We have managed to blow two fuses that cover all the wall plugs including the ref. The microwave still works. I can not get the circuit breakers to switch on and hold.
I suspect a small electric heater is the culprit. We were using it last night and DW tried to use her hair dryer. That blue about half the wall plugs, then this morning the heater was on and when we turned on the coffee maker, most of the rest of the wall plugs went. The electric heater seems to be the common denominator.
I know next to nothing about electricity, and can not tell by looking at them which fuses are blown. They are not like any fuses I have dealt with before. The control panel is a World Friendship Company (WFCO), model number WF-8930/50.
My question is, how do you tell which fuse is blown, and how do you get them out?
We are in an RV Park in Kerrville, TX on a Sunday morning. I doubt that the store here has any fuses, but am going to see when they open.
I guess the red and blue fuses can be pulled out and replaced on trial and error until I find the bad ones since they don't look bad.
DO you have a breaker box? Your fuses that you are speaking of should be only for the 12 volt conversion/appliances and not the wall outlets. Look for an actual breaker box somewhere.
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You do not have fuses in your 120 volt circuits (the ones just like at home), you have circuit breakers. They are switch-like devices in the electric distribution box you called the "control panel". The circuit breakers work very much like fuses, when they detect too much load, they stop the electric flow. Fuses "blow", or actually burn out, and have to be replaced. Circuit breakers switch off, the same as a light switch on the wall is either switched on or off.
Now to your problem. The circuit breaker is doing its job correctly. All the outlets that went dead when the circuit breaker tripped were controlled by that one circuit breaker. With the electric heater running, which would be almost the total capacity of that circuit breaker, and then another big load like the hair dryer or coffee pot was added to that circuit, the breaker detects an overlaod condition and trips to off to protect the circuit from that overload. Remove whatever is causing the overload, in this case, the heater, coffee pot, or hair dryer, then to switch the circuit breaker back to on, switch the breaker all the way to off (remember it is just like a light switch)(when some circuit breakers detect an overload, they do not switch all the way to off, just a half-way to off position), then switch it back to on. The circuit breaker should then stay in the on position until it detects another overload when it will then again switch to off. And that is exactly what has happened in your case.
Because fuses were used for so many years, people incorrectly say a fuse has blown when a circuit breaker trips. And that causes so much confusion for people who do not know the difference.
The above applied to the 120 volt circuits, or the ones just like in your house. Those red and blue things you mentioned are fuses, and they are still used in many low voltage applications. In a RV, you have 120 volt circuits, just like your house, and 12 volt circuits, just like your vehicle. In the RV, the 12 volt circuits will be the lights. Look at them closely, and see they look just like the dome light bulb you see in a car, that is because that is just what they are, but often controlled by a switch on the wall or at the light itself not by opening and closing a dorr like in your vehicle. The 12 volt circuits, once again, are controlled by fuses to protect from overload. Now if your lights will not come on, then yes you could have a blown fuse. But your problem is not a fuse.
* This post was
edited 05/04/08 06:59am by wayne_tw *
Short and simple...Everything you mention is AC not DC so not fuses:
--Look for breakers (switches)..same as at home
--Turn all the way off and then back on to reset
--You are trying to run too much at one time on one circuit
You could have tripped a GFCI receptacle. They are normally located in the galley or bathroom. They are what are considered fed-thru. One unit protects several other receptacles. A small red button should be popped out if they are tripped. Push the reset button.
120 volt receptacles are powered from AC breaker distribution panel.
Wayne, thanks for explaining why there are fuses and circuit breakers. I thought that in an RV maybe they worked together. I know how and why the circuit breaker works at home and the first thing I tried to do was to switch it back on. But for some reason they stay tripped. I guess I have fried the two circuit breakers and they will have to be replaced.
Oh well, we are leaving for home in few hours, and the front legs and slides work, so I will take it in next week to get the breakers replaced and pitch the heater.
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