.. electrical problem in our pod 179
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Topic: .. electrical problem in our pod 179
Posted By: crystabals
Subject: .. electrical problem in our pod 179
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 5:00am
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I'm having some concerns regarding the electrical system in our R 179. Seems like after not using it for a month when I plugged it in the electrical system did not work. Checked all fuses GFI nothing still however when I plug my car into the trailer everything worked. It did not last long. Camper stayed on for up to 5 hours then went off. Could only initiate Electric in camper by plugging it into my car. What could the problem be? Had to cancel a camping trip because of this. Please note after initially plugging in the car we did disconnect from the car and the camper would maintain electricity for a few hours has mentioned before. Please assist. Battery has full charge took it for a test. Also went under camper and saw loose hanging wires everything was connected but I was disappointed to see how everything was exposed underneath the r-pod 179. Camper is new just bought it this past January used only two times so far. ------------- MLE |
Replies:
Posted By: sailor323
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 7:24am
| There are two separate electrical systems on the pod. Which one seems not to work? Are you talking about lights or are you talking about A/C and duplex outlets? |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 9:55am
Need more details:
I'm assuming all this is only running 12V systems, not AC , microwave, or other 120V appliances? It sounds like your battery is NOT charged. When left unused and unplugged the camper itself will drain the battery in a few weeks. This is due to the propane detector and a few other small loads that are present all the time. When unattended the battery must either be disconnected or periodically recharged. When you plug into the car the battery is partially recharged, which may run lights or the fan for a short time. Most, but not all, cars charge the trailer battery only when the engine is running. This is to prevent the trailer from totally discharging your starting battery. However, you should have this tested to be sure. I wouldn't put too much trust in the battery test you had done. Results are iffy, depending on the knowledge of the person testing. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: crystabals
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 4:20pm
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My husband took the battery to a place that sells Interstate RV/ marine batteries and checked fluid levels and charge. All was normal battery not dead. He also said it was a 6 volt battery?? should it be 12? This is maddening as we had TT before and when I plug in something it worked. We camped in it for just 6 nights so far (2 three day trips) and all was well. Now our r pod does not work when plugged into the rv plug we specifically made for it. (30) . It is so weird that it will only work when we hook it up to the car (for 15 minutes)... the car is running. We then disconnect it from the car and it remains working for about 3 hours or so.. AC, Micro, TV, radio etc... Oh it did have another past issue that resolved itself.. when plugged in at home last month.. .. the outside radio came on at least 3 times over a week's period of time. This was in MAy- 1st to the 10th. Could this be an indicator of problem? Never happened again. Also Someone said the converter may be bad??? Does our R pod have an inverter? I see that lots of folks are adding 12 v outlets so small appliances can be plugged in . Im so confused.
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Posted By: crystabals
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 4:30pm
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All equipment does work when we hook up our car to the camper. We let car run for about 15 minutes then turn it off. Camper will keep working but after a few hours it will cut off. First time we did this it lasted 5 to 6 hours before it quit. Now not so long. Battery testing said everything is okay..THey told us the battery was a 6 volt. Should it be 12? My husband would then have to hook up the running car to get things working. We have 2 little dogs we travel with and can't have AC malfunction if we go out in the Florida heat. I went under trailer and was appalled to see fine wires just hanging down that i thought should be protected (from water, road debris hitting /breaking wires) They were not taped or wrapped in plastic tubing as some wires were. Is this appropriate? It looked incomplete and not professional to say the least. Thanks Crystal .
