Pop-up camper power issue question

[Etxbuckman]

So Saturday night about midnight the a/c in my pop-up stopped working, and a quick check of the lights showed that they had stopped working too. My buddy told me that the converter was probably bad, and he's probably right, but I was running these things off of a generator- not a battery- so I had thought this couldn't be/wouldn't be an issue.

I am barely a novice with electricity so I wouldn't even begin to know how to confirm whether or not it is the converter, but it's a '94 model camper so I'm sure a lot of things are on their last leg. I need to get this fixed, and fast, but before I invest in a converter I wanted to ask the fine folks of the green screen what their opinion of the matter is.

[Robertt]

Check your breakers which are usually under the table. Check your battery too. Next check your male plug coming out of your camper. If it is burned or looking black it may have to be replaced.

[Etxbuckman]

Check your breakers which are usually under the table. Check your battery too. Next check your male plug coming out of your camper. If it is burned or looking black it may have to be replaced.

I forgot to mention the first thing I checked were the breakers. That didn't work. I don't use a battery (honestly I don't even know where the battery goes in this thing) and the male plug on the outside was fine. It showed no signs of wear or burning whatsoever.

[Robertt]

If you have an electric meter start from the source and work your way inside to see where you lose power. The converter is usually under the table bench. You may have to unscrew the wood on the bench to get to the back of it. Check the hot and negative going to the converter and out. Keep in mind on a camper black is the HOT wire, white is the neutral and green is the ground.

[Etxbuckman]

If you have an electric meter start from the source and work your way inside to see where you lose power. The converter is usually under the table bench. You may have to unscrew the wood on the bench to get to the back of it. Check the hot and negative going to the converter and out. Keep in mind on a camper black is the HOT wire, white is the neutral and green is the ground.

Oh man thats way above my field of electrical knowledge. LOL

I guess my question is is it possible that the a/c and lights stopped working while plugged into the generator because the converter went bad? If it is possible then I’ll just replace it. That much I’m confident I can do.

[Robertt]

Plug into regular (shore) electric and see if it works. What you asked is possible but not probable. Talk to the parts department at your local rv dealer. They gave me the name of a person that came out and checked mine. My converter went out but it smoked really bad and we shut everything down. I got the part number off my converter and ordered a new one from https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/.

[Beleg]

Is it possible you tripped the breaker on the generator?

[Etxbuckman]

Plug into regular (shore) electric and see if it works. What you asked is possible but not probable. Talk to the parts department at your local rv dealer. They gave me the name of a person that came out and checked mine. My converter went out but it smoked really bad and we shut everything down. I got the part number off my converter and ordered a new one from https://www.pplmotorhomes.com/.

Thats a good idea. I’ll ask call someone tomorrow. It definitely wasn’t smoking or burning- heck it looks fine- but something sudden and catastrophic happened.

Is it possible you tripped the breaker on the generator?

Thats an interesting thought. I don’t guess I ever realized generators have breakers. I’m not sure if mine does or not. I’ll check it again this weekend.

[Bh_liberty]

It’s more than likely your converter. But check the battery first with a load tester. (It’s cheaper to replace) You have to have 12 volt power to run the lights and the thermostat. Even though the generator is on you still have to have 12 volt power.


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[Fling em]

I would bet its the converter.

[Etxbuckman]

It’s more than likely your converter. But check the battery first with a load tester. (It’s cheaper to replace) You have to have 12 volt power to run the lights and the thermostat. Even though the generator is on you still have to have 12 volt power.


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I don’t use a battery. Never have. It was plugged directly into a generator when everything stopped working.

[Sparkie]

Or any 12v fuses for the systems not working. Like stated earlier lights and thermo run on 12v. They should be in the same panel as the breakers. With power off pull the associated fuse, usually a colored one like you vehicle has with 2 blades and look in the center to see if the wire/lead is broken or has a burnt spot. Most are translucent enough to easily be able to see through. If not sometimes you can hold a flashlight to the back side to help look through it. If clear glass tube style you can sometimes see the element burnt or broken. Those are ways you can check without a meter. If you have a meter and it is not obvious the fuse is blown just set the meter to ohms and put a lead on each side or blade of the fuse, if you have a .2ish reading or beeping it is good if it shows OL (open) it is bad.

[Etxbuckman]

Or any 12v fuses for the systems not working. Like stated earlier lights and thermo run on 12v. They should be in the same panel as the breakers. With power off pull the associated fuse, usually a colored one like you vehicle has with 2 blades and look in the center to see if the wire/lead is broken or has a burnt spot. Most are translucent enough to easily be able to see through. If not sometimes you can hold a flashlight to the back side to help look through it. If clear glass tube style you can sometimes see the element burnt or broken. Those are ways you can check without a meter. If you have a meter and it is not obvious the fuse is blown just set the meter to ohms and put a lead on each side or blade of the fuse, if you have a .2ish reading or beeping it is good if it shows OL (open) it is bad.

So it could be a fuse within the converter box?

[Todd-ty729]

Generator reset button or breaker

Try plugging something else into the genny and see what happens

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[careybirdwell]

Being that you have a pop up, I doubt very seriously that you have a central a/c system, so you A/C doesn't need the converter to work. You lights yes. Your converter gives you 12 VDC from your 120VAC. My bet would be the breaker on the generator