Troubles on the road, 2015 17 Casita - Fiberglass RV
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Old 06-02-2016, 09:57 AM   #1
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Name: Jerry
Trailer: Oliver Legacy Elite II
South Carolina
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Troubles on the road, 2015 17 Casita

Prior to leaving for our summer 2016 I checked all systems and did required maintenance. Three days out refrigerator is not working. Control panel does not light up.

I have checked breakers and fuses with no results.

Additionally, now the propane furnace will not operate.

All these systems were operational prior to departure. Trying to find someone to work on a frig following Memorial Day weekend on summer tourist route across SD is hopeless. We are in transit to Missoula MT for the summer.

Any suggestions
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Old 06-02-2016, 10:24 AM   #2
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How well does your stove top burners work? May have to work the propane shut off valve at the tank a couple of times.

There is a safety valve in there that activates if there is a rush in propane. I had one get stuck due to internal corrosion after emptying a bottle and the line went empty. Open the bottle too fast after a completely empty bottle and the inrush can cause the safety valve to activate and stop propane flow. Can also limit the flow in a partial blockage.
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Old 06-02-2016, 10:35 AM   #3
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First thing I would check for would be a low battery. If it is only reading 12 volts (or less) then it is "dead," and this condition would not appear when plugged in to shore power in your driveway because your converter is making the 12 volt power from your AC input. When on just the battery, and if it is not a healthy charged battery, it may not have sufficient voltage available to operate those appliances.
Not so common, but another possible cause would be a failure of the furnace circuit board. Sometimes when the furnace is turned on, the fridge control panel can't handle the loss of, (or low,) voltage available and consequently will also quit working.
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Old 06-02-2016, 11:31 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Casita Greg View Post
First thing I would check for would be a low battery. ...
This was my first thought also but OP did not specify if his problem was while on shore power, off, or both.

Plug into shore power (most anywhere will do if you have the adapter) and see if stuff starts to work. Check battery voltage on and off shore power and/or use a hydrometer. If battery checks out then see if the fridge and furnace are getting power at the appliances themselves.
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Old 06-02-2016, 11:38 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerrymcs View Post
Prior to leaving for our summer 2016 I checked all systems and did required maintenance. Three days out refrigerator is not working. Control panel does not light up.

I have checked breakers and fuses with no results.

Additionally, now the propane furnace will not operate.

All these systems were operational prior to departure. Trying to find someone to work on a frig following Memorial Day weekend on summer tourist route across SD is hopeless. We are in transit to Missoula MT for the summer.

Any suggestions
Hi: Jerrymcs... Our fridge has a 110V box behind the fridge, where it plugs in. Sometimes it as simple as it came unplugged in transit.
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie
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Old 06-02-2016, 12:31 PM   #6
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Additional info

Battery new, doesn't work on shore power. Frig is 3 way
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Old 06-02-2016, 12:54 PM   #7
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If there is no or low 12 VDC to the refrigerator it will not work on AC , DC or propane . You need 12 VDC to power the refrigerator control board for anything to operate. My 2013 Casita refrigerator would not run in any mode because my DC was down to 10.4 volts.
There is also a fuse in line with the control board.
There is a 12 VDC terminal strip on the back side of the refrigerator mounted on the floor where you can check for DC voltage.
I believe there is a red and a white wire connected to the terminal strip which is powered from the battery / converter.
The refrigerator does not have a transformer and rectifier to create 12 VDC from 120 VAC. It's only source of control power is from the battery or the converter.
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Old 06-02-2016, 01:58 PM   #8
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If you're sure that your battery is good, I would do a voltage check at the power input terminals on the furnace and fridge to see what, if any, power is actually available to those appliances. It could be that you may have an open circuit (cut, loose or broken wire) between your converter and those items. If you do have at least 12.6+ volts, then perhaps you have a bad circuit board on the furnace.
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Old 06-02-2016, 02:05 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerrymcs View Post
... Three days out refrigerator is not working. Control panel does not light up. ...
Additionally, now the propane furnace will not operate.
...
One of MANY possibilites:
Converter fails (or blows a fuse) and three days out the new battery is discharged to the point that furnace and fridge will not come on. Plugging into shore power does not help because the battery is dead and the converter will not charge it nor will the converter power the on board 12 volt stuff.

But you really need to do some methodical examination including checking that the gas is at least getting into the camper (does the stove work?), checking (with a mulit-meter) that there good power at the fridge and furnace, finding out if the converter is actually outputting power, etc and so forth. The best we can do from limited information is guess.

