with more info we can be moving on!
The idea is that if you are drawing tooo much power there are breakers all along the path that should trip. If you are using more than 30 amps, the breaker at the shore power post is likely to get hot and trip. Those have to be reset manuallyfor safety so that you can just keep using too much power and restting until some wire gets melted down, etc.
There is also a 30 amp breaker in the RV for the main power and it then feeds other smaller breakers. If things are working right, a breaker is the first sign of using too much power and this type doesn't rest by itself and takes manual reset. One of the first things I might want to sort out is if it was a 110AC or a 12VDC problem?
There are two different groups that kind of have to do some thing alone but together for other things.
Things that take lots of power like air cond, microwave and the converter to make DC from the AC are all 110AC needs.
So there can be signs to pick up if we notince the right things. One way to tell the hsore power may have been a problem is if the microwave light went out or the air conditioner stopped!
But the inside lights vent fans and water pump should all be running on 12VDC, either from what the converter is putting out OR from power stored in the coach batteries!
So did you notice those 12VDC things stop?
Reason for the questions is that if those stopped because the converter failed or was weak, the battery should normall be okay to run them for several hours---if it was getting charged befrore the converter stopped!
But if lots of lights and vent fans, etc stop, it could be a loose wire from the batteries to the load center or where those items get their power.
The problem with sorting out an intermitant problem is that we have to catch it when it is failing to really test it right.
I normally expect a 110 AC problem to be bigger and we spot it easier or it tends to trip breakers, so we have to do something before it works again!
But batteries and getting them charged is one that can slip up on us and be a number of different things.
The converter CAN be a problem and not charge right. But it can also be something loose between the converter and batteries so the converter is working right but that power is not getting to the batteriesand they gradually go dead.
Things like dirty/corroded cables on the cables from the batteries to the breakers or fuses can can keep any power we stored in the batteries from getting to the things we want to use like the lights and water pump! It can also keep things like the air cond. from running even though it uses 110AC as the thermostat and controls use 12VDC!
See why I'm slow to recommend changing the converter? There are lots of small things that have to work and the converters are pretty sturdy and corrosion is a big thing that happens often!
Having newer batteries is a good step but then we often need to take some voltage reading at the batteries to see if they are getting at least 13 volts when we expect them to be charging! Then after we take the charging off for a few hours, we expect them to settle down and a fully charged lead acid type battery (normal?) will settle down to 12.7 or close.
If it is giving you trouble at some point, try to note what is failed and what might still be working. Is the 110AC like air conditioner working? Is the converter humming like it is getting the 110AC to make DC?
How about lights and vent fans or water pump? they are using 12volt only, so that can be a hint of which is failing to get it right!
Another trick to sort is that the chassis battery starts the RV engine and when it does, there is a solenoid that connects both battery groups together. So if the 12volt stuff is dead and you can still start the RV engine, the big old alternator there will take over and make the coach stuff work, even if the converter and coach batteries are totally out !
Personal note to keep secret?
I'm working on 80!
Maybe do some more looking/ thinking about what is happening before digging into the tough stuff!
Yes, you likely COULD cut the wires and reconnect them but I sure would hate to and it might just be something way easier??? Maybe look over the cables at the batteries and even down where there are some that go down to a metal plate on the frame for ground. That one can be sneaky as it is often down behind the batteries and out of sight if we don't look for it. The ground has to be good, too, so look there?
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