Still looking for fuses for trailer plug on coach

FIRE UP · 10-31-2012, 10:25 PM

Gang,
I've mentioned this while in the chat room and many tried to help but, still haven't located the fuses for the trailer plug on our 2004 Itasca Horizon 36GD w/330 CAT and Allison MH3000 trans. And, as has been suggested, I made a call to the Freightliner Help line and, gave them all the pertinent info and, all they could say was the fact that they're in a black box, around 5 or so inches square and, has a gray and black connector on it. But, they could not pin point exactly where. I thought they were better than that.

Well, many of you have stated it "should" be in the electrical compartment, where the shore power and inverter live. And that it should be inside the removable panel above the inverter. Well, I tore that compartment, completely apart. All I found inside the hidden compartment is, just exactly what the PDF for the wiring diagram states and, what's labeled on the outside of it. And that is,
(1) Auxiliary battery solenoid
(1) Battery cut-off solenoid

I even found a removeable panel on the back wall of that compartment so, I removed it and, found the top of the level jack, nope, not what I needed.

I've checked at the foot of the bed, where there's a zillion 110VAC breakers, and a ton of 12VDC circuit breakers. Nope, not there either. I've checked into the left front compartment, in front of the left front tire and, while there's lots of 12VDC fuses and, more 12VDC Circuit breakers, they're not there either. Now, that's the extent of the fuses, circuit breakers and relay systems that I know of. I've one place to check that I just thought of, the panel in that left front compartment with all the 12V fuses and circuit breakers on it, may be removable due to the fact that there's a hinge on the left side. So, tomorrow I'll go out and dive into that section to see if they hid that trailer plug set of fuses, deep inside that panel.
Scott

cbeierl · 11-01-2012, 12:05 AM

I think you might find it to the rear of the A/C radiator on the left rear corner of the coach. You'll need to remove a few screws to hinge of that panel and then find something to prop it open.

chuckinthebus · 11-01-2012, 12:36 AM

If Freightliner is telling you it is in a 'black box', it may be inside the frame rail by back of transmission or close to the last frame cross member by the rear.

doorguy · 11-01-2012, 07:35 AM

Scott, don't know how yours is setup, but on my 04 Journey 39K, my elec. bay looks like this: Inverter on left, mounted on sidewall, the transfer switch box on the rear wall. To the right is a tall black panel that is screwed in and behind that is the Allison ACM and the trailer wiring fuses. I did not know this at first cuz it just looks like the side of the compartment. My guess is that it has to be in the rear of the coach somewhere.

grtharris · 11-01-2012, 08:37 AM

Found this link to a guy with the same problem may help.
RV.Net Open Roads Forum: What is and where is the VEC? (Freightliner term for electrical component)

1ciderdog · 11-01-2012, 10:18 AM

On mine which is the same as doorguys (post 4). The panel, until you look closely, appears to be the right side wall of that compartment and the panel goes from the bottom of the compartment and ends a couple of inches below the top of the compartment. The panel completely fills that wall side to side. The panel is held in by four or six screws. There are two square fuse boxes about 3X3 or 4X4 and also electrical components on the wall behind that panel.

FIRE UP · 11-01-2012, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbeierl

I think you might find it to the rear of the A/C radiator on the left rear corner of the coach. You'll need to remove a few screws to hinge of that panel and then find something to prop it open.

BINGO!!!!
We have a Winner! Yep, that's where it was/is. In reality, it's not hidden at all. In terms of not knowing, you could look forever and not find it. It's not hidden if you lay down the very left, rear corner of the coach and look up. What you'll see is, a rubber flap, that's screwed up, on both sides, to protect not only that A/C radiator but, also those three boxes that you see in the pics below.

If you look just inside the edge of that rubber flap, there it is, right there on the bottom of that panel that you see in the pictures. There are three "boxes" in there. The top one is, heck, I don't know what it's for. The middle one is some sort of transmission controller and, the bottom one, which you cannot see from a straight on look, is the fuse/relay box for the trailer plug.

Well, me being me, I wanted to make a poor situation better so, I decided to remove all those boxes and, rearrange this compartment/layout so that access to the trailer plug fuses was improved. I don't want to have to disassemble half the coach just to get to the trailer plug fuses if and when I developed a problem. But, a couple of things here. One, the smart boys at Freightliner or, Itasca or, Winne, not sure, put them in a place that receives a lot of "Splash" from the rear tires etc. so, the bolts/studs that hold them in place are seriously rusted.

Two, the wires that lead to all three of those boxes are not all that long so, trying to move things around to make the more used (or what I thing would be) box in a more convenient place, is not all that easy. I'm going under the coach to see if I can find more slack in those wires so I can arrange it to my liking.

As stated, the studs are seriously rusted so, as I started to remove the nuts to remove each of the boxes, SNAP

! There went that stud, SNAP,

there went another one, SNAP

, oh well, I was not liking things as they were any way so, out comes the entire panel so I can re-work those studs. Anyway, to all who've tried to help me in locating the "box", I surely appreciate it. You know, the boys at either Freightliner or, Itasca did a pretty good job on giving you access to about 98% of the fuses and relays in the coach, what's up with the other 2%?

And, as a sub note here, in one of the pics you'll see the louvered door for that A/C radiator propped open which, is no big deal but, those yahoos at the factory only put ONE HINGE on that door on the right side!! You have to be real careful raising and supporting that panel because of the single sided hinge. Way to Itasca, smart move!

Scott

lavamanz · 11-01-2012, 03:17 PM

I have yet to be able to find mine on my 99 Itasca Sunflyer 36L DP on FL chassis. Looked in all the places mentioned but no luck so far

FIRE UP · 11-01-2012, 09:38 PM

There,
All better now.
Scott

1ciderdog · 11-02-2012, 09:37 AM

Great that you found it!

FIRE UP · 11-02-2012, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1ciderdog

Great that you found it!

Well Sir,
It serves two purposes. One, I now know where it is and, it's been aranged in such a manor that, if and when I should ever have a trailer plug/toad light issue, that box is now somewhat easy to get at and check the fuses.
Scott