Transfer Switch Problem?

[peggyjshafer]

We have a 2000 Fleetwood Discovery 37G.  3 weeks ago when we plugged into shore power, we had 110 power inside the coach but the inverter outlets were all showing about 88v and even though the Xantrex Panel showed incoming AC, the batteries would never shift off the red light to accepting charge. If we started the genset, everything was normal, inverter outlets all showed 110 volts.  Suspected the transfer switch and someone came and visually looked at it but couldn’t see any burn marks.  We moved on to the next park, and this time when plugged in everything was perfectly normal for 2 weeks. Then yesterday all of the sudden the 110 power to the coach completely quit. Breaker never tripped, nothing  110 in coach works  but all inverter outlets work normal and Xantrex panel is entirely green showing 30 amp incoming and batteries fully charged. Started genset, everything was normal. Back to shore power, same thing -no 110 again. Next time started genset, the same issue as shorepower - no 110 with generator, either.  Park checked the post and did change out the 30amp breaker and plug as they said they were weak.  When you turn on the breaker or start the genset, you do not hear the “click” now of the transfer switch.  Any ideas?

[wolfe10]

Open the lid to the ATS (if you are not safe working around 240 VAC HIRE IT OUT TO SOMEONE WHO IS).

Check voltage IN and OUT of the ATS.  That will tell you whether the problem is there, between CG and the ATS or ATS through main 120 VAC breaker box to the inverter/charger.

BTW, if this is a MSW inverter, most voltmeters will read artificially low, as they are designed to work on pure sine wave.

[peggyjshafer]

This is a 30 amp coach.  As far as “opening the lid” to the ATS, it is located under the fridge, behind all the 110 breakers. You have to dislodge those and move them all out of the way, then try to remove a cover ...over our heads. And with the 4th holiday, can’t get anyone out here. We are on day 4 of no a/c in 96 degree weather...not fun. Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue. 

[wolfe10]

What troubleshooting have you done?

If the ATS is hard to get to, start at the shore power cord and check for power with a voltmeter (if you don't have one, you can find them at any auto parts house or box store for under $20).

Same for the main 120 VAC breaker panel.

If you have power where the shore power cord comes into the coach and those connections look good, but not at the main breaker panel, that pretty much leaves the ATS as the likely suspect.  Yes, a loose wire or connection would give the same symptoms.

 

Again, all this ASSUMES YOU ARE SAFE WORKING AROUND 120 VAC.

[peggyjshafer]

Hi, we had a mobile mechanic come out 3 weeks ago with the first round of problems. He replaced the plug end of the 30 amp cord as it was old and he saw some hot marks.  He tested the power at the post, coming in/out of the inverter, and said it was all good. After we got to this park and suddenly lost the 110, we had the park come out. They tested the post and said it was only showing 86 volts on one leg so they replaced the 30 amp plug and the breaker.  The Xantrex panel shows we are getting power in, and the house batteries are reading green and fully charged and getting 108 -110 on the inverter plug outlets. As I said, we do not hear any “click” of the transfer switch engaging like it used to. We have checked breakers on the generator, none were tripped but we did turn off and reset. We have tried “rapping” the transfer box to see if maybe it was stuck and we could unjam them, but no luck. Hoping we get someone to actually show up soon so we can troubleshoot this. My husband has stage IV cancer and just can’t think right to try to do this himself.

[wolfe10]

Would be hard to imagine an RV park where you couldn't find someone to come over with a voltmeter for 10 minutes.

You said "86 volts on one leg". 30 amp only has ONE leg.  So, if you ran much on that kind of voltage, you most certainly could have done damage.

[dickandlois]

Peggy, been looking around for what your Transfer switch might look like and they used different wiring depending on floor plans and the fact that your coach is setup for 30 amp shore power. That setup often uses a main power panel with a time delay relay, that engages a relay in the power panel that you to use both roof AC units when on Generator power. 

Could you take a picture of the AC power panel / DC fuse panel setup and attach it to a post?

This picture kind of matches what I'm picturing in my mind from you description of the location of where the ATS switch is located. Might be total different then the way things are wired though. Got to admit the picture looks more like a 50 amp, but the source mentions  30 amp setup.

Rich. 

Transfer Sw setup for Discover.pdf

[Jmholb57]

I' having the same problem. Nothing on shore power works bit everything on generator works. In central Florida with a dog and very hot also. Have a 2017 jayco alante and don' know where transfer switch is. Must be under bed for i looked everywhere else. Owners manual is of zero help. No breakers and no fuses are blown or kicked. 

[dickandlois]

3 hours ago, Jmholb57 said:

I' having the same problem. Nothing on shore power works bit everything on generator works. In central Florida with a dog and very hot also. Have a 2017 jayco alante and don' know where transfer switch is. Must be under bed for i looked everywhere else. Owners manual is of zero help. No breakers and no fuses are blown or kicked. 

ATS is likely under the bed,  Do you have a meter? and do you know how to check the Shore power and cable end for proper voltage and good connections?

The other item that happens, is the AC or other items are left on and the High current can weld the contacts together and the ATS will no longer switch automatically.  

The nominal position for the ATS is shore power and transfers to Generator power when it is running with no shore power.

You have Gen power - so that kind of makes one think it is an issue with the Riser, the shore power cable is damaged or there is an issue between the connection between the coach connection and the transfer switch.

Rich.

[Jmholb57]

Thank you. Will check. Today. Have a neighbor that is helping with meter.  

[wolfe10]

The ATS is generally close to there the  shore power cord comes into the coach.  No guarantee, but a good place to start, as the shore power cord WILL connect to it!

