When it rains, It pours--HELP

[SGTJOE]

This is about my 2001 National Tradewinds model 7390 Cat 300


1. I posted about my generac generator not staying on while moving and that it would stay on if I wasn't moving.
Well now it won't stay on sitting either.

THIS GETS BETTER
2. I posted about my Dometic fridge NDR1292 not cooling and that the end of June a "certified" Dometic mechanic came to look at it. He disconnected a white wire and never called, answered or came back. I started using a tall house fan outside blowing towards the back of the fridge, it actually did cool better. So I shut down the fan and fridge and the next day my propane alarm went off so I shut the tank off, (wasn't using it anyway) was told that these things only last 5 years. Then later that day the Carbon monoxide detector started beeping, when I opened the door it really smelled bad. So now I knew I needed a new cooling unit for sure.

3. I have an appointment on this Tuesday for this RV place to look over the interior so they can give me a solid quote to replace the cooling unit inside the mh on the floor.

Here's the straw that is breaking this Camels back.

I have fully charged batteries and when I went to start the MH it made a few funny noises and then nothing. The dash lights won't come on at all. So I got out and checked the fuses in that rear side compartment and found a blown 15amp fuse, love the way they have a little red light to show you which one is bad.
I thought easy fix, sure not for me. After trying two new fuses and getting them blown as soon as the made contact I quit.

Funny thing I tried the generator and it has power to start.

ANYONE REMEMBER THE KID WITH THE RAIN CLOUD OVER HIS HEAD? Well he's alive and here in Saint George, Utah.

I looked all through the books I have but none show the Fuses.

Here's the question--Does anyone know what this 15amp fuse goes to and why is it blowing new ones. It is marked as F20
__________________

[SGTJOE]

Gjac wrote:
I don't either understand how a bad chassis battery can cause a fuse to blow when you turn the key on to start, unless when you changed the batteries a wire that was shorted to the frame was freed up.

I'm with you, but it's no problem now. My rain cloud is clearing up.


1. New chassis batteries fixed the blown fuse problem.


2. My generac generator (diesel) would run for about 10 mins then shut down. Found certified Generac shop, talked to him yesterday, pulled in today at 8:00am, out before 10:00am. They found a wire bundle that had dropped down towards the genny flywheel which damaged one wire, as he was getting stuff out of the way to fix the wire he found that coolant recovery tank hose to the radiator appeared too long and was kinked stopping free flow from the tank, then he found that somehow that hose had been pulled out of the tank so far that it didn't even reach the coolant. Wire fixed and hose repositioned correctly and now the genny runs great. Took her for a 30 mile freeway ride and both a/c's and the genny never quit.


3. Now, if I can just get one of the local RV repair facilities to return my calls for a new fridge cooling unit (waiting for almost 2 weeks) everything will be great.


Thanks to a response I contacted an Amish dealer in Indiana who quoted a great price on a cooling unit and it includes a 3 year warranty and if I pay 175, it can be extended another 3 years. If they weren't 1800 miles from me I would have them do it and tell my locals where can all go.

[Gjac]

I don't either understand how a bad chassis battery can cause a fuse to blow when you turn the key on to start, unless when you changed the batteries a wire that was shorted to the frame was freed up.

[SGTJOE]

You all remember the song "Oh Happy Days"?? Well so far it looks like the rain cloud that has been over me for a while has finally run out of water.
My other 2 6volts checked out good, but the 2 12volts didn't, 1 @ 0 and the other @ 2. Bought 2 new ones at Napa and when I got home I was trying to figure out how this old guy was going to install 6 batteries that each almost outweigh me. Lucked out, young neighbor guy put all 6 of them in the MH. I rewired all of them and was so happy I was tempted to dance and sing when she fired right up.

Now I can take it to the shop for the Fridge cooling Unit. Still can't believe all this was caused by bad chassis batteries and not a short.

[John_Wayne]

To help finding out why the one fuse keeps blowing replace it with a resettable 15 amp breaker

[SGTJOE]

Thanks Arnold, first 2 batteries checked out good, now pulling the 12's and the other 2 6's. I'll pm you my email and my address, my cell is old school, flip phone.

[howdy35]

It is usually advisable that if one of the four coach batteries goes bad, it is best to replace all four at once. I have found that Sams Club or Cosco carry a suitable line of 6 volt deep cycle batteries. I'm sure there are others and the folks on here can be of help there also. On the Tradewinds chart that I have, fuses F17 and F20 are 10 amp and the others on that row are 15 amp. That being said I'm sure those have been replaced over the years on a coach that old and I doubt that 15 amp fuses in those spots would cause a problem.

