Power Problem

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

I need help. My inverter cut out today. I lost all power to the fridge, computers, microwave, etc. I messed around and threw a switch on the inverter and power came back up. I have a cut off inside, connected to a green lighted switch. That switch and light is not working.

If I run the APU I get power. If I shut it off and run the main engine, I do not.

I have two auto switches that control battery charging etc. Could one or both be my problem? This is way beyond what I know how to work on.

Is anyone aware of a shop in the Detroit/Toledo area that works on systems like this? I don't even know who built it. It is an Alumi-Bunk sleeper. They are out of business and I have no way of finding out who put together this system.

davekc · Dec 9, 2011

Alumi-junk still has a place next to the Detroiter that has guys that work on them. We use it for a cross dock.
Also, the generator electric may be coming from the 110 not the 12V. You may have popped the low voltage cutoff switch which isn't a hard repair. They blow a lot of the time if someone tried to jump the truck with a 24V charger verses a 12V
Check your battery connections and the condition of the batteries as well.

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

davekc said:
Alumi-junk still has a place next to the Detroiter that has guys that work on them. We use it for a cross dock.
Also, the generator electric may be coming from the 110 not the 12V. You may have popped the low voltage cutoff switch which isn't a hard repair. They blow a lot of the time if someone tried to jump the truck with a 24V charger verses a 12V
Check your battery connections and the condition of the batteries as well.

It shut off while I was driving. The batteries were charging without a problem. If the main engine is on, everything shuts off. As soon as I shut off the main and start the APU and the generator kicks in everything works.

I will check by the Detroiter, I knew there was still some people there but was under the impression that it was no longer Alumijunk.

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

I just tried a "diagnostic experiment". I shut down the APU but did not start the main engine. Lost power as soon as it shut down. I restarted the APU and the power came back on in about 10 seconds after it started.

greg334 · Dec 9, 2011

I was there a couple weeks ago and there was nothing there but the cross-dock.

Layout, does your inverter/110 system have a shore power relay?

I had one sleeper I worked on (by Bentz) that the 110 would work great when the shore power was hooked up or the APU ran but when on the inverter, it wouldn't. I pulled the unit out and won't go into the wiring here but once wired right with a good replacement, it still works well.

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

greg334 said:
I was there a couple weeks ago and there was nothing there but the cross-dock.

Layout, does your inverter/110 system have a shore power relay?

I had one sleeper I worked on (by Bentz) that the 110 would work great when the shore power was hooked up or the APU ran but when on the inverter, it wouldn't. I pulled the unit out and won't go into the wiring here but once wired right with a good replacement, it still works well.

I have to auto-switches/relays? in there. IF one is a shore power relay it has never worked. I can plug in but nothing happens. Everything has worked fine up until today. Something gave out.

I was never able to get a wiring diagram from Alumijunk. I tried to get one and they said that every sleeper was different and they did not diagram them. The truck was a repo and I have no way of knowing who put this system together.

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

greg334 said:
I was there a couple weeks ago and there was nothing there but the cross-dock.

Layout, does your inverter/110 system have a shore power relay?

I had one sleeper I worked on (by Bentz) that the 110 would work great when the shore power was hooked up or the APU ran but when on the inverter, it wouldn't. I pulled the unit out and won't go into the wiring here but once wired right with a good replacement, it still works well.

I have two auto-switches/relays? in there. IF one is a shore power relay it has never worked. I can plug in but nothing happens. Everything has worked fine up until today. Something gave out.

I was never able to get a wiring diagram from Alumijunk. I tried to get one and they said that every sleeper was different and they did not diagram them. The truck was a repo and I have no way of knowing who put this system together.

usafk9 · Dec 9, 2011

Electricity and me are not friends, but here's my crude thinking

Truck's alternator provides juice to batteries, wired to inverter and 12v appliances.

APU supplies 12v juice to inverter and 12v appliances.

I'm thinking one of the heavy fuses from battery bank to sleeper has blown....you know, one of those long, flat, copper-at-both ends-insulated-in the middle dealy-whoppers. Ours is under a flimsy plastic cover under the sleeper near the battery box.

