Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > MOC Technical Forums > Montana Problems, Problem Solving & Technical Help
Click Here to Login

 
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 11-03-2003, 03:08 AM   #1
Montana_421
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Albuquerque(kinda)
Posts: 206
M.O.C. #421
Another Elec Problem, Need for Schematic

No sooner had I said I, personally, hadn't has any wiring problems than I had one ... a serious problem that I did manage to fix after a couple of hours of needlessly taking much of the underbelly off. Had I had a true electrical schematic/blueprint of the unit, I could have fixed it in 10 minutes, with a ton less anxiety. Read on, y'all, just in case you encounter the same.

The Problem:
Suddenly I lost 1/2 of my circuits. The furnace, water heater, Dryer/Washer line (powering our extra freezer!) was dead. "Suddenly", I say, because we had hot water about 12 hours earlier, but now we didn't and our food was well into thawing.

First action: Check and recheck and reset ALL my breakers. No help.

First suspicion: the park's power supply (50 amp). We'd had one leg of the park (another park, a 30 amp supply) trip its breaker on us a month ago with very similar results - 1/2 our circuits gone (different half, like the TV & outlets in the larger slide, etc.) Checking it out with a volt-meter, saw that was NOT the problem. Full power at the plug, and out of the end of my shore cord.

Second suspicion: The receptacle for my cord was at fault (like a connection from the inside came loose). Pulled it out, checked all the connections, it was fine.

Third suspicion: I'd read before where wiring broke inside from abrasion or stress of the slides. So we (my son-in-law had come to help) began opening up the under belly to inspect the power cord (it's the same sort inside the house as your shore cord but without the heavy rubber insulation). Saw nothing. Began to wonder why only one line (the red supply wire was live at beginning end, dead at the main breaker) was out, and why no sparks, tripped breakers, etc.

Fourth suspicion: There must be a junction box somewhere under there where one leg (our red wire) had rattled loose. We started opening more underbelly, concentrating near the furnace (only place it seemed likely a j-box would be needed). We did find that we suddenly had two power cords... one going north (toward front), another right beside it coming south and turning west toward the breaker panel. But NO J-box in (our limited) sight.

Bright Idea: Before continuing our disassembly of our unit, go up front to the Gen-prep compartment and the battery compartment. Look for some sort of j-box, or connection place for the generator cut-in. Lo & behold, behind our batteries (had to take one out to get to this) was a large metal box with two power cords going in/out of it. Opened it up, a connector bar with one line (all 3 legs of the cord) connected in, and the same for the other going out. Plugged in our shore cord, saw a spark from the red line. Checked our breakers... we had power.

The Problem/solution: The one red lead had not been inserted enough, nor the lug screw tightened down enough (that proved true on 5 of the 6 connections!) EASILY FIXED.

THE COMPLAINT: Had I had a wiring plan, I would not have torn apart the underbelly, and probably checked that junction box even before suspecting a damage power cord inside. My 2 plus hour job could have been 10 minutes, and I would not have needed to open up (and unsealing) the underbelly, insulating foil, or metal wrap-around flashing, etc.

PLEASE Keystone A useful, model specific blueprint could be prepared by copying your own already-existing plans, and run off on the copy machine with a cost of mere pennies... DO IT! And do the plumbing too. And make it available to all of us, not just future owners!

Russ n Vicki plus Michelle the pooch (uh, the "princess")

2004 Montana 3575RL
2002 Blue GMC Sierra, D/A, CC, 4X4, SB
CIPA Electric Mirrors, Prodigy Control, Reese 16K Kwik-Slide, & .. Lotsa Prayer!
Montana_421 is offline   Reply With Quote
 

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Wiring schematic sandslugs Repairs & Service 4 09-07-2009 06:38 AM
Cable schematic for Big Sky Exnavydiver Let Us Entertain You 4 11-20-2007 04:18 PM
2005 3400RL Partial Elec. Problem Rainbirds Montana Problems, Problem Solving & Technical Help 6 06-30-2006 08:07 AM
GMC & Chevy Schematic Dave e Victoria Tow Vehicles & Towing 1 03-27-2006 02:31 PM
HEATING?AIRCOND?ELEC PROBLEM? Montana_1929 Montana Problems, Problem Solving & Technical Help 12 11-10-2005 05:11 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:56 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.