Weird Electrical Mystery

[DSchmidt]

Just curious if anyone else has experienced this:
I had my 195RB battery out for maintenance. No problems. Bench tested ok. Fluid levels ok. So I put the battery back in it's box and reconnected the power leads. Then I go inside to check the voltage meter I have plugged into the 12v socket on the wall. Nothing. No power. No lights. No display. No status panel. So I go out and check the outside fuse & breaker. All good. 12V there. However the outside hitch lamp works.
Next I go in and check all the fuses on the Load Center. All good. Baffled. Thinking my Load Center is pooched somehow. I go in the house to check this forum and manuals for clues. About an hour has passed since reconnected the battery. I go back out the the TT to check all fuses again but when I open the door, the voltage meter reads 12.6V and the status panel switch is lit up. Everything works! What the hell?
Is there some kind of time delay or warm-up period before 12V is restored inside once you reconnect a battery?? Tomorrow I will see if I can reproduce this whole scenario again. Ran out of daylight to fiddle with it anymore tonight. TT is parked in my driveway not connected to shore power (yet). No tow vehicle connected. No solar either. Just had the battery out is all.
Ideas?

[norty1]

After confirming the battery connections, I would follow the + and - leads to check connections on that end.

Could be a loose chassis ground

[Benno]

Get a wire brush, clean the threaded battery studs and clean as well the swaged on eyelet of the plus and minus cable. It could be a lousy connection there!

[icr21801]

You don't have a battery disconnect that has to be reset if the battery is disconnected by chance? My previous Toy Hauler had to be cycled on and off, almost like a breaker if I disconnected the battery.

[DSchmidt]

Originally Posted by icr21801

You don't have a battery disconnect that has to be reset if the battery is disconnected by chance? My previous Toy Hauler had to be cycled on and off, almost like a breaker if I disconnected the battery.

That is what I am wondering as well; does the Load Center have some sort of reset sequence?

As for the battery terminal cleanliness, that was done in the process of reinstalling battery. The hitch light worked right away but I suspect it is wired in differently than the stuff inside the TT.

Tonight I will see if I can duplicate the problem. I will disconnect the battery for a bit and see if the 12V power inside takes time to come back on again. Thanks for the suggestions thus far. I will report back on my experiment.

[RogerR]

My hitch has a direct connection (with fuse) to the battery. If you checked the main fuse and then it works I would look for a bad connection (corrosion, loose, poor soldered connection, etc.) at the fuse.

[DSchmidt]

Everything was working since last night after I mysteriously got 12V back inside again.
Well disconnected the battery again. Waited a while then reconnected and no 12V again. BUT the outside hitch lamp works!
Rechecked chassis ground, outside fuse and breaker. All good. Opened up junction box and checked all connectors. All looks good. All wires secure. Batteries show 13V.
BAFFLING.
Gonna see if it comes on again by itself. Had to go out...

[DSchmidt]

Well it's fixed! After downloading the WFCO owners manual and troubleshooting chart, I was able to pretty much rule out the Load Center because it just seemed to work properly but I wasn't getting the 12V at the fuse panel like it said...
Then I decided to crawl underneath the TT with a flashlight looking for anything to do with a ground as a couple of you had suggested. Low and behold...I found another ground strap connection behind the axle! Never noticed it before. And as you can see the self tapping screw had snapped off and allowed the terminals to drop away from the frame. Go figure! It must have barely made a connection last night in order to miraculously "heal" itself. New heavier self tapping screw installed (but not over tightened like the Jayco screw...) All is well. Going to grab a beer and call it a night. Stupid wiring. Thanks to everyone who commented and got me going in the right direction!

[MPD56]

Thanks for the update

It will help others and what makes the Forum great

[norty1]

I am under my rig often on a creeper and one thing I do is always check ground connections for tightness.
Thanks for coming back and finishing off your thread with a solution.

[RichR]

As I have said before on the forum: "They should take those power screwdrivers away from the assembly workers." If you go around your trailer with a screwdriver you will probably find lots of stripped out screws. I found a number of them just in one window frame. Those screws were to compress the gasket seal. The mounting screws for the water heater were stripped out of the wood framing. That along with the lack of sealant was allowing rain water to enter the trailer.

I'm glad you found and fixed the problem. Something that shouldn't have happened.

[DSchmidt]

Originally Posted by norty1

After confirming the battery connections, I would follow the + and - leads to check connections on that end.

Could be a loose chassis ground

Well you called it norty1! I owe ya one.

I am always amazed at how seemingly unrelated and unexpected events can coincidentally collide and cause more loss of hair, nashing of teeth, and colorful language...

I bought lotto tickets just because the "weird factor" was off the charts.

[DSchmidt]

Here is the head of the screw that popped off my ground straps. Was laying underneath the trailer so must have happened while it was parked in the driveway.
Replacing any more Phillip's head screws I find underneath with heavier hex head screws. Stupid cheap crap!

[wjslam]

I had a similar experience after I replaced my 12v batteries with 2 6v GC batteries. Connected them and circuit breaker on A frame popped. (Very) long story short (pun intended), when factory installed ground screw in frame, the star lock washer caught the insulation on the positive wire. Moving the wires around installing the batteries completed the Pos to Ground short. Took over a year for this trojan horse to emerge.

[Benno]

DSchmidt, good show! You traced it down, you did not throw the towel!!

[GraftonGuns]

Good Deal D. I was scratching my head on that one as well...LOL

[grantsoo]

Originally Posted by DSchmidt

Well you called it norty1! I owe ya one.

I am always amazed at how seemingly unrelated and unexpected events can coincidentally collide and cause more loss of hair, nashing of teeth, and colorful language...

I bought lotto tickets just because the "weird factor" was off the charts.

I rarely hear the expression "gnashing of teeth" anymore. You know something about the Bible, @DSchmidt.

[DSchmidt]

Originally Posted by grantsoo

I rarely hear the expression "gnashing of teeth" anymore. You know something about the Bible, @DSchmidt.

Well until you mentioned it l never considered the actual origin of the phrase so I looked it up...

Upon reflecting on the nature of electrical problems and the way they present themselves in "mysterious ways", I suppose that the expression is quite appropriate here in its Biblical context.

Let's just hope some of us sinners can be spared from an eternity in hell troubleshooting electrical problems!

[Hopsing415]

I have 2 questions for ya DSchmidt, what year is your 195RB and what is a hitch light. I bought a 2018 195RB and it doesn't (at least that I know of) have a hitch light.
Thanks!

[RogerR]

Most power tongue jacks have a light that you can use at night to help hitch up. My 195rb came with a hand crank tongue jack and they never have a hitch light built in.