• Welcome to Archive - Aluminium Camper Forum.
 

Electrical Controller Alarm

Started by admin, March 04, 2014, 11:35:49 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

admin

My 2012 Quicksilver 10.0 has recently starting making this alarm type sound when plugged into the shoreline power. I thought I heard the system "chirping" a while back when I had it plugged in to top off the battery but I didnt think anything of it. I just unplugged it until this past weekend when I decided to do some prep work for the up coming spring. Side note, I cant wait for the weather to get nice here in NC. Anyways, back to the issue, now when the system is plugged in I get this constant alarm type sound non-stop. I found that if I flip the 15 amp breaker the alarm will stop but that also kills the 12v circuits and the 120v outlet. The 20amp breaker can remain on without issue.

I did some research and found that the alarm seems to be due to a 12v overload or short. So I pulled all the 12v fuses yet the alarm still sounds. This tells me the issue has to be somewhere between the 15amp breaker and the 12v circuits; in other words in the control unit.
Because of this I called the dealer thinking the camper was still under warranty only to find out the manufaturers warranty does not extend beyond the original owner. So much for buying a newer used camper  :|. Either way the dealer advised that some QS's had a known issue where the electrical system was not correctly grounded and thus could cause damage to the control unit which in turn could cause this alarm. The only recommendation given was to try grounding the negative/white wire coming from the batter prior to it reaching the control unit. If this doesnt fix the issue it sounds like I will have to replace it.

Anyone else had this or know of this happening? Any recommendations on a new controler?

I'll keep you posted with what I find.

Thanks,
Sean

tinkeringtechie

It sounds like the converter failed, which is often available separately for replacement/upgrade. Which converter panel do you have? I think WFCO and Progressive dynamics have replacement converters for fairly reasonable prices. You could check for shorts or grounding issues with a multimeter first before buying anything. Is it still working while the alarm is sounding?
2014 Camplite 21BHS

2013 Toyota Sequoia 4WD 5.7L

admin

Yeah I'm assuming it's an all out failure, but the DC outlets do work despite the alarm. I have the factory elx-25 currently installed and I believe the WFCO 8735 is a direct replacement. Any thoughts or experience with that model/manufacturer?
I see the WFCO available on Amazon Prime for about $122. I'm not excited about replacing the unit but it's not a terrible expense either.

-Sean

admin

I'm glad it worked out so well for you.

I might have to look into the 8725, cheaper than what I was looking at and no smaller than what I already have seems like a good deal. Though I wounder if for the couple extra buck if it wouldn't be worth it to upgrade and have the extra capacity if I ever needed it.

-Sean