Your page is amazing. I’m an RV Tech in training and am able to understand your explanations much easier than our provided trainings at work, thank you!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I have a Carefree Travel R awning that has no manual overide if the the power fails to move the awning. The manual says to : "Do not use the emergency terminals without following the directions below. The electronic circuit creates a dynamic brake for the motor by shorting and grounding the motor leads. Steps 1 and 2 removes the brake to allow the emergency override to work. 1. (Detail A) Remove the front cover from the motor head. There are six (6) small screws in the rear of the motor head. 2. (Detail B) Disconnect the input cable wires from the terminals in the rear cover. DO NOT disconnect the wires to the motor. 3. Leave the wires disconnected and reattach the front cover. 4. (Detail C) Attach the provided jumper leads to the terminals, located on the rear of the motorized head. 5. Connect the other ends of the jumper leads to a 12V source. If the awning does not begin to move, reverse the leads. 6. Maintain contact throughout the retraction process." What do you do if ths process does not work? Is there any other way to retract the awning? Thank you.
Darren, You are correct about circuit breaker manufacturers only guaranteeing them once, mostly. That is not under overload, it is for ground fault or short circuit. When those situations happen, they can not know how many thousand amps ran through the breaker. The question asked is very hard to answer without asking a few more questions. I’m thinking it is very probable that the circuit breaker in question has been subjected to overload numerous times. Each time a breaker is tripped from overload it gets a tiny bit weaker. Since the coach is 1997 and may be original breakers, the one tripping (minimum) should be replaced. This is of course after your tests and if the breaker is not tripping immediately when load is turned on. Also, you mentioned ground rod about house or campground neutral-ground. Ground rods are for lightning ⚡️ protection only. It is very important to understand this. Really appreciate your videos! Have made many repairs after watching them. Electrical power is my thing, not controls or testing. Thank you Sir! Kevin
LOVE your channel! is there anybody like you in Boise? if you get sick of the rain up there, there's plenty of need here for your talents! much respect!
I have a 2004 Mountaineer fifth wheel, a couple of weeks ago my AC compressor I believe kept coming on by itself even with the power off and it would run for 5-10 minutes and then turn off and then it would do it again all day long, so I replace the circuit board and the relay on it I think was bad I checked it with the multimeter so after that it ran okay for a couple days and then it started making that sound again not as bad in fact it was some clicking noise maybe something from the 12-volt side, now so that I can have heat I disconnected the three wires on the Duo Therm Dometic thermostat , cool fan and fan so that I can run the furnace without the AC compressor or whatever turning on, I love your videos I just subscribed, so what do you think it is, hopefully I can fix it cheaply as I'm recently lost my left leg and a motorcycle accident and trying to refurbish this fifth wheel
I’ve been watching your videos and have learned so much! Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge. We just purchased a 2003 Coachmen Cascade with a Dometic Americana and we are unable to get it started on ac or lp. It lights on lp and goes out within seconds. Do you have any suggestions on where to start? We have checked the 5 amp glass fuses and cleaned everything up with a wire brush and removed some bugs.
Hey Darren love you videos. Especially the long one lol. I have a question. What does it mean if the main positive side and the main negative side in my RV DC distribution panel? Could my distribution panel me messed up?have some electrical sense...but not full understanding. I did discover that my water heater is shorting to ground on the ac side. Please help! Dealt with a possible scammer repair man.
Thanks, Darren; I had a question I was thinking about the other day. I have built a stand-alone solar setup in my small A-frame. I have two Battle Born 100AH batteries wired in parallel with appropriate breakers and fuses. My question to me came up when I was installing a 600 pure sine wave inverter; it wanted a ground. I have not grounded my battle Borns to the frame because I still have the lead-acid batteries on the hitch and use them for lights and all the things normally hooked to 12 volts in a trailer. My question was if I should ground the inverter to the frame or not ground the inverter at all, since my whole solar setup is independent. Will it interfere with the original equipment and the lead acid batteries on the hitch ?
I believe you would do well to ground everything to the frame. That way everything has a common point of reference. Otherwise you can get stray voltage on that negative stand-alone inverter setup.
@@MyRVWorks Thank you Darren for your reply. I think if I didn't install the inverter I would have been alright to keep it separate. So It would be okay to ground the lithium batteries to the frame also and that won't interfere with the lead acids grounded to the frame; if I understand you correctly.
@@kevinholland4156 it's kind of like in basketball where you have to ground one foot and pivot. So everything electrical in your RV needs to have a single reference point. We use the frame for that. So, ALL of your batteries, your inverters, your converters - everything should be referenced to the same point which on an RV would be the frame.
We have a 2010 Phaeton 40'. We don't understand why when we retract the slide it will not be flat in the motorhome. It's about an inch off the floor behind the drivers seat. Do you think something is on the track?
Hi Darren, thank you for you informative videos. I have a problem with my rv a/c. It will run fine, blows out cold air but when the temperature reaches around 80 degrees outside my a/c breaker trips. Is my compressor getting bad? how do I check for this problem. Thanks Norm
What's up brother. A ol Man lives in a RV. his thermostat has no power. All fuses are good. No readout on fuses. I'm a electrician. All breaker's are hot. I ran a hot and neutral to his thermostat. It came on but wouldn't work. Can I just put in a new thermostat and use the jumpers I made for 12 volts power
Question for you. My coleman Mach ac when it is running on cool when it hits the thermostat temp and shuts off the ac compressor hums. I've put a new coleman mach thermostat in and changed all the capacitors. Is my compressor going out?
