Electrical Problems - Montana Owners Club

Okie Guy · 08-04-2006, 03:43 PM

Howdy All,

I purchased a gently used 2005 Montana Mountaineer 33 foot travel trailer. I love the trailer. Anywho, my Monty seems to be under the weather. When hooked up to the Shore Power it blows the breaker and then uses the battery power. Last night I turned the lights on inside the door and the refrigerator completely shut off. No switch over to gas, it completely turned the juice off to the ice box. I am thinking the converter is bad especially with all of these 101-105 degree days. Has anyone ever had a similar problem? Suggestions? I took her back to the dealer this morning to get a checkup.

Thanks
Phil

Okie Cowboy Guy

http://i1.tinypic.com/23k9b4g.jpg

Ozz · 08-05-2006, 01:26 AM

Welcome to the Forum, and congrats on the purchase of your Monte. Sorry to hear of you problems, but your dealer should fix you up.
When you say hooked up to shore power, what breaker blows? What load or loads are on? When you say it switches to battery power, what do you mean? Were the lights dim? Did you check your line voltage and low voltage readings? Also, i would lean towards a low battery on a newly purchased pre-owned unit, as they sometimes don't get a good charge on them, check the battery readings on a electrolyte cell checker if it's not a new battery.
I'm just full of questions, aren't I?
Take care, and good luck.
Ozz

'07 3400RL 2nd RTU
2 Golf Cart batteries 1500 watt inverter
Honda 2000 Generator, 2nd one and twinning kit coming
Maytag's with 220 Dryer
Stationary domed Sat. dish
LCD 12 Volt Amp gauge
LCD Tank Monitor
3 added 120 volt outlets
On Board Air; 12 Volt Viair 450C compressor
2006 Ford PSD 4x4 Off Road Lariat
Hadley Air Horns
Truck inverter with 110 volts for laptop
Color Backup Camera
Awning lock

CountryGuy · 08-05-2006, 02:32 AM

Phil,

I'll ask another question(s), are you trying to run your unit while at home and plugged into your garage or something, with a long extension cord???

Power drops in situations like that, things don't work right.

(that is the NON-tech answer from the wife of the electrican, she knows just enough to get into trouble!)

Good luck

Carol

Al & Carol Stevens Tipton, Mi.
Retired - Traveling with 4 Yorkies
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sreigle · 08-05-2006, 03:45 AM

Phil, I don't have an answer for you but wanted to comment the fridge needs 12v to run the control board. Since it shut down completely I'd say you lost 12v or the battery is very low. It does sound like a short in the 110v system somewhere, whether in the converter or in the wiring from outside connector to converter.

You might try a different cord outside to make sure it's not a short in the cord. Or in the outlet you plug in to.

You probably made a wise decision taking it to the dealer.

Good luck.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

Okie Guy · 08-05-2006, 04:29 AM

Wow. I woke up to lots of questions. Thanks for the response!

The shore power I am hooked up to is a dedicated line from the main breaker box at the pole just for my Monty. No extention cords(I despise those things) because of the dangers. It is a 30amp breaker at the box on the pole. The breaker inside the monty for the converter is the one which keeps blowing. The breaker on the pole did flip to off one night. It has also blown 4 fuses in 2 days. The dealer put a brand new battery in the unit when I purchased her last week. The lights were fine until just a couple of days ago so the battery was working...but who is to say a cell isn't bad in the battery. I have no load on other than the airconditioner and ice box. I have it in the yard getting everything we purchsed for the unit put in its place before we start taking trips.

I think I covered everything.lol
Thanks again for the response!
Phil

Okie Cowboy Guy

http://i1.tinypic.com/23k9b4g.jpg

Ozz · 08-05-2006, 07:19 AM

Thanks for the answers, you pinpointed the converter as the suspect, it can either be a bad (new) battery, or, a bad converter. The converter would be what my money would be on.
Good luck on this.
Ozz

'07 3400RL 2nd RTU
2 Golf Cart batteries 1500 watt inverter
Honda 2000 Generator, 2nd one and twinning kit coming
Maytag's with 220 Dryer
Stationary domed Sat. dish
LCD 12 Volt Amp gauge
LCD Tank Monitor
3 added 120 volt outlets
On Board Air; 12 Volt Viair 450C compressor
2006 Ford PSD 4x4 Off Road Lariat
Hadley Air Horns
Truck inverter with 110 volts for laptop
Color Backup Camera
Awning lock

Glenn and Lorraine · 08-05-2006, 07:53 AM

Okie Guy, I'm not much of a lectrican. I barely know the difference between AC and DC.

I just wanted to say HI and WELCOME to the MOC Family.

BTW-Your rigs pic has been added to the owners rig page at http://www.montanaowners.com/mocerrigsOtoS.html

Okie Guy · 08-08-2006, 04:44 PM

Hey gang,

I talked to the shop tonight and they told me my power inverter was blown. This is what was causing the problems. Has anyone else had a power inverter go bad? How often should I plan on making this repair? At least I will have it back for our first road trip next week. Lake Murray here we come.

Okie Cowboy Guy

http://i1.tinypic.com/23k9b4g.jpg

Ozz · 08-09-2006, 01:43 AM

Okie,
I'm sure you meant the converter. An inverter converts 12 volts DC to 120 Volts A/C.
Glad you got your converter replaced. this is not a common problem, hopefully this will be your last.
Since you had a problem with it, I would check your batteries very closely. Use the specific gravity type battery acid tester, (Glass tube with little balls floating in the acid) check all cells, then do a load test on the charged battery-batteries. You can get this done at a battery shop, or a good mechanic. We don't want any more problems at the lake.
Have fun at lake Murray.
Ozz

'07 3400RL 2nd RTU
2 Golf Cart batteries 1500 watt inverter
Honda 2000 Generator, 2nd one and twinning kit coming
Maytag's with 220 Dryer
Stationary domed Sat. dish
LCD 12 Volt Amp gauge
LCD Tank Monitor
3 added 120 volt outlets
On Board Air; 12 Volt Viair 450C compressor
2006 Ford PSD 4x4 Off Road Lariat
Hadley Air Horns
Truck inverter with 110 volts for laptop
Color Backup Camera
Awning lock

sreigle · 08-09-2006, 11:08 AM

Like any electronics, they can fail. We've never had one fail in all these years. You just got unlucky this time.

See another Montana or Mountaineer on the road? Flash lights twice, it might be one of us!
Steve Reigle (pronounced Regal)
Fulltiming since 3/21/03
'03 3295RK
'05 Ford F250 SD Lariat CC SB 6.0L PSD/TS FX4 4x4

Our RV Travels (now Firefox-compatible)

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