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When I took the motor home back to the RV repair center they discovered that the water heater had not been plugged in. However, we are now having electricial issues. Half the plug ins work, the refrigerator will only work on gas. The TV doesn't have power also. Do you have any ideas on what to try? The RV center has had my motor home over a week and can't seem to have a solution. They mentioned something about the brain box? could it be a bad breaker? Its a 2005 fleetwood discovery. Everything was working and all of a sudden it quit. Could we have done something when we were trying to figure out why the water heater wouldn't turn on?
Optional Information: Year: 2005 Make (other): fleetwood Model: discovery Engine: cat diesel 330 Already Tried: Everything we could think of and the RV center isn't having any luck either. They are extremely busy so I do not think they have the time to really dedicate to it.
Hi Again.....
Normally the water heater will be hardwired in from the breaker box inside. IF I was troubleshooting this I would first look for a GFI. Since half the plug ins work you are getting some AC voltage. A GFI will cut power to sections of the RV... Normally they are located in the galley or kitchen but can be anywhere including the outside of the RV. I would look one more time to see if one is tripped. (these are like what you find in a house on certain outlets)
I would also cycle all the breakers in the main breaker panel, sometimes they can look OK but be tripped. Next I would find the inverter and make sure no breakers are tripped on that, normally an inverter will have 2 breakers on it and be located in one of the outside compartments. I would also try and reset the inverter by shutting it down and then re-starting it.
I do not think troubleshooting the water heater had anything to do with this, especially if it was not plugged in like they claim.
The brain they are talking about could be some type of load shed that shuts down circuits when there is an overload. I would see if when the water heater is disconnected if the problem goes away, if so then the heating element for the electric side of the water heater is shorted out.
A breaker in the main panel could also be bad and I would thing the shop would check to see if that was getting voltage.
I would also check the polarity at each outlet, the shop should have done this also, it will tell you if a wiring issue exists, such as a ground, short etc... The checker plugs into the outlets.......
Hope this helps some if you have more questions please feel free to contact me.....
Robert
Experience: 10 Years RV experience... Cummins North West, Country Coach, Monaco Coach, Vendor certs.
The RV Center told me to shut the inverter off inside the motorhome and outside. Is this supposed to stay off all the time unless I am on a road trip and not able to plug in to electricity?
IF you have a remote panel inside then you can shut off the inverter when you are plugged, then turn it on when you are dry camping, traveling etc... The inverter will take the DC voltage and make AC voltage, when dry camping it is important to have the batteries charged as it uses DC voltage... Hope that makes sense...
The shop is saying that the inverter is not working correctly. They managed to do something where all the power turns on except for the breaker where the microwave oven is. They gave me an extension cord to plug it into another outlet. They said when they plug the microwave in where it is supposed to it blows a breaker at the inverter. They are calling the manufacturer to see if we can order parts or if I have to pay for a new inverter.
NOW - I drove it back down to where my husband works and there is no hot water again. We hear the hot water heater kick on, you can feel the hot water heater get hot but absolutely no hot water is going to any of the sinks. They are saying that there is a valve under the bathroom sink in the bedroom. My husband turned that valve last night and it didn't cause anything different. We get water out of both hot and cold but just NOT hot water. Any ideas? Because I live in Fairbanks Alaska I have limited shops to go to and I am so frustrated.
OKI am sorry you are so frustrated...IF the hot water heater is coming on and hot water is coming out the relief valve it can only be a few things.They are correct about the bypass valve, normally you will have a valve to bypass the water heater and may have a valve going in for the cold water supply and a valve for the hot water. Normally these valves are located directly on the back of the hot water heater, and that could be the valves under the bathroom sink. I would actually try and follow the lines from the back side going into the water heater, and look at the valves, the best way is to show you a picture.IF the valve positions look OK, go around to each fixture and open them up, make sure you do not have a bunch of air coming out, IF you have an outdoor sprayer make sure the valves are off, on some RV'S it acts as a mixing valve and they need to be off.I am not sure in the past if you told me the make and model of the water heater, that information should be on a sticker under the outside cover, IF you can get me that info I can verify some other items for you, in a nutshell one model has a mixing valve on the back and they can fail, on other models, they use a check valve that is a plastic or brass fitting that screws into the water heater, then the supply line hooks up to that, when that check valve fails you can get no hot water. Normally they will have small arrows on them for direction of flow. Robert
It is an Atwood Mobile Products. The model #GC10A-43
If there are parts for us to replace can I get the part numbers?
OK
That style does not have the mixing valve but should have the check valve below is a picture of what it may look like. Most RV parts stores should carry it, they can also be plastic.... It will screw directly into the tank.