Hi i have a coleman TSR in my caravan when i turn it on theirs nothing no sound or anything any ideas what it could be will i check to see if power is going to it or do i spin the fan
I have a Coleman ducted a/c unit From a 1994 rv trailer. It’s got 2 capacitors one for the fan and one for the compressor that I already replaced. When I turn the AC on, the compressor hums and trips the PTRC pod on top of the compressor. But if I tap on the compressor with a small hammer, it will start and run after thE PTRC resets. Any ideas?
When i run the A/C and water heater at the sametime after a hr or two the breaker trip if i do not turn on the water heater it does not make it over amp i like to know what making it to over amp my RV this a 30 w plug in to camp power
Darren, Thank you for all your knowledge transfer. Got a question I’m hoping you can help with. Got a small RV that when either the furnace or stove the gas will stop flowing randomly. When it stops I have to turn off tank and disconnect to release pressure and the hook back up. I think slowly turn gas back on and it works for awhile and then goes off again. I have changed out tank and regulator. I have tested for leaks with soapy method and with a digital sniffer device. My next step is create a manometer to test pressure. Is there something else that I could be missing? Thanks so much for any help you can provide.
Certainly starting with verifying your LP pressure in the lines would be good, but I'm wondering if maybe the lp lines throughout your RV may be fouled. You might look for oil in the lines. Check out our LP playlist for in for more information. If you're needing to tap into your LP lines, we have made quite a few tools for that task and more will be coming out soon. Here is our site where you can learn more about them and purchase them as well: myrvworksstore.square.site/
@@MyRVWorks Thanks. I have watched them but just rewatched. Thanks for your suggestions. I’ll hopefully have good luck. I wish my son had the attention span yours does. He will be a smart one like yourself. Thanks again.
I bought a RV an we turn the ac on but it did nothing not a thing could it be the thermostat I was told to change it but I don’t know if that’s the problem
I have a question I have a 1990 beaver Marquis with a 50 amp system. When I purchased the RV the hot water heater was removed because it didn't work. I already have an instant hot water heater that I'd like to install rather than replace the other water heater. But it requires a 2 pole 30 amp breaker . From my understanding the electrical system has 2 legs of 50 amps is it safe to install a 2 pole 30 amp breaker for use with the hot water heater. It would be a dedicated breaker preferably just for the hot water heater and the breaker would be shut off when the hot water heater isn't in use. Can it be done?
The problem we run into on RV's, even though they may be receiving 240 at the pedestal, the breaker panels and manu RVs do not provide the 240 on the breaker bus bar. Some do but some don't. Most will split the A leg to the left of the main breaker and some will switch the B leg to the right of the breaker. So you're not able to snap in a double pole breaker to pick up the phase from the A and the B side. Again there's no standard on what kind of a breaker panel the manufacturer's going to install though. The other problem we run into, some RV parks are not pure 240. Even though they service the 50 amp receptacle on the pedestal with a 120 and 120 for the A&B legs they may be on the same phase. That is to say your pedestal might just be two of the A legs and your neighboring pedestal might be two of the B legs . So, what you wanted to do can be done but it's not a standard for our industry and it may not work everywhere you plug in.
@@MyRVWorks I'd there a way I can reach you to have a more detailed discussion. Do you have a website or something of that nature or even a Facebook page. I have tried to get answers on this everywhere and I literally never find anyone who knows or even answers. I'd be extremely grateful if I could get as much info as possible. I can provide photos of whatever you would need to see also I have my own 50 amp receptacle wired to my home. I don't necessarily need the hot water heater to work everywhere I spend most time in Arizona and I also have a portable propane water heater as well. I would still appreciate any information I could possibly get from you so if there is a way to reach you I'd appreciate it. Thank you.
Hello from Utah. I have a three year old travel trailer with a 14' Dometic 9100 power awning. The awning has been struggling to go in or out. I can hear a click when I press the switch, but I have to grab the FRTA with my hands and torque on it to get it started in or out. Once it gets going its fine mostly. Pain in the rear to use like that. I disconnected the SAE connector near the motor and connected a 12V battery directly and it operates normally in and out. I bought a switch but haven't replaced it yet. Want to be sure it's not some other problem first. Any tips?
One thing you might want to look at is the voltage at that SAE connector from the switch. I'm wondering if maybe the wire between the switch in the motor may be faulted, that is to say if it's supposed to be a 14 gauge wire to handle the inrush to that motor there may be a spot where it's fraid or missing some strands and not letting the correct amount of current through. Just a thought. If you had a DC clamp-on ammeter, you can also compare the current between the switch and connecting it directly to your battery.
On the soft starters, you need to go through the startup sequence to train the control module. So, grab your manual for that soft starter and go through that startup sequence and see if that doesn't help you.
Bought $2800 warrenty, mobile tec two months dealing with . Tec has to diagnose and get approvel to replace or repair. Two or three weeks aand warrenty company claimed tec never contacted them. He was to busy to confirm. Would i buy an easycare warrenty again. Hell no. With cash, I can repair, which easycare will not honour warrenty if work is done by owner. Me and wife are disabled, and needed heat, ropane has cost $400 extra to heat.