You mentioned the CO2 sensor beeping. That usually occurs when the house batteries are low. It sounds that many of your symptoms might be due to low batteries. I would suggest a check of each one and if necessary, check your charging system. (inverter/Charger).

Posting the solution, when you find it , will be of great help to others who may have encountered similar problem. If you would like a copy of this fuse chart I have, PM me a cell phone number or address where I can send you a copy.


Happy Travels. Arnold

[SGTJOE]

howdy35 wrote:
F20 shows to be the stereo and fans. On my chart, it is located next to F17. It is on the upper right hand row last fuse to the left in that cluster of fuses. It also shows to be a 10 amp fuse on the chart.


The engine starts on the two big batteries and sounds as if they are low. The generator starts on the 4 house batteries and the slides get power from them also.

I'm going to have the 2 12v batteries check today along with one of the 4 golf cart 6v batteries. The other day I added water to the 6v batteries and one of them took a lot of water. I have them set up with the connections where I don't have to pull caps to check for low water, when I started squeezing the filler bulb one of the batteries took a lot of water. Wouldn't it be nice if this is the problem. Let you all know later today.

That row of fuses are all 15amps on mine.

[howdy35]

F20 shows to be the stereo and fans. On my chart, it is located next to F17. It is on the upper right hand row last fuse to the left in that cluster of fuses. It also shows to be a 10 amp fuse on the chart.


The engine starts on the two big batteries and sounds as if they are low. The generator starts on the 4 house batteries and the slides get power from them also.

[SGTJOE]

After shutting off the shore power, flipping the battery disconnect switch (house batteries) and disconnecting the chassis batteries the fuse red light went off. My rear slide worked with everything shut down. I waited a couple of hours and then tried the large front slide and it went out, tried to bring it back in but it didn't respond. Reconnected the chassis 12volts and tried my headlights, nothing. Check the fuse panel and the red light didn't come back on.

So does anyone have a National Rv book that idetifies the fuses?

[SGTJOE]

Hi opnspaces,

SGTJOE wrote:

Then later that day the Carbon monoxide detector started beeping, when I opened the door it really smelled bad. So now I knew I needed a new cooling unit for sure.


Definitely get it looked at, hopefully the repair is something simple. When you said it smelled really bad can you describe the smell? Was it musty, rank, moldy, electrical like ozone, ammonia, onions, propane, burning plastic etc?

It was the ammonia from the cooling unit.

[SGTJOE]

I disconnected the 12volt chassis batteries but the red light stayed on in the fuse panel. So I flipped the battery disconnect switch and this shuts down the house batteries. The red light went out with no power to the MH. So when the weather cools a little I'll reconnect the chassis batteries and see if the red light on the fuse panel comes back on.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but if the problem was my chassis batteries wouldn't the red light have gone off when I disconnected the 12volts??

[opnspaces]

SGTJOE wrote:
have fully charged batteries and when I went to start the MH it made a few funny noises and then nothing. The dash lights won't come on at all.

I'm going to go out on a limb here as I have never had a motorhome. But when I read your post it really sounds like you have a dead starter battery. When you say the batteries are fully charged how are you determining that? Do you have a meter and are measuring across the batteries, or are you using the panel in the MH? Pull the starter battery and get it tested, or put a meter across the terminals and see what it reads.

SGTJOE wrote:
Funny thing I tried the generator and it has power to start.

I think the generator uses the house batteries to start.

SGTJOE wrote:
Then later that day the Carbon monoxide detector started beeping, when I opened the door it really smelled bad. So now I knew I needed a new cooling unit for sure.

Definitely get it looked at, hopefully the repair is something simple. When you said it smelled really bad can you describe the smell? Was it musty, rank, moldy, electrical like ozone, ammonia, onions, propane, burning plastic etc?

[SGTJOE]

Thanks, I'll try to trace that. Right now I'm going to pull the 12volts and have them tested.

[Gjac]

This happened to me several years ago and it took a while to figure out. After blowing several 15 amp fuses and no dash lights or engine starts I decided to trace the wire from the fuse and found that the wire was shorted to the frame by my slide when the slide was retracted. After replacing and re securing the wire with tie wraps all was well again.