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Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 4:40pm
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As others have said, the RPod has two electric systems. One 12v (battery) and one 120v (shore power). The lights, vent fan, furnace, and the brain for the fridge work on 12v. Air conditioning, microwave, anything that plugs into the sockets that look the same as the ones in your house are 120v. They will not work unless you are hooked up to some source of 120v electricity, coming from the wires out on the street or a generator. If your battery is 6 volts I'm surprised anything works, unless you have 2 6v batteries wired in series to equal 12v. That is a common configuration, which provides longer 12v use when boondocking. If you only have one battery it has to be a 12v battery. If you made your 30amp extension cord to plug in your Pod, there might be a problem with the cord. There are some very dangerous ways to mis-wire a cord; you may have gotten lucky and found a harmless way to mis-wire it. Or you may have some other problem. TT ------------- 2010 176 FJ Cruiser |
Posted By: crystabals
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 5:01pm
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Hi .. not sure which one is not working.. as when only plugged in from shore .. nada.. R Pod does work when we connect it to the car and keep car running for a short time. After car is unhooked from trailerall continues to function:AC works and refrig micro and TV lights etc.. Craps out 3 to 5 hours later. I thinking maybe battery is doing this ... but why doesn't It work connected to shore line initially? |
Posted By: crystabals
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 5:10pm
| We have not disconnected battery wires from camper when we manage to get it working. We will go through process again to get things to function(with camper plugged into shoreline) including ac and all other appliances. AC is a must as its 95 degrees here and i can even pack/clean inside without it. May have been told bad info on battery an HD24 Dp is supposed to be 12 v.. "expert" told my husband it was 6v. Nothing is written on battery delineating voltage.. grr... Thanks everyone for help! Im learning more about electricity than i ever needed to know.. will let you know what happens... |
Posted By: crystabals
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 5:14pm
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Not sure .. please read rest of thread.. sorry I skipped you by mistake... new to doing this blogging thing.. |
Posted By: crystabals
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 5:55pm
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What does the converter do?... No breakers ever trip... but after a few hours of being connected to shoreline everything goes off.. ? (once we get camper to go on after hooking it to our car)... |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 9:03pm
That's your first lesson about "experts", including most dealers. For anything to work the battery must be 12V. Count the number of fill caps on the battery. If 6 it's a 12V battery. Six volt batteries have only three fill caps. If the lights, fan, pump, furnace work at all you have a 12V battery. If they work for a while after turning off the car, the car is charging the battery OK. If AC and microwave work on shore power your house socket is probably OK, but should be checked with an inexpensive tester. If the AC and micro work, but the battery apparently isn't charging you may have a blown 40A fuse in the power panel. There are two 40A fuses to protect the converter against miswiring including reversal of the battery. If the battery was ever connected backwards, even for an instant, the fuses will be blown. Check them. If you disconnect the battery and plug into shore power the lights/fan/pump/furnace should work. If not it's probably the 40A fuses or a faulty converter. ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2016 at 9:09pm
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Ok, so you plug the pod into your house, and your car, and then everything will run - like the A/C. You unplug from the car and everything continues to run - including the A/C. 5 hours later everything dies. Is that correct? ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: trixilou
Date Posted: 15 Jul 2016 at 1:34pm
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I had my new 2017 179 for a week, and the "plugged in" power went dead. I could run for a bit off the battery, but not off the pole. My friend checked it out where it sat, and it appeared to be somewhere in the connection receptical from the cord to the camper. I took it to a nearby dealer, and they fixed it quickly. Not sure what it was, but sounds similar. Didn't try it on the car, but everything else had checked out. ------------- 2017 rpod 179 |
Posted By: crystabals
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2016 at 8:52am
| Hello All.. Update...We took our rpod to dealer. Forest River replaced converter. All isgood now. |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2016 at 10:49am
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thanks for the update ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual
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Posted By: Bill-J
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2017 at 11:50am
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Well for one thing there is a CONSTANT battery drain on the system due to things connected to the battery directly that the ONLY way you can stop it is to disconnect the battery. None of these loads are fed from the distribution panel. Very poor design. Welcome to FR. ------------- When in doubt, don't. |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2017 at 12:48pm
Actually. NO. Having disassembled reassembled various parts of several R-Pods and several other trailers. ALL the phantom loads come from the distribution box. There is nothing tapped into the wires between the batteries and the distro box. The general phantom loads people have are the propane detector, the entertainment center and television if 12v, and often they leave the antenna booster on. ALL of those are fused, as is every other 12v circuit in every pod I have worked on.. and it's honestly probably more than anyone not at the factory. On OUR pod we had a couple other constant loads, due to mods we added. A battery disconnect takes care of the issue. ------------- |
Posted By: Bill-J
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2017 at 1:43pm
