New Owner -- Help with Converter/Power

[Anne in NW]

Hi,

I'm new to owning a 80's 13' Casita Deluxe. This is the first RV I've ever owned. I love it so far and I'm just trying to learn all of it.

I'm trying to understand how my converter/power works. I thought if I plugged it into shore power my 110 outlets would work. However, they didn't work today when I did this, but the 9v lights were still working fine.

I'm guessing I need to flip the 30 on the converter. I didn't try it yet because I had to run, but I really want to know how all of the switches work. The previous owner sent it to me with the one middle switch on.

It's probably obvious, but I searched around and couldn't figure it. I'm probably being a knucklehead. Could someone explain how the switches and converter work with shore power and with battery power.

THanks so much!

Anne

[Byron Kinnaman]

I don't know the switches on an 80s 13' Scamp. However, the converter charges the battery. Modern converters will power the 12 Volt system while the battery is charging or if there is no battery. The converter is convenient location for fuses and circuit breakers. My 2006 didn't have the circuit breakers or fuses marked nor listed as to what was what. If there's cover or door over the breakers look at that to see if there's a list of what breaker and fuse go where.

[Carol H]

You may want to go to the Casita Forum for details on what switch needs to be on or off. But it looks like you have a 15 amp switch as well as a 30 amp switch, if plugging into your home outlet I would probable try the 15 amp switch on first. 30 amp is commonly found at Campgrounds and you will not be able to plug in your 30 amp trailer cord (assuming thats what is on your trailer) into your home plug without an adaptor.

[Byron Kinnaman]

OK 13' Casita, NOT 13' Scamp, and now we get a picture, that helps.
My guess is that the circuit breaker marked 30 is the main 120 Volt breaker. The two blue go to 120 Volt outlets, converter, refrigerator (assuming 3 way), etc.
If it was me I'd turn the blue 15 amp breaker off leaving both of the blue 15 amp breakers off. Turn on the 30 amp breaker, wait a couple minutes. If nothing happens, which is I expect, the turn on one of the blue circuit breakers. Attempt to find what came. If you can't find that's ok, we can work on that one later. Turn it off, and turn the other one on, again attempt to find what came on.
To check any outlets you can plug a small lamp into them.

If you can't figure out what they're for and what they control I would suggest getting some local help.

If you're somewhere close to Salem send me a PM and maybe I can help.

[Donna D.]

Okay, let's start with the very basic. You has 13' Casita Deluxe. If you were to search FiberglassRV archive, you may want to search for a Casita Patriot (which is the 13') and Deluxe (which is Casita's verion of ... has a bathroom)... which is different from Scamp which means "all wood interior." Hope this helps with the definations you need for Search

BTW where in Oregon is your domicle? There's a couple of egg gatherings happening here in Oregon... I'm in the PDX area... hope to meet you!

[tractors1]

Anne, just thought I'd say hi from Hillsboro, OR.
Charlie Y

[Anne in NW]

Wow! I really appreciate your advice. I'm going to go over to the tool library to borrow a few things but I will try again in a few hours and let you know if I got it working.

Also, I'm super excited to go to a gathering. I love my trailer so much and my friends and family are tired of hearing about it! It'll be great to have good trailer conversations.

Thanks.

Anne

[peterh]

The difficulty with our little fiberglass trailers is everyone wires them up a little differently, so anything we have to say about it is going to be a guess.

Looking at your panel, it appears you have one 30-Amp breaker and 4 15-Amp breakers. Neither your converter, nor any other 120v appliance in your trailer draws that much power, so I will venture the guess that that breaker is for your main hookup line. You have to turn it on to get anything else to work.

That leaves the other four 15-Amp breakers. My guess is they are for:
1) Your converter
2) For your AC (or a pre-wire job for an air conditioner)
3) Your refrigerator (perhaps also a microwave plug-in)
4) Your trailer's 120V plugs (and perhaps for a microwave plug-in)

Here's how you figure out which is which:
1) Get yourself 3 120v lamps you can plug in. Or a microwave with a clock display. Or a clock radio. Three things you can see or hear when they have power.
2) Find the following plugs and plug one in at the plug in for your refrigerator (you can find it by following its power cord), the plug at the back of a cabinet where your microwave would sit. (Or just plug your the microwave in.)
3) One of your accessible 120V plugs, like the one where you might plug in a coffee maker.
4) Disconnect your battery, turn all of your "test" devices on, turn on one of your 12v lights, then turn all of the breakers on. Do not turn on your air conditioner (if you have one.) All your "test" devices should come on when you flip the 30 Amp breaker.

