landline" several years ago.

Handy · 02-21-2018, 09:53 PM

Went to Ace Hardware to pickup a 4 pin phone cable. Came home and plugged it into the inverter with the remote switch off the wall and close to the bay in the back with the inverter. Plugged in the switch to the new cable and....BOOM! It worked! So that means it was the cable all along!

Now...do I just mount the switch on the bed support just a foot away from the inverter (make a cut out for the remote switch) or is there ANY possible way to route the phone cable up to the command center by the kitchen where the switch was originally installed?

RVermont · 02-21-2018, 10:05 PM

Great find. I don’t know about your particular model. It might be fairly simple to run a new wire or it could be a nightmare. However before i go that route I would try to replace the ends of the wire. You can buy replacement ends $2-3 and a tool $10-15. If each end has a few inches of extra wiring cut the ends and replace. If that doesn’t work then I would open the unit up and see where the wire chases are. In the Seneca it is fairly easy just have to get through a bunch of sealing foam. No clue on a 2007 Melbourne where the wiring runs.

Good luck you are close to the finish line.

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WinnieView · 02-21-2018, 10:36 PM

We have the proper crimping tool if you need to use it. A bag of 25 RJ-11 connectors will probably cost a dollar.

We would probably re-mount the switch as you mentioned, after pulling on the existing cable ends as much as possible to see if the damaged cable could easily be found and repaired.
There are extender plugs that can be had as well if the repaired cable winds up being too short and the new cable could be connected (like an extension cord).

If there's a bedroom slide out it could have been damaged by that.

We have customized our Command Center in various way. We felt it was goofy looking with all the labels, including the one "command center" so it's gone.

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