Truma heater blew fuse

[JiminMaine]

Thought I would try the heater this morning. Started up fine, after 3 minutes or so the camper went dark. Only the interior lights were on at the time. I have checked all the fuses I can locate including the main hook up from the truck battery. Any help would be appreciated. The camper is a week old!

 

[Dirtroadsavant]

Ouch. I don’t have much to offer except a ton of sympathy and the hope that the dealer is not too far away. With a brand new camper, I thinks it’s on them to get it working.

 

[JiminMaine]

Thanks! They are a few hundred miles away. There is power from the main battery to the tray/bed hook up. However, there is no voltage at the arb battery isolator? I'm starting to worry a little.....

 

[JiminMaine]

I removed and replaced this 40amp fuse in the battery compartment. There is now power throughout the camper. I don't think I will try and troubleshoot the heater for now. I'll call FWC on Monday. Thanks again!

 

[JiminMaine]

Well it's cold here in Maine. I thought I would try my luck again with the heater. It blew after a few minutes. This was around 10am today. There is absolutely no power in the camper. Despite my best efforts, I am at a loss. There is full power 12.8 volts at the main battery and 13.4 at the house batteries. No fuses have blown. The redarc isolator is not illuminated and receiving no power from the manager 30 system going forward. I don't expect an answer from members. I'm hoping I can find a solution after calling Fwc, possibly Truma and Redarc too. I will post my findings here in the attempt to help others with a similar situation. The camper is 10 days old.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Jim, I’m sorry that you’re having so much trouble with what I know to be your dream camper. I hope all issues are resolved quickly and accurately.

Thanks for posting the problems and hopefully the resolutions so that others might benefit. You could send a PM to Stan Kennedy (@Stan@FourWheel) to see if he can expedite support.

 

[JiminMaine]

Thanks very much! After planning for 6 years, I'm overall happy to have arrived here. Despite these few hiccups. I will reach out to Stan and give him a heads-up. Thanks again.

 

[JiminMaine]

Update! The heater keeps tripping the battery isolator, but the lights are on. Special thanks so far to Zac and staff at FWC! Initially the redvision lcd pointed towards the TVMS, this is not the case. After speaking with Adam at Redarc he suggested jumping the isolator (Blue connector to aux side). This restored the connection to the Tvms rogue and gave me power to the camper again. The heater is still tripping the isolator. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Vic Harder]

if everything else works, and only the heater fuse cannot be installed without causing a fault, the heater or the wiring to the heater, is likely the issue. Is this true? Everything else works now?

 

[JiminMaine]

Thanks Vic! Everything else seems to work. i.e. all lighting and refrigerator. I have not tried the water heater yet as it's too cold. The heater starts up. Just as the fan starts to speed up it trips the isolator, not a fuse in the blue sea fuse box. Thanks again!

 

[Vic Harder]

OK, I think I need some more info on that isolator. Which model is it? Pictures?

 

[JiminMaine]

Thanks Vic! Redarc SBI12D is the model. Here are two photos. Hopefully I maybe able to call FWC tomorrow and find a wiring schematic on the Truma varioheat heater.

 

[JiminMaine]

Hope this works.

 

[JiminMaine]

Latest update. The heater works in night mode only. Auto or Boost trips the isolator. As I am discovering more, the water pump fuse was blown and continues to blow every time the button is pushed on the Redvision lcd. I have a call in at FWC and waiting to hear back from Zac. I will try and keep this post updated.

 

[Vic Harder]

OK, thanks for the isolator's model #. I am even more confused. That isolator is protecting your truck battery from excessive discharge. It would only trip if the camper batteries drop below 12.6v, which I might have seen on your digital readout in the moment of the disconnect. Still, your camper battery is still on and there and should continue to power the furnace. You could even trip the fuse in the engine bay, so the isolator isn't involved at all and retest. Everything should work without the camper attached to the truck in any way. Is that not the case?

 

[JiminMaine]

Thanks again Vic! I appreciate your input here. Once the isolator trips there is only power coming from the camper batteries. Soon as I jump the isolator with the blue wire this restores the power to the other side (12v) what you may have noticed, in the video, is the power dropping from the 12v side. The camper batteries were around 13.2v at that time.

Separate issue...

I spoke to Zac briefly this afternoon and determined that the fuses for the water pump and porch light were switched (I noticed the wiring too) please see the attached photos. A simple mistake at FWC, 2 days of stress here. As far as the Furnace, it continues to trip the isolator if the Auto or Boost is selected. Fwc's engineer believes it maybe a grounding issue there. I am utterly perplexed by this and presently freezing my arse off.

Thanks once again.

 

[JiminMaine]

Success! Special thanks Wander crew. Zac at FWC and Adam at Redarc. I'll leave this here. I'm hitting the road in a few hours. I'll reverse engineer to figure out the order of solution/repair when i get back. Cheers!

 

[pvstoy]

"This video is private"

That is what shows for me.

 

[craig333]

Interesting. Video works fine for me.

 

[pvstoy]

Interesting. Video works fine for me.

I see it works on tablet, not on home computer. Thanks Craig