If you are not familiar with the wiring or not comfortable or equipped (with a meter for example), then if you are at a campground perhaps you can find someone there who can help you by looking things over in person, taking voltage readings, etc. Maybe someone who has a camper (any brand) that looks like it needs a lot of constant TLC.. that guy probably knows how to fix things.
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Old 06-02-2016, 02:32 PM   #10
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Sounds like you tried to run the Fridge on 12Volts and destroyed the battery.
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Byron & Anne enjoying the everyday Saturday thing.
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Old 06-02-2016, 02:39 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman View Post
Sounds like you tried to run the Fridge on 12Volts and destroyed the battery.
OP said the furnace and fridge are not working on shore power either now... I don't have a Casita but I am pretty sure that they should work on shore power, even if the battery was discharged and even if it were discharged to the point of being damaged (assuming that the converter is working).
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Old 06-02-2016, 02:47 PM   #12
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OP said the furnace and fridge are not working on shore power either now... I don't have a Casita but I am pretty sure that they should work on shore power, even if the battery was discharged and even if it were discharged to the point of being damaged.
I agree . When my battery went bad , the refrigerator and furnace on my Casita would still operate when plugged into 120 VAC shore power . The 12 VDC required to run the refrigerator and furnace was being supplied from the converter's power supply when running on shore power.
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Old 06-02-2016, 02:59 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by steve dunham View Post
I agree . When my battery went bad , the refrigerator and furnace on my Casita would still operate when plugged into 120 VAC shore power . The 12 VDC required to run the refrigerator and furnace was being supplied from the converter's power supply when running on shore power.
And I used a trailer for two years with no battery at all (using shore power with converter)! So I think we all agree that the converter can be the problem. Perhaps it failed completely or perhaps only partially it is not supplying enough power as someone said. Perhaps its only unplugged or has a broken wire. Checking for power at strategic places will help a lot. Some other things will not.
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Old 06-02-2016, 04:17 PM   #14
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It does seem most likely to be either a propane problem or an electrical problem, trailer-wide. If you still have gas to the cooktop, that would point toward electrical. If the fridge will work on AC, that would point toward a propane problem. If you can narrow it down to one or the other, it will help.
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Old 06-02-2016, 05:01 PM   #15
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Your newer trailer is pretty sophisticated as far as trailers go. You have a modern converter and you have a very sophisticated refrigerator control system. Your heater will not be as sophisticated. The fact the the fridge and the heater are causing issues leads us down a couple of common paths. Low battery voltage is really critical with the fridge. It is less sensitive with the heater. The 2 should not be on the same circuit so less of a wiring issue inside the trailer. The the heater needs 12 volts to keep the speed up on the fan so the sail switch will open the gas valve and the heater will light. Under the 12 volts the fan won't turn fast enough so no gas. So since both units have failed its a supply issue. supply of 12 or more volts from the battery or propane the 2 common denominators.

Does the stove light? Does both burners when lit have good clean blue flames?

Does the first burner flame when lit dip down to a smaller flame when you light the second burner?
Any fluctuations in the propane questions means you may need to resolve propane supply issues.

The second issue is battery supply voltage. Check the battery voltage. check the connections at the battery. If you are using the standard trailer wiring code for the battery connection you will have white and black battery wires. Black wires go to the + terminal and white goes to the Negative post. If someone crosses this connection even for a brief moment it will usually take out a 12 volt fuse in the Black line somewhere between the battery and the converter. There may be multiple fuses in that main line. If you absolutely have 12 volts then the common denominator between the Fridge and the heater will be a failed ground wire at the battery or where the main line goes to ground. chasing fail grounds sucks.

One thing you can try is hooking up your tug to the trailer and plug in to the 7 pin socket between the ball and the 7 pin you should have close to 13 or more volts going to the trailer. Now while hooked up to the tug and running try to light the heater you should fire up like normal if its a voltage issue. If the heater fires up then try the fridge on propane.

After this you should know where the failure lies. At this point you haven't spent any money.

If I was a betting man it's the power on switch for the converter didn't allow battery charging. The battery was probably disconnected over the winter and battery hook-up was crossed up taking out one or more fuses in the main line not allowing the battery to charge while driving. With active smoke detectors and propane sensors if the battery was not disconnected or maintained by the converter on 120 volts over the winter the detectors would have murdered the battery enough so to permanently kill it. If battery was disconnected could have easily been hooked up backwards even for the briefest of moments.
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Old 06-04-2016, 04:21 AM   #16
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My experience says it is probably your battery. Your furnace will not work with shore power if your battery is dead. Also, there is a fuse under the hood of your TV next to the battery that allows TV battery to charge Casita battery. You can also call Larry Gamble at Little House Customs (look him up on line). Larry specializes in repairing casitas and he will be happy to help. The other item to note is never run the frog on DC or you will burn out battery in a very short time. I hope this is helpful. Oh, I also had a repair man hook up my battery backwards and it burned out my transformer. Good luck to you.

Judy
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Old 06-04-2016, 03:10 PM   #17
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I bet a frog on DC would be hopping like crazy.
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Old 06-06-2016, 08:54 AM   #18
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I bet a frog on DC would be hopping like crazy.
Wasn't that a famous experiment? Dead frog leg and a battery = live frog leg. That gave us Frankenstein.

I wonder about a fuse, lot of ways one can get burned out, or knocked loose. That would kill whole 12 volt system. Easy enough to have happen that I would start there.

Stevebaz outlines what has to follow, a systematic checking of the system from one end to the other, preferably with a 12 volt tester. It is a process of elimination. Only a question of which end or where to start the testing at.

Got power at:
Battery (disconnected) - No then battery is dead and that can trip fuse trying to charge a totally dead one. A dead battery can also be a load. Think trying to jump start a car with a dead battery, the jumper cables can start the car if it has no battery but not with a dead battery.

Fuses hot side and other side. Have seen glass tube fuse melt at the end from corrosion creating heat without being blown (not likely but you are there checking might as well confirm both sides)

Appliances, or their individual fuses. Best is getting actual voltage but just power/no power can find a blown fuse or disconnected wire.

Couple of folks have mentioned in prior posts the INVERTER coming unplugged. No charge so battery dies, no shore power 12 volt either. So confirm power there. And at it's fuses.

I second the idea of just asking around at the campground. Look for older camper that looks like the owner might have to "check" things from time to time or who has a truck with a tool box. I know I carry a small meter in my tools for checking this sort of thing. You can buy one at any big box store, should be less than 10 bucks. Have meter, and there are probably more people that know how to use it than carry one. Or use Google, lot of tutorials on circuit and battery testing.

Probably turn out to be something minor once found. Good Luck.
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