DC Electric problem - Page 3

Tobster · 01-15-2019, 04:13 PM

OK...There is defiantly not voltage going to the one fuse. Fuses all test good. I have traced and found the wire that brings voltage to the fuse. It is a red wire that is spliced together to a brown wire. There is no voltage at that connection. From there the brown wire is bundled together in a bundle of wire that goes through the floor. Guess I am at a standstill until the weather breaks and I can get under the coach and trace the wires further. Right now I have about 8 inches of snow on the ground with more coming. Gettin to old and fat to get that adventurous.

Short any other suggestions that I can check inside the RV I will wait till spring.

I thank all of you for your help and suggestions, your help is very much appreciated. I will post the result once warmer weather arrives.

Toby (Tobster)

mia389 · 01-15-2019, 04:58 PM

I am a bit confused. There is not 12v to the fuse on the buss panel? Pictures would help. Voltage should come from the fuse, not to the fuse. 12v Starts at your battery. It then goes to your buss panel. From there it is goes to your fuses then to the circuits

SloPoke · 01-15-2019, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobster

OK...There is defiantly not voltage going to the one fuse. Fuses all test good. I have traced and found the wire that brings voltage to the fuse. It is a red wire that is spliced together to a brown wire. There is no voltage at that connection. From there the brown wire is bundled together in a bundle of wire that goes through the floor. Guess I am at a standstill until the weather breaks and I can get under the coach and trace the wires further. Right now I have about 8 inches of snow on the ground with more coming. Gettin to old and fat to get that adventurous.

Short any other suggestions that I can check inside the RV I will wait till spring.

I thank all of you for your help and suggestions, your help is very much appreciated. I will post the result once warmer weather arrives.

Toby (Tobster)

Can you post a copy of the wiring diagram that Jayco sent you? so we can trace this back from the diagram?

Isaacs · 01-15-2019, 05:07 PM

It's not time to crawl under the trailer just yet, I think you're working backwards. There are no wires going "to" the fuse; the fuse gets it's power from the buss in the panel. It then sends the power out via the wires coming out of the back. If you're sure there is no power coming out of a fuse which is good then there is a problem with the fuse holder--either where it's connected to the buss or connected to the wire leading out the back. This is unlikely, but I suppose it's possible.

Do you have any spare circuits with no fuses in them? You could simply abandon the defective circuit, add a fuse, and connect the wires to a new circuit.

Tobster · 01-15-2019, 06:08 PM

I am not good at explaining things but let me try again...maybe I am confused! Ok there are several red wires that go into the back of my 12V fuse panel. Each of those red wires then connect to an individual 15 or 30 amp fuse. When I check the voltage on these red wires, I have 12V DC, except the one that is not working, so I deduct that my supply wire going to the fuse is broken somewhere before 12V getting to the fuse. It has to be between the battery and the fuse.

I probably have 200 pages of schematics to go thru, If I find one that I can clearly determine that shows the fuse panel I will try to post, I will also try to take a picture of the panel. There must be a distribution buse underneath the RV, there are way to many wires to be individually connected to the battery, However that buse is not in the cabinet under the bed. There is a buse bar there, but there is nothing what so ever connected to it. All those wires feeding the fuse panel are bundled together and goes down through the floor

Clear as mud... sorry...but thank you

Tobster · 01-15-2019, 06:30 PM

Here are 3 pictures. I have the fuse pulled on the problem circuit, its labeled as #10

Wireman · 01-16-2019, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobster

Here are 3 pictures. I have the fuse pulled on the problem circuit, its labeled as #10

You need to check for DC voltage on the lower fuse lug at circuit 10( pic 1), the circuit you pulled the fuse on.

A 12 volt auto test light works the best. Obviously the wire of the tester has to be grounded.

No voltage there, problem with the connection at that lug. It looks like you can remove the screw on the green board and move it to check the back of it for problems.

If you have 12 volts there, put in a new fuse, check for voltage thru the fuse and trace that connection for voltage as far as you can.

You can check the voltage on each side of the fuse by using the test light needle at the top of the fuse.

You can also probe the red wire insulation with it to verify that voltage is leaving on the wire.

Possibly critters have caused some issues with the wiring under the trailer or in the walls.

Was that 12volt fuse blown when you noticed the problem initially?

Sorry if I missed that in the post.

