Electrical Issues |
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TRICERA-POD
Groupie Joined: 23 May 2013 Location: VA Bch, VA Online Status: Offline Posts: 75 |
Topic: Electrical Issues Posted: 18 Jul 2013 at 8:53pm |
We have been on the road since 9 July and what an adventure it has been. Two hours from home I loss all power to Tricera-Pod. No turn signals, no brake lights ect. Ten miles from Richmond, VA I pulled into a rest stop and saw that the elect cable from the pod to the TV had been dragging the ground and all the wires had but cut clean though. SO after 45 minutes I had them all spliced together.
We made camp at Claytor Lake SP, VA. No issues here, nice camp. Then off to Cedars of Lebanon SP in TN. Ran into a big rain/thunder/lighting storm. Stayed in the pod, no issues until the next morning. After all the rain I slipped on a railroad tie that bordered the camp, slipped and fell cracked my head & elbow. No major damage, just a bit sore. Maybe it knocked sense into me for my earlier bone head move with the elect. cable mishap. We keep running into storms along our travels. Last night while camped in the Ozark National Scenic River at Alley Springs we had another storm. Blew al the power out in the pod, tripped the GFCI and after unplugging everything all was ok, that is until we made camp tonight at Montauk SP in MO. Got Tricera Pod unhooked, connected the electrical and bammmmm nothing. The GFCI switch shut down and could not reset it. I installed a new GFCI switch and it too tripped and would not reset. SO by now it is hot and I am frustrated. Was about to get a room at the park lodge because it is over 104 degrees and after call Coach Net they could not figure it out and the only help is over 50 miles away ( the number coach net gave me was no longer connected). The only Forest River dealer is over 3 hours away and it is now 5pm. So I start packing stuff away so we can get a room at the lodge. I try to move the slide back in, no luck there either, slide out is all the way out. Will not budge. Our neighbors say try hooking up to the 110 outlet. SO I try this, no luck with the slide but now I have A/C which I did not have before and microwave works also. So now I have A/C, but the slide will not pull in. Decided to stay here for a couple of days at Montauk SP and work our way to a Forest River dealer over the next couple of days. Or our GFCI switch seem to be working because the red light is lit, but when you plug something into the outlet it does not work. In fact no outlet works in the pod now. So after all this that happened today, I still like the pod, just a little frustrated that we are having these issues. If anyone has an idea what is going on I would like to know. OH and by the way, we have no phone service here in the park as we have version and only AT&T works here. Our camp neighbors were kind enough to let us use their phone when calling for help. I just need to figure out how to move the slide out back in. Maybe in the morning and a few cool adult beverages tonight all will be better in the morning. |
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Carl & Sandee 2013 R 177 2012 Titan
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CharlieM
Senior Member Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 18 Jul 2013 at 9:15pm |
"Or our GFCI switch seem to be working because the red light is lit, but
when you plug something into the outlet it does not work. In fact no
outlet works in the pod now."
Not sure what you mean by the red light. My GFCI has a green light lit when it's working and no light when it's tripped. If A/C and microwave work on shore power and the GFCI will not stay set it indicates something on the 120VAC power circuit is tripping the GFCI. Several appliances in the Pod have 120V connections and sensitive electronics, but I'd suspect the power converter. On some, but not all, Pods the power converter is connected to the GFCI. Your immediate problem is retrieving the slide so you can travel. I don't have a slide on my 172, but I understand there is a manual operation mechanism. Maybe someone with a slide can jump in here and help. Another thought would be to hook up the TV and start the engine. Maybe you can get 12V from the TV to retrieve the slide. Good luck, |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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Newbie
Newbie Joined: 16 Jun 2013 Location: Alberta Online Status: Offline Posts: 18 |
Posted: 18 Jul 2013 at 9:24pm |
The pull out can be put in manually . Remove the right bottom panel on pull out and on motor there is a nut which your tool for jacks fits on. Hope this helps.
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Rp177
2013 grand caravan |
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Keith-N-Dar
podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 03 Apr 2011 Location: Mayville, WI Online Status: Offline Posts: 1447 |
Posted: 18 Jul 2013 at 9:27pm |
Under the frige there is a manual retractor. Remove the panel and you will see a hex head that the stabilizer jack wrench will fit. That will let you retract the slide.
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Keith-N-Dar
Boris & Betty (Boston Terriers) 2011 R-Pod 177 2010 Ford F-150 |
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Seanl
Senior Member Joined: 19 Sep 2011 Location: Fredericton NB Online Status: Offline Posts: 633 |
Posted: 18 Jul 2013 at 10:06pm |
It sounds like you might have a ground fault. This could be on the campgrounds side of the circuit. On my pod just about all of the outlets are on the same gfci protector. If there is a voltage between the ground pin and neutral pin on the supply it will trip the gfci.
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Sean, 2011 Rpod RP-173,2009 Jeep Liberty Rocky Mountain Edition
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
Posted: 18 Jul 2013 at 11:32pm |
Simple thing.. checked fuses and breakers? The slide is on the 12v side, and has a fuse.
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TRICERA-POD
Groupie Joined: 23 May 2013 Location: VA Bch, VA Online Status: Offline Posts: 75 |
Posted: 19 Jul 2013 at 6:54am |
After a night of fitful sleep I will try the suggestions given here. During the above event I did check all the fuses, all of which seemed to be fine. After my previous post we did find a tissue box stuck between the slide and the wall. I guess the box had been left on the bed and when we slide the slide out it got stuck there. Not sure that would cause an issue with the slide out though.
After replacing the GFCI switch I am of the opinion as some here that there is a ground fault in the campground side of things. But the camp host did a voltmeter check and he said that was ok. Just need to get the pod to a dealer once we get to Carbondale, IL. I will be looking for a dealer now, but we have a few days before we get over that way. Thanks to all that had sugestions. |
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Carl & Sandee 2013 R 177 2012 Titan
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 20 Jul 2013 at 11:49pm |
A ground fault at the campground's power pole definitely could be the root cause. Does it also have a 20 amp outlet, and do you have the "hockey puck" 30-to-20 amp adapter so you can try to plug into the 20 amp outlet? The ground fault may not exist on the 20 amp outlet.
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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TRICERA-POD
Groupie Joined: 23 May 2013 Location: VA Bch, VA Online Status: Offline Posts: 75 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 8:19am |
All is well now with Tricera-Pod. I think there is an old saying or at least there is one now, that says "Stupidity is not covered by the warranty".
All of the things mentioned here in this post I had tried, fuses, breakers etc. There was a ground fault at the camp pole. I was able to run the a/c off 110v until the folks fixed it. I still could not get the slide or the 110 outlets to work even after the camp pole was fixed. It took me a couple days to figure out the entire problem(s). Problem 1- When I checked the fuses I failed to put the fuse back into the proper slot. The next day after a 1.5 mile hike and breakfast I looked at the fuse box and a few choice words I noticed what I had done. Moved the fuse to the correct spot and slide worked. Problem 2- No juice to the outlets. After two days while sitting in Tricera-Pod during a rain storm it all of sudden dawned on me that the light on the GFCI switch should NOT be on. I pushed the re-set button and BAM we had juice to the outlets. As I said before " Stupidity is not covered by the warranty". The entire event was caused, I think, after three different events that caused the GFCI switch to be tripped. Which in turn for some reason made the original GFCI switch to go bad. I am no electrician so I can not be sure but this original switch would never re-set so I figured I had a bad switch. So all is right with the world now. Thank you all for your help and support. |
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Carl & Sandee 2013 R 177 2012 Titan
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 21 Jul 2013 at 11:35pm |
Great!
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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