Now flip one breaker at a time to the "off" position and see which of your test devices goes off. The one that does nothing is for your A/C.

[Bob Miller]

K.I.S.S. Turn them all on and see what happens. Unless there is a problem that's how they should work. Breakers are not supposed to be used as ON/OFF switches. If they are, the trip point will drop to as little as 1/2 of what's shown.

BTW: That 30 amp main breaker is bad news unless you have a 30 amp rated cable and plug.

FWIW: This is a lesson as to why you always have the seller show you that and how everything works.....

[Anne in NW]

Hi,

I'm finally getting back to this after the holidays. My question now is, should I not turn on the 30 amp switch? My extension cord to my house is just a regular outdoor one -- and not a 30 amp. The cord in the trailer -- I believe is 30 amp, but it won't reach my house in it's location right now and I can't move it yet.

Should I just wait until I can get a 30 amp cord? But will this even work with house power?

Or can I test out the 15 amp in the converter.

I've already disconnected the battery because I'm replacing the floor underneath it.

This is my first time ever dealing with electrical systems and I'm pretty interested in understanding how it works. Right now, it's a little fuzzy to me about how this is all working and what I should do to figure this out.

Thanks!

Anne

[mszabo]

You can run it off your outlet with no problem.
You may need an adaptor on your camper plug if it's 30 amp.

[Bob Miller]

As mentioned earlier., just turn everything ON, that's how it supposed to work. You might be sure that the a/c unit is OFF first, that's the only thing that can pull more than a few amps. The 30 amp breaker is only to limit the max amount of current, not determine how much power ism going top flow when turned on. If that breaker pops off you have a short somewhere and need an electrician to find it.

[Jack L]

If you have any GFCI outlets one may have triped and shut everything down. The little reset button on an outlet would need to be pushed. Quite posssibly the one outlet withthe GFCI (if you have one) is controling all the outlets in your trailer.

[Anne in NW]

Thanks everyone. I figured it out. It was pretty easy. I turned on the 30v and nothing worked. I turned on the 30v and the next three were the water pump/lights, wall outlets, and microwave. I couldn't figure out what the last two were for though. Is it possible they don't do anything? Or maybe it's for the refrigerator and battery? I don't have AC.

Also, how do I know which ones are charging the battery?

I'll probably just keep them all on, but I'm curious about the battery. Is it the 30v? I'm going to be responsible and label them just in case I need to know in the future.

Thanks!

Anne

[Thinh]

Originally Posted by Anne in NW

Hi,

I'm new to owning a 80's 13' Casita Deluxe. This is the first RV I've ever owned. I love it so far and I'm just trying to learn all of it.

I'm trying to understand how my converter/power works. I thought if I plugged it into shore power my 110 outlets would work. However, they didn't work today when I did this, but the 9v lights were still working fine.

I'm guessing I need to flip the 30 on the converter. I didn't try it yet because I had to run, but I really want to know how all of the switches work. The previous owner sent it to me with the one middle switch on.

It's probably obvious, but I searched around and couldn't figure it. I'm probably being a knucklehead. Could someone explain how the switches and converter work with shore power and with battery power.

THanks so much!

Anne

...From your photo, this is my guess: Someone modified your trailer by install the extra adjustable circuit breakers on your converter's housing instead of putting a separate panel. All those cct breakers are for AC use. The main is 30A, other dual breaker(blue) is for external AC outlet or else(or for AC outlets which is closed to water, sink...) and other two(15A) are for branches of 120V lights, accessories. Your 12VDC circuiry is out of picture. To install a fuse for your battery, you should use 12v-DC fuse with high amperage. To determine the wire which charges your battery, you should look into inside or your converter housing, there is a schematic there, usually it has blue color. I could be wrong though...

[Bob Miller]

First, you don't have a 30v (volt) anything. That is a 120 volt, 30 amp breaker.
The one that made the water pump run was, in most cases, the 120 AC power to the ac to dc converter. It too should be charging the battery in most set-ups, but some do differ, esp after 30+ years of ageing and P.O. "improvements".

The 12 volt DC for things like lights, water pump etc shoul d have some small fuses somewhere. The switches should only control ac loads.