Jay Matt · 01-16-2019, 06:32 PM

Tobster,
I don’t want to get in the middle of everything it sounds like there’s some really competent guys pointing you in a good direction. However I am concerned by your language that, that might be the communication barrier you speak of. You were talking about wires going to your fuse panel. The reality is all those little red wires coming out the back are actually going FROM your panel. Electrically speaking. You’ve only got one main cable going to it and that was what was circled in an earlier post. I hope that helps in your troubleshooting.
I think somebody mentioned previously if you pull your fuse while your DC power still hot, take your DC voltmeter one side to ground and the other side to each side of the fuse holder that you just pulled the fuse out of. One side should be hot the other side connected to that little red wire should be dead. If they are both dead you have a problem inside of that box . If one is hot and The other dead then your problems outside of the box in your wiring.
I hope that helps!

Tobster · 01-16-2019, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay Matt

Tobster,
I don’t want to get in the middle of everything it sounds like there’s some really competent guys pointing you in a good direction. However I am concerned by your language that, that might be the communication barrier you speak of. You were talking about wires going to your fuse panel. The reality is all those little red wires coming out the back are actually going FROM your panel. Electrically speaking. You’ve only got one main cable going to it and that was what was circled in an earlier post. I hope that helps in your troubleshooting.
I think somebody mentioned previously if you pull your fuse while your DC power still hot, take your DC voltmeter one side to ground and the other side to each side of the fuse holder that you just pulled the fuse out of. One side should be hot the other side connected to that little red wire should be dead. If they are both dead you have a problem inside of that box . If one is hot and The other dead then your problems outside of the box in your wiring.
I hope that helps!

Thank you Jay Matt: I am sure my language and description leaves alot to be desired, I certainly take no exception with you chiming in... I need all the help I can get.
I understand I think with what you say, let me ask you this: When I take another 15amp fuse out of the panel and measure between ground and both sides of that fuse block, I only get voltage on one side of that block, which I believe is the way it should be. The side I get voltage on, is the side where that red wire connects. the other side shows nothing. On my problem circuit, there is no voltage on either side... Maybe I am looking and checking the fuse block backwards. There is one larger gauge wire BLACK that goes into the back of that fuse panel....all this time I assumed that is the ground wire, because it comes off of what I will call a tap that then goes thru the floor to underneath the RV. Its the tap on the picture I posted earlier with tap circled in green. This tap that refer to is also the point I am using as ground to check my circuits.

Hope I explained that a little better... Anyways Thank you for responding

Toby (Tobster)

Tobster · 01-16-2019, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wireman

You need to check for DC voltage on the lower fuse lug at circuit 10( pic 1), the circuit you pulled the fuse on.

A 12 volt auto test light works the best. Obviously the wire of the tester has to be grounded.

No voltage there, problem with the connection at that lug. It looks like you can remove the screw on the green board and move it to check the back of it for problems.

If you have 12 volts there, put in a new fuse, check for voltage thru the fuse and trace that connection for voltage as far as you can.

You can check the voltage on each side of the fuse by using the test light needle at the top of the fuse.

You can also probe the red wire insulation with it to verify that voltage is leaving on the wire.

Possibly critters have caused some issues with the wiring under the trailer or in the walls.

Was that 12volt fuse blown when you noticed the problem initially?

Sorry if I missed that in the post.

Wireman...Thank you for your reply, I normally go out check by battery level weekly by pressing the battery level button in my control panel and see if my battery is keeping a charge. This past time when I checked it, none of the LED indicator lighted illuminated. So I pressed the buttons on to check levels on the tanks, which are empty, but normally one LED light will light...again nothing. So I check my fuses, all appeared to be OK. I then checked other things on that circuit and they were all dead. However everything else powered by 12V were working, so I knew my battery was still charged. I do believe that maybe a squirrel may have chewed on a wire under my RV...to much snow now for me to crawl under there.

Thank You
Toby (Tobster)

RVermont · 01-17-2019, 12:40 AM

This is swag but here is what I think is going on.
The black whites are your positive wires, the wiring lug is there to connect additional circuits possibly from your converter. You can see the black wire runs to the positive side of your fuse black and is the single black wire on that side. If you are using a multimeter and running one lead to the lug this is your power supply. When you the apply the lead to one side of the fuse block without the red wires you are simply testing the same wire and the is no longer flow. If you pull your battery and kill the converter you can test this by using the continuity selection and repeating the test the circuit should be closed. Do not do this on live wiring as you can blow the fuse in your meter if you test wrong wires. . Back to current test that you did. By using the black tap you are actually by passing the fuse and the power is running from the lug through your meter to the circuit. The same test results would occur if test both points on the fuse location. What you are showing is that circuit
Ten has a open ground or a open switch.

**norty1** · 01-17-2019, 04:21 AM

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Tobster · 01-17-2019, 07:48 AM

Well that makes sense RVermont! I know enough about RV wiring to be dangerous! But hot wires being black goes against everything I do know about electricity. If that is the case I guess I am little surprised that a hot tap is left that exposed like this is! Back to the starting block, or fuse block in this case, for me!

