Winnie Drop 1780 DC Electrical Issue

Exatiles · 10-08-2023, 03:46 PM

Hi all…well I am brand new to camping / travel trailers so I am in the middle of a pretty massive learning curve. I just bought a not-very-well-cared-for Winnie Drop 1780 - 20 foot towable. Being new, I’m wasn’t even sure how things should work so trying to figure out what is working correctly and what isn’t has been a little maddening. I will say that replacing miles of blown out PEX connections and fixtures has shown me where all the proverbial bodies are buried in this camper.

Well now on to the problem at hand. I am not getting 12 VDC to the stuff that needs it in the camper when not on shore power…when I am on shore power everything works fine. The battery is good, it is at 12.4V. I even went to an auto parts place and got them to let me use a new battery to make sure that I didn’t have some kind of short or other problem under load that didn’t show up with no load, so all good there. At the DC distribution board in the electrical center (WFCO - WF8900 Power Center - Coverter) I am getting 13.75V when shore power is connected and a vanishing 1 volt when there is no shore power.

The safety stuff like the propane detector are getting no power without shore power either. With shore power on , everything seems to work with the battery disconnect on or off with the exception of the kitchen slide out - the battery switch has to be in the on position before it gets power.

Any clues on where my DC is going?

Thanks!

**Eagle5** · 10-08-2023, 05:12 PM

Greetings Exatiles,
It sounds like the 200amp fuse has blown. That should be very near your battery. If that is not it, we have many folks here on the forum that know more than I.
Welcome to the forum.
Eagle5.

Morich · 10-08-2023, 06:48 PM

I am also not a big help as not a trailer guy who is up on the new ones!
But there have been lots of discussion of lost power and it may help to find the "hidden" connections under the trailer tough where you don't look until crawling under!

You may not have the same issue but if you look carefully under the front, like under the propane tanks, you may see a set of wiring. Part of it may be some breakers as well as possibly a metal 4X4 electrical box??
Several have found that box but in looking they did not see anything like a breaker to reset, but when pressed it was there in that box!
I can't currently lead to the discussions/posts but if you find that box, there may be a tiny little breaker that lays on the box at the bottom and under lots of wires which block your view! It may look like micro-switch if you know them? But it may have a tiny black button on the side to rest it!!

I'll do a search for those posts but it may be quicker to crawl under and look, rather than me getting lucky enough to find the right posts??

Any of you other trailer folks who the posts I mean and have them marked?
Little help needed on the search???

Morich · 10-08-2023, 06:57 PM

This may/may not help as it is a different trailer?

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...-367061-2.html

Exatiles · 10-08-2023, 06:57 PM

Thanks for the reply...I have looked, under the trailer, near the battery, inside of the frame channel where the wires run, under seats and beds, behind drawers. Surely it is something like this and I have just missed it. Its frustrating...especially as someone who doesn't have much experience with campers. I will say though, everything mostly seems to disassemble pretty easily...Ive done a lot of that so far. I am sure I will stumble across some disconnect or fuse eventually. Im just glad it works ok off of shore power in the mean time

Fred 2106DS · 10-08-2023, 07:02 PM

Hi Exatiles,

First off, I'm going to make an assumption that the Winnie Drops are wired similar to the Micro Minnies.

Check and see if you have a junction box attached to the inside of your campers frame, near where the A-frame is attached to the main frame.

Below is a picture of where my junction box is located. It's located on the roadside front corner where the A-frame comes through the main frame of the camper.

If you have a junction box, check inside and see if there is a small manual resettable breaker underneath all the wiring. Here is a link to a labeled picture by "tinglett" of the inside of the junction box showing the 30A breaker. If this breaker is tripped you will not have power from your battery to your fuse panel.

Fred

Exatiles · 10-09-2023, 08:29 AM

I don't know how I missed that when I was looking the first time, but I did. BUT, if I would have opened that and looked, it would have never occurred to me at first glance that that was anything but a junction box. Sure enough, I found the breaker and it had 12.4V on one terminal and 13.75 on the other with shore power connected, then nothing on 13.75 side with no shore power. I pushed the reset button back in and voila, 12.4 across.

Problem solved!! Thank you guys so much, that would have been really hard to find without your help.

**Eagle5** · 10-09-2023, 09:36 AM

Until Winnebago starts making trailer-specific Owner's Manuals, it is a good thing we have this Forum to figure things out.
Honestly, what a horrible place for a reset button.
Eagle5

Exatiles · 10-09-2023, 10:00 AM

It really is an insane placement. Its almost like it was put there so that people would have to bring it back to the dealer when they couldn't figure it out. It seems like they could've brought it into the distribution panel for the cost of a few extra feet of wire.