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You know I think you are correct. Except one question then. Under the seat behind the AC & DC panels where the + battery lead exits the floor there is one of the 15 amp(?) series mounted breakers screwed to the floor behind the panel. This breaker is in the battery cable before the panel. There are two wires connected on the panel side. One goes on to the panel and goes to the +12VDC input terminal on the distribution panel. (This inline breaker functions as the main breaker for the distribution panel although you cannot turn it off. It would just operate on a overload or short circuit BUT will automatically reset.) The second wire goes back under the floor to somewhere. I disconnected the wire and it has about 10ma constant load. This wire does not go through the panel as it is, in practice, connected to the 12VDC battery. I would sure like to know what that wire is. I have asked the techs at PoulsboRV and they do not know and just blew me off. I have ask both Forest River and PaulsboRV for a wiring diagram and/or a schematic of the trailer and get absolutely no response. One other point. I am mounting a disconnect switch (marine grade with positions: Batt 1, Batt 2, Both, Off) and adding a second battery. I mounted the switch, right where you come in the door so it is easy to get to. Anyway I mounted the switch and wired it in the 12V battery lead (before the panel). All well and good, and except for the unknown red wire, becomes the battery disconnect switch. When the PaulsboRV service rep saw the switch and the one wire that I had connected he just looked at me and said, "This totally voids the warranty for the electrical system." Now that is real service. Fixing the FR problem will void the warranty on the elect system. ------------- When in doubt, don't. |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2017 at 2:49pm
A) what year and floor plan? B) the only way FR will void the warranty is if they (FR) believes or proves a electrical issue is caused by your modification. You have a dealer issue, not an FR issue. LOTS of podders have installed cutoff switches. None that I am aware of has had any issues with warranty work if needed. C) FR won't give up any wiring schematics to ANYONE. Don't take it personal. If you are good with a multimeter.. heck, even if all you know to do is trace a circuit with one, all you need to know is right there in the pod. It isn't like a house or car with hundreds of circuits and miles of wire. ------------- |
Posted By: Bill-J
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2017 at 3:36pm
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It is a brand new 2017 RB180 purchased on Oct 22, 2017 . The service rep told me that Forest River WILL void the warranty. After really getting hot (about the whole mess not just this) I was passed on to the person who is the Service Manager for all 5 PoulsboRV service facilities. I ask him about this, among other things, and he said that what I had been told was correct. So if I have a warranty problem FR could, not would, void the electrical part of the warranty. I am finding that Forest River has refused pretty much all of the things that have gone wrong with this unit. I think my unit must have been built on a Thursday afternoon at 3pm before a 4 day holiday and my 180 had to get finished before they could go home. The manager is taking my complains to FR personally to see what "he can do for me." Granted there is nothing on the list that I cannot fix myself but I am really p...ed that ANY company would sell a unit like the one we got.... The problems I am having are pure FR crap construction and junk material and parts. After the manger gets his answer and see what he does I will make a post of all the problems and what was and was not fixed. ------------- When in doubt, don't. |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2017 at 6:20pm
It's not that FR won't give out an electrical schematic, they can't. It doesn't exist. "Let no two Pods be built the same" - FR ------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: Bill-J
Date Posted: 09 Feb 2017 at 9:25pm
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Yes, I could remove all the devices and trace the wiring out but I refuse to allow them to expect the customer either accept their screwed up mess or be forced to do it myself. Now, I do have the knowledge, experience, and tools to take the damn thing apart and trace every wire but the customer should not have to do that. I'll probably end up doing it just to get it right but at my age crawling on the floor, taking things apart, etc. is not what I need to be doing. ------------- When in doubt, don't. |
Posted By: Bill-J
Date Posted: 21 Apr 2017 at 1:46pm
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Just an update. Forest River nor the dealer will DO ANYTHING so I finally just washed my hands of them both and took it to another RV repair shop recommended to me. SURPRISE. They do what you ask them to do, they fix what is wrong with no argument and they are nice, friendly, and helpful AND they are less expensive that FR and the dealer. Example Just after I bought the 180 I ask the dealer for a price to put a retractable awning on the slide to keep the leaves, etc off. They gave me a price. (this was when I still held hope that the dealer was interested in me). When I got around to having it installed I used my new RV shop... same awning, same 180 but over $100 cheaper and it works the first time..... 'Nuf said. ------------- When in doubt, don't. |
Posted By: barbnphil
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 3:42pm
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Dear Bill-J. I too want an awning for my 180 slide out. Can you give me the awning particulars? It would be greatly appreciated. Interesting. It seems to me that after the dealer sold me my POD that they no longer knew me. I like my pod; however, If I had it to do over again, I don't think I would. ------------- Phil and Barbara New 2017.5 RPod Owner 2004 Titan New to Poding and Camping |
Posted By: mjlrpod
Date Posted: 01 Aug 2017 at 5:48pm
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It sounds funny to me. But if i'm reading this right, i suspect the 30 amp plug your plugging into is bad. Plugging into your car will not, no way run the A/C. So I assume you were making a mistake on that. As stated by a few, there are 2 diff power systems in the pod. one is 12V (battery) and one 120 volt ac system, that is like at home. I would have the 30 amp at home checked ------------- 2017.5 Rp-172 2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |