No power to the Trillium... UGH!

[elbresette]

Hi everyone. I bought my 79 Trillium and got it all completed, at least cosmetically. I filled the propane tanks, got the new battery and was all set for the test run but ran into a snag. After I hooked up the battery I had no power to the lights or refrigerator. I grabbed an extension cord from the house, switched over the panel to electricity (vs battery) and still no power at all. None of the interior lights and fridge worked even though the bulbs were fine.

I checked with the previous owner who said there could be a problem with the unit that recharges the battery. He wasn't certain. He didn't believe there were any problems with the wiring but wasn't exactly sure. He said it could just be a fuse. What fuse and where? I pulled out the manual but I see no diagram for wiring, fuses, or trouble shooting for this type of problem.

Do any of you Trillium owners have any ideas to pass along to narrow down the trouble shooting? Any help would be appreciated.

[Carol H]

I am not a trillim owner so don't know but on my scamp there are a fuses in a number of different places. On the actual power panel under my sink, a few others inside the power inverter and another inline with the wires coming into the trailer at the front of the trailer.

[Linda D]

I had no power to the lights or refrigerator.

Is your fridge a three-way? Do you have it set to the appropriate mode? Note that in many cases the electrical system is designed to NOT run the fridge from the trailer battery (it would discharge it very quickly). Instead the fridge is powered from the hitch connector (and from there to the tow vehicle alternator although the exact details will vary). The upshot is that the fridge probably isn't meant to run on the 12V trailer battery. OTOH, the lights should work on 12V. We have a '78 Trillium and the rocker switch on the Power Centre was worn out so that you had to wiggle it to get it working (I've since replaced the Power Centre).

I grabbed an extension cord from the house, switched over the panel to electricity (vs battery) and still no power at all. None of the interior lights and fridge worked even though the bulbs were fine.

You've checked the circuit breakers (push the little buttons) on the Power Centre? Regarding the fridge: you switched it to 120V mode?

I checked with the previous owner who said there could be a problem with the unit that recharges the battery.

The Power Centre wasn't designed to charge the battery (but see below). It's designed to run 12V lights and things, e.g. water pump, when you have 120V available.

He wasn't certain. He didn't believe there were any problems with the wiring but wasn't exactly sure. He said it could just be a fuse. What fuse and where? I pulled out the manual but I see no diagram for wiring, fuses, or trouble shooting for this type of problem.

Even if you could find an original electrical diagram (which I'd love to see BTW) it's very likely that the wiring no longer matches it. After 30+ years there could have been many "improvements", additions, and massive renovations. As an example the only original wiring on ours is probably the wires up to the kitchen light because they're difficult to replace. An "improvement" on ours was to use the Power Centre to charge the battery. This is a fairly easy modification. Since it's not a charger and would easily boil the battery I reversed that mod as soon as I found it.

But to offer a more constructive suggestion search the trailer for any fuses. They'll often be "inline fuses". Have a good look (flashlight, mirror, and, maybe, reading glasses ;^) ) under the bench seats, under the furnace and under the sink. These are all likely places to find a fuse. Even if you find good ones it's useful to have some familiarity of all of them for future "events".

Do any of you Trillium owners have any ideas to pass along to narrow down the trouble shooting? Any help would be appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Hope you get it sorted out,
Chris D

[Joe MacDonald]

what type of converter do you have?
On mine(progressive dynamics) there are fuses behind a removable plate on the upper right corner for the DC stuff. There is also a main breaker on the converter that needs to be in the on position, there is also a three way switch with transformer/off/battery selection. the battery connection must be done right as well, in my trillium, black is positive and white is ground or negative.

You don't say if anything worked before you started, or if you made any changes electrically

Joe

[Carol H]

Your inline fuse is usually up front right where the wires come into the trailer from the hitch area. It may not be all that clear as to what you are looking at - may only be a bit of a bulge in the wire with some electrical tape over it or at least thats what mine looked like. Thought it was just a joint in the wire at first.

[elbresette]

Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions. I am in bed with the flu so as soon as I get to feeling better I will check some of these things out and let you know what I find.