Thank You
Toby (Tobster)

Isaacs · 01-17-2019, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobster

Thank you Jay Matt: I am sure my language and description leaves alot to be desired, I certainly take no exception with you chiming in... I need all the help I can get.
I understand I think with what you say, let me ask you this: When I take another 15amp fuse out of the panel and measure between ground and both sides of that fuse block, I only get voltage on one side of that block, which I believe is the way it should be. The side I get voltage on, is the side where that red wire connects. the other side shows nothing. On my problem circuit, there is no voltage on either side... Maybe I am looking and checking the fuse block backwards. There is one larger gauge wire BLACK that goes into the back of that fuse panel....all this time I assumed that is the ground wire, because it comes off of what I will call a tap that then goes thru the floor to underneath the RV. Its the tap on the picture I posted earlier with tap circled in green. This tap that refer to is also the point I am using as ground to check my circuits.

Hope I explained that a little better... Anyways Thank you for responding

Toby (Tobster)

Congratulations--you just found your problem! If there is no voltage at either side of the fuse you can stop worrying about all the other wiring. Something should be connecting one side of the fuse to a 12V source, just like all the other fuses. Each fuse will have a "line" side that connects to a 12V source and a "load" side that connects to the various 12V lights, radio, and other accessories in your RV.

I'm not familiar with how to get that panel apart, but there has to be a way to get to the back side of that green circuit board--someone mentioned a screw somewhere. Someone built it; there has to be a way to un-build it! Once you can see where all the fuses connect to the bussbar, it will be obvious that something is different with circuit #10. Before you go poking around too much in there be sure both the 120V and 12V power are off. You don't want to cause any more problems!

If you're not comfortable with digging around inside the panel we can perhaps find a workaround. Assuming there are no spare circuits (from your picture, they all appear to have fuses in them) maybe we can find one that supplies a very light load or something you never use. You could double up your #10 wires onto that circuit.

Tobster · 01-17-2019, 01:13 PM

Thank You all for getting me heading in the right direction! I have been checking it backwards! I never would have thought that the black wires were the HOT wires. They are, I k\now know that I have 12V going thru my fuse and to the first splice where the red wire is spliced to a brown wire. The Brown wire goes thru the floor to the outside! I will trace it further once the weather breaks! I am boarding a plane and heading to Florida for a week in the Sun. Again, I cant thank you enough for all your help! GREAT Bunch of knowledgeable friendly people on here! Come Spring I will update as to my findings!!

Toby (Tobster)

Miamibill95 · 01-17-2019, 05:08 PM

Dude Toby. C’mon man. Why would you want to leave all that snow and go to Florida and leave all your forum buds hanging for a week. Suspense is killing me.
You killing me Smalls.
Have a good safe trip and fun in sun. Look forward to your return and best wishes of finding the problem.

Tobster · 01-17-2019, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miamibill95

Dude Toby. C’mon man. Why would you want to leave all that snow and go to Florida and leave all your forum buds hanging for a week. Suspense is killing me.
You killing me Smalls.
Have a good safe trip and fun in sun. Look forward to your return and best wishes of finding the problem.

LOL Somebody has to contribute to the budget of the Sunny South! With the forecast here, I wont be be content until I hear Wheels Up...Thank you for the wishes! My Forum Buds have plenty work to do! Many Problems on here for them to solve....BUT, I will be thinking about yall if that helps!

SloPoke · 01-17-2019, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobster

Thank You all for getting me heading in the right direction! I have been checking it backwards! I never would have thought that the black wires were the HOT wires. They are, I k\now know that I have 12V going thru my fuse and to the first splice where the red wire is spliced to a brown wire. The Brown wire goes thru the floor to the outside! I will trace it further once the weather breaks! I am boarding a plane and heading to Florida for a week in the Sun. Again, I cant thank you enough for all your help! GREAT Bunch of knowledgeable friendly people on here! Come Spring I will update as to my findings!!

Toby (Tobster)

On A PLANE ???? Not taking the Greyhawk to warmer climate too... Bad Karma!

Tobster · 01-17-2019, 07:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SloPoke

On A PLANE ???? Not taking the Greyhawk to warmer climate too... Bad Karma!

I wanted to take her on a road trip...Time wasnt on my side this trip! I feel like I am being unfaithful to her...

Next Time for sure!!

Tobster · 03-03-2019, 12:32 PM

Hello everyone.... OK for my update....My 12V issue is fixed! Dont make sense to me, but I replaced the lighted on/off switch to my water pump and my circuit came to life! Never would have thought a defective switch would shut down a whole circuit, even though I did know that the light in the switch stopped working. Simple fix! Thanks for all the help from everyone, This forum is awesome!

Tobster

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