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Dave F. View Drop Down
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Posts: 4 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Full power even when main breaker turned off
    Posted: 26 May 2018 at 10:14am
Greetings,
We have a 2017 179 that was purchased in July of 2016.  Last spring the converter would not charge the battery so the dealer replaced it.  We put it in service last weekend and everything seemed fine.  This weekend daughter and husband and kids using the pod off-grid.  I get a call telling me that the battery drained down to 11 volts within 3 hours of setting up camp.  Both the frig and the hot water heater set to run on propane.  I sent them with a solar panel and a extra battery  and the second battery  also drained down in a few hours.  So... I told them to unhook the battery, turn off the main 30 amp breaker and re-hook the battery.  When they re-hooked  the battery their was a spark given off meaning that their still was a draw on the battery.  They went inside and discovered that the frig was trying to reboot and everything else worked as though the power was never turned off.  Trying to figure this one out but my first guess is that the converter malfunctioned again.  I would rather have this be the cause  than someone messed up and the main breaker has been bypassed.  Its actually sort of scary to think that the main breaker is not functioning as intended. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Dave F.
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furpod View Drop Down
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Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
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Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2018 at 11:05am
The converter is on the 120v side. There is no connection from the 12v side to the 120v side. The fridge needs 12v EVEN when in propane mode. 

The breakers have NOTHING to do with the 12v side. NOTHING. 12v side is fused.

Most probable draws include the fridge brain, obviously, and the antenna booster. Parasitic draws include the CO detector, radio brain and display. Intermittent draws are the DSI, lights, etc.

There was a spark when connecting the battery because of the 12v stuff that is on, not because you have a magical 120v feed.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2018 at 1:40pm
Originally posted by furpod

The converter is on the 120v side. There is no connection from the 12v side to the 120v side. The fridge needs 12v EVEN when in propane mode. 
The breakers have NOTHING to do with the 12v side. NOTHING. 12v side is fused. Most probable draws include the fridge brain, obviously, and the antenna booster. Parasitic draws include the CO detector, radio brain and display. Intermittent draws are the DSI, lights, etc. There was a spark when connecting the battery because of the 12v stuff that is on, not because you have a magical 120v feed.


+1 to everything stated.

Though I do not disbelieve you, running a battery down in 3 hours kind of sounds like a fridge running on 12 volts???????


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2018 at 1:48pm


Another guess - perhaps the pin on the emergency breakaway brakes got pulled (perhaps when unhitching) and the brakes are draining the battery?????


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Dave F. View Drop Down
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Posts: 4 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2018 at 1:54pm
  I do realize that there is no magical 120 volt power source when one is running off-grid. However, I am a little confused.  There has to be a connection between the converter and the 12 volt side of the power panel because one cannot charge the battery if the converter is faulty or the camper is not plugged in to an AC power supply. I do not have access to the camper and I cannot recall if the lettering next to the main breaker states " 120V. main breaker" or "main breaker".  If this switch indicates that it is a main breaker then I would expect that no power should be sent to either the 120 volt outlets or the 12 volt circuits when one trips this breaker.  I would suspect that if the circuit board of the frig or the radio is drawing down a 12 volt deep cycle battery in a few hours that there would be a lot of heat associated with these circuit boards.  Thank you for your explanation of the power panel.
Dave F.
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furpod View Drop Down
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Posts: 6128 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2018 at 2:35pm
You are slightly confused.. It happens.. Very few new owners have experience with dual voltage systems. Smile I am "lucky" in that in my career, I dealt with triple and quad systems. I have worked on some equipment that could use 120v 60 cycles, 240v 50 cycle, 12v DC and 48v DC. Or any combination of the above as needed.

The 120v and the 12v system are completely separate. The only place where they have any "connection" is the converter/charger sending 12v to the batteries and the Pod (or any other camper for that matter) when, and only when, it has 120v available to "convert" 'tis a one way circuit. 12v can't and won't, go backwards through it.

If the Pod is not plugged in to shore power, or a generator, EVERYTHING 120v is dead. everything.
The breakers ONLY control power on the 120v side of the system.

The fuses only protect the 12v circuits. As long as 12v is available, the circuits will remain powered, without shore power and regardless of any breaker position. 12v can be available from the battery, the converter/charger, or a solar array.

David's comment on the breakaway switch is a good thing to check. To drain a fully charged battery in 3 hours, it has to be a short, the fridge on 12v, or the breakaway. Nothing else supplied with the Pod draws amps that fast.

This is just a little simplified, it doesn't include solar as a 12v source.. but it works..
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DavMar View Drop Down
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Posts: 592 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 May 2018 at 8:15pm
With the frig in the OFF setting I would think there would be no 12vdc current flowing through its control board, why should it if it has nothing to control...aka run? So unless the Dave F. is mistaken and he has the frig in fact ON it would eliminate the refrigerator. +1 on furpod and David wise advice that something such the breakaway switch is drawing a large load of parasitic current. Though just for grins and giggles and in to honor of the "keep it simple stupid" rule, one which I fail to often to follow. Disconnect the battery and do a load test on it just to eliminate that what you in fact may have is a bad battery. If you don't have a load tester just take the battery down to your nearest FLAPS (friendly local auto parts store) and they will test it for you.
Dave & Marlene J with Zoey the
wonder dog.
2017 Rpod 180
2016 Toyota Tacoma SR5 4x4
Lexington, NC
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Dave F. View Drop Down
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Posts: 4 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 May 2018 at 7:32am
Power Drain Update:
Thank you David, you were spot on.  The e-brakes were engaged.  They are camping on hilly ground so on the positive side that trailer was not going anywhere!  Once released, the battery recovered quickly and with the solar panel boost everything in the trailer is operating as it should.  Thanks for all the suggestions.
Dave F.
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Posts: 302 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 May 2018 at 3:47pm
thanks furpod for the electrical system explanation.  Hadn't really heard it broken down like that....and I never really looked into it like I should have.  That helped a lot!!
Mark
Concord, NC
2017 RP 179 "Podzilla"
2011 Silverado 1500 4X4
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