I could be wrong. Have a circuit tester, Joe?

davekc · Dec 9, 2011

It does sound like one of those switches or a bad ground. The alumi-junk does have a mechanic in there. We have them do the Canada limiter when we cross the border. One of those guys has been there for a long time.

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

usafk9 said:
Electricity and me are not friends, but here's my crude thinking

Truck's alternator provides juice to batteries, wired to inverter and 12v appliances.

APU supplies 12v juice to inverter and 12v appliances.

I'm thinking one of the heavy fuses from battery bank to sleeper has blown....you know, one of those long, flat, copper-at-both ends-insulated-in the middle dealy-whoppers. Ours is under a flimsy plastic cover under the sleeper near the battery box.

I could be wrong. Have a circuit tester, Joe?

No I left it at home by mistake. I was using it for another problem and forgot the entire electrical box at the house. First time I really need it and it's home.

davekc · Dec 9, 2011

Almost forgot on those, in your driver side sleeper box, I would check to make sure the fuse panel is mounted tight as the original needs the sleeper frame to ground. We had one at one time and I had to remount and ground it. Pathetic design on the one we had.

usafk9 · Dec 9, 2011

Current price for a new one is $4.38 at Wally World, Joe. Ask me how I know that it's current.

Nevermind. Don't.

cheri1122 · Dec 9, 2011

usafk9 said:
Current price for a new one is $4.38 at Wally World, Joe. Ask me how I know that it's current.

Because we're all fond of bad puns?

Nevermind. Don't.

Hope you figure it out, Layout, electrical problems are a pain in the patootie.

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

LOL, OK usafk9, I won't ask! I think I can muddle through for a bit. We will be home soon. It is just the fridge I have not figured out a work around for.

Thanks, Cheri. Sooner or later, and half a zillion bucks ought to get it fixed!

I will look at fuses etc over the weekend in the daylight.

greg334 · Dec 9, 2011

layoutshooter said:
I have to auto-switches/relays? in there. IF one is a shore power relay it has never worked. I can plug in but nothing happens. Everything has worked fine up until today. Something gave out.

I understand, it most likely something that switches over the 110. Try tracing the inverter output and seeing if you run across a relay of switch.

I was never able to get a wiring diagram from Alumijunk. I tried to get one and they said that every sleeper was different and they did not diagram them. The truck was a repo and I have no way of knowing who put this system together.

Join the club, I have a bentz and I called down there to ask simple questions and get the right information about the sleeper, it isn't that I wanted it to just to know to bug them but my life depended on that info if there was a problem with the electrical and there was - improper wiring was put in the sleeper with no protection of the wiring causing it to short out. I felt after a series of phone calls playing phone tag with them (they never returned one phone call) that they didn't want to bother even telling me any info, let alone treating me with respect. So since that time, I met a lot of others who felt that way and either helped them fix the crap that was put in or did the work myself.

layoutshooter · Dec 9, 2011

Yeah, Greg, thanks. I am going to be looking more in the daylight. I am running the APU all night so at least my food will stay cold.

I only will be out about another week or so. I have to keep things together till then.

It is a pain.

usafk9 · Dec 9, 2011

Hahaha......wasn't intentional, Cheri. Oh wait......yes, yes it WAS intentional.

Only persons with above-average intellect would get it. Congratulations.

layoutshooter · Dec 10, 2011

I went in and checked what I could see. No loose wires. No corroded connections. All fuses good.

What I have in there are two transfer switches. They are "IOTA ITS-30R" switches. I am guessing that one, or both, are bad. I have NO idea how to figure that out.

greg334 · Dec 10, 2011

That's a switch over unit, I have three of them sitting on the shelf that are questionable that I pulled out of sleepers. They still make them by the way and not expensive, I think I was paying about $45 each for them last year.

As you said there are two of them, one of them hooks up to the generator which means that one is working, but the one that is leading from the inverter is bad, can tell you that right now.

The way it works is the switchover unit has two parts to it, a time delay module and a relay. Most likely the time delay module is bad, you can check out page three of the following document.

http://www.iotaengineering.com/pplib/30rman.pdf