[desertdeals69]

On my 98 Discovery the transfer switch is behind the breakers under the fridge.  Its a cheesy looking metal box about 5 inches square.  Mine was intermittently working so I rewired my 30 amp system to a 50 amp.  Installed a big transfer switch in the bay next to the engine where the 50 amp cord comes in.  Ran a 8 gauge stranded 3 wire from the gen to the ATS.  Works perfect and is accessible to work on.

[Jmholb57]

2 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

The ATS is generally close to there the  shore power cord comes into the coach.  No guarantee, but a good place to start, as the shore power cord WILL connect to it!

Found the problem. ATS was under foot of bed. One of the connections was melted. Did temporay fix until getting a new ATS. Everything closed today. Thank you.  Will get a metal box in place of this plastic one. Will be more concerned with checking the tightness of the connections from now on. Learning experience. 

[peggyjshafer]

Hi, we had a mobile mechanic come out 3 weeks ago with the first round of problems. He replaced the plug end of the 30 amp cord as it was old and he saw some hot marks.  He tested the power at the post, coming in/out of the inverter, and said it was all good. After we got to this park and suddenly lost the 110, we had the park come out. They tested the post and said it was only showing 86 volts on one leg so they replaced the 30 amp plug and the breaker.  The Xantrex panel shows we are getting power in, and the house batteries are reading green and fully charged and getting 108 -110 on the inverter plug outlets. As I said, we do not hear any “click” of the transfer switch engaging like it used to. We have checked breakers on the generator, none were tripped but we did turn off and reset. We have tried “rapping” the transfer box to see if maybe it was stuck and we could unjam them, but no luck. Hoping we get someone to actually show up soon so we can troubleshoot this. My husband has stage IV cancer and just can’t think right to try to do this himself.

[peggyjshafer]

Update: Yes the ATS is located under the fridge, behind the 110 panels.  There is a picture of the fried switch.  The replacement turned out to be more difficult than one would think. That particular switch is obsolete and can’t be ordered.  We had ordered a 30amp RV ATS from Amazon made by Parralex, and John’s RV & Trailer Center ordered one as well.  After the tech found this one burned out, he put in the new one. But what was discovered is that even though this is a 30 amp coach, there are TWO 30 amp feeds coming from the Onan 7.5 KW generator. One goes through a 30 amp breaker on the generator.  The other feed comes into the transfer switch (the old one) as GEN 2.  The first day, the tech did not know what to do with the Gen 2 feed because there is no place in the 30 amp box for it.  He came back with the owner of the company today who said this system that FLeetwood did is unique - when running on generator it essentially acts as a 50 amp system with a power monitor when it operates on the shore power.  In the end, to make it work, they had to install both 30amp switches and route the wiring so that on the Generator, both Gen 1 and Gen 2 feed in, but on shore power there is just the 30 amp shore cord plus the inverter/charger for the inverter outlets and microwave.  We are now back up and running and everything is back to normal on both Generator and Shore power.  6 days with no a/c was way too many in this heat wave!  I’m attaching a picture of the wiring diagram from the 1st switch, which is no longer sold.

[kaypsmith]

I knew of this Fleetwood system, but thought that they had discontinued it 10 years sooner. The original setup, did not have the newer electronics, could only use second AC with generator running.

[dickandlois]

Peggy, Glad that the problem is fixed!

Thank You for posting the item that failed with picture and the information on how the repair was accomplished !

Have a Good 4th. of July !!

Rich

[dickandlois]

3 hours ago, Jmholb57 said:

Found the problem. ATS was under foot of bed. One of the connections was melted. Did temporay fix until getting a new ATS. Everything closed today. Thank you.  Will get a metal box in place of this plastic one. Will be more concerned with checking the tightness of the connections from now on. Learning experience. 

Good to know that you found the failed ATS and where able to get a temporary repair while waiting for a new part.

Hope you enjoy the 4th.

Rich.

[desertdeals69]

2 hours ago, peggyjshafer said:

Update: Yes the ATS is located under the fridge, behind the 110 panels.  There is a picture of the fried switch.  The replacement turned out to be more difficult than one would think. That particular switch is obsolete and can’t be ordered.  We had ordered a 30amp RV ATS from Amazon made by Parralex, and John’s RV & Trailer Center ordered one as well.  After the tech found this one burned out, he put in the new one. But what was discovered is that even though this is a 30 amp coach, there are TWO 30 amp feeds coming from the Onan 7.5 KW generator. One goes through a 30 amp breaker on the generator.  The other feed comes into the transfer switch (the old one) as GEN 2.  The first day, the tech did not know what to do with the Gen 2 feed because there is no place in the 30 amp box for it.  He came back with the owner of the company today who said this system that FLeetwood did is unique - when running on generator it essentially acts as a 50 amp system with a power monitor when it operates on the shore power.  In the end, to make it work, they had to install both 30amp switches and route the wiring so that on the Generator, both Gen 1 and Gen 2 feed in, but on shore power there is just the 30 amp shore cord plus the inverter/charger for the inverter outlets and microwave.  We are now back up and running and everything is back to normal on both Generator and Shore power.  6 days with no a/c was way too many in this heat wave!  I’m attaching a picture of the wiring diagram from the 1st switch, which is no longer sold.

Thats what I found out when troubleshooting mine.  I have a 6.5 Onan with two circuits, one 30 amp and one 20 amp.  That's why I completely rebuilt my electric system-- converting it to a  50 amp ATS and shore cord.  I have the 30 amp side power the Acs and the 20 amp power the rest of the coach when the generator is running.  When plugged in to 50 amp each side has 50 amp.  My roof airs draw 20-21 amps total with both running.  Glad you got yours running finally.