Alpenlite 5th Wheel Owners Manual

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Alpenlite 5th Wheel Owners Manual

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RV: 1997 Alpenlite AFS 33′ RKS 5th Wheel St. Andrews edition
August 2017

SYMPTOMS: Summer of 2017 I have been experiencing various 12v electrical issues. I have adequate shore power, my 12v converter is getting adequate 118v power, and is putting out 12v at the converter, but testing the charging wires at the battery reveals 0v.

When the trailer is plugged into an outside power source, commonly referred to as shore power, the converter converts 120v to 12v. The converter has two separate jobs, the first is to power all 12v fixtures in the RV, the second job is to charge the onboard batteries. In my case it appears that the 12v that is coming out of the converter is not powering the 12v fixtures nor is it charging the batteries. Instead the onboard batteries are supplying all the 12v power needs of the trailer, as if I was boondocking. In my case, the culprit turned out to be a 12v circuit breaker located next to the converter.

For the RV owner, I recommend getting a Digital Volt meter (DM55-1). Easily plug in the DM55-1 into any wall outlet in your RV, and read the available voltage coming in from park power (shore power).

BATTERIES

The onboard batteries are mainly used when the trailer is not plugged into an outside power source (shore power). I have four 12 volt deep cycle Marine/RV type batteries; the two “main batteries” are accessible through an outside storage door located on the left side of trailer (under the bathroom area). I also have two batteries located in a forward compartment, accessible in front of the trailer, which are mainly used when the vehicle is in tow.

My main house batteries:
P/N 27DCMJ (Qty 2) 12v Super Start Marine Deep Cycle (purchased Aug. 2017)

My tow batteries
P/N SRM-27 (Qty 2) 12v Interstate Mega-Tron Marine RV Deep Cycle

CONVERTER/CHARGING SYSTEM

The schematic of the charging system: 12v power from the converter/charger is sent directly to the 12v breakers, from the breakers 12v power is sent to supply power to all 12v fixtures in the trailer, and 12v power is used to charge batteries, its a very simple circuit.

The converter/charger is located in the storage compartment behind a wood panel. To access the converter/charger:

1. Open trap door on the floor in the hallway, its next to the bathroom; remove the two sliding wire baskets just below the trap door.

2. It will be necessary for you to craw into your storage compartment. You can either enter the storage area by dropping down through the trap door or you can enter through the exterior storage door. It is much easier to drop down through the trap door.

3. The converter/charger and the 12 volt breakers are behind a wood panel. The panel comes out easy enough, you have to remove the angle trim on both sides of the panel by removing the Philips screws, the panel will then slide out.

After removing my access panel, I found that the converter/charger that was installed there was the original Todd Engineering PC45, a 45 amp unit. I did bench test this converter, and it was putting out more than 12v. This converter has been in this trailer for the last twenty years, so I figured it’s a good time to upgrade it to a new converter. I purchased a Powermax PM4-45A (12v, 4 phase, 45 amp) converter, and installed it.

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The converter/charger plugs into a wall plug in the storage compartment. Its a good ideal to check that wall plug for available voltage before proceeding to diagnose any converter/charging system issues.

Shore power enters the trailer, it goes to the 120v wall plugs. The converter/charger power cord plugs in a wall outlet; and the converter converts 120v to 12v. From the converter, 12v travels through an 8 gauge black wire that leads to the 12v circuit breakers, located a few inches to the left of the converter. Power flows through the circuit breaker, and connects to another 8 gauge black wire that leads directly to the main house batteries.

The 12v Breakers, are a few inches to the left of the converter and covered by a white shroud. I removed the protective shroud that covers the breakers. The wiring schematic only shows 3 breakers, but I in fact have 4 breakers at this location.

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On my 5th Wheel Trailer, the very top breaker, the nut on the thread, was never tightened. The second Breaker from the top, the nut and stud are discolored, indicating a bad breaker. The second breaker is where the charging wire from the converter is mounted. I removed the second breaker (40 amp) and replaced it.

After replacing the 40 amp breaker, I went to the outside to turned shore power off, I then went to the main house batteries, disconnected the black & white 8 gauge wires (charging wires), and had my assistant hold these wires so that they wouldn’t make contact with each other, or anything else. I then turned shore power on, I used a multimeter and tested the voltage across the black and white wires, I found that the charger is sending over 12 volts to the battery. This charging system issue seems to be solved.

I turned off shore power and reinstalled the charger wires onto the battery. Then I turned shore power back on, went inside the trailer, and found that everything was once again functioning normally.

CIRCUIT PROTECTION

A short note on the locations of electrical circuit breakers and fuses:

The 12 volt breakers – usually located within 18 inches of the main house batteries, in my case I had four 12v circuit breakers they were in the converter/charger compartment. They may be located in the Battery Compartment on other or newer models.
The 120 volt circuit breakers – Traditional house type circuit breakers located on the right side of the trailer, in the living room, in wall panel near the refrigerator.
The 12 volt fuse panel – Traditional 12v automotive fuses, located in the same electrical panel containing the 120 volt circuit breakers; in the living room, in wall panel near refrigerator, on my trailer.
The 120 volt GFI wall outlets – on my trailer there are two, one in the kitchen next to the refrigerator and one GFI in the bedroom on top of the desk next to the entertainment cabinet. The GFI wall plugs are a safety circuit breaker designed to prevent shock or electrocution. If power is not available to one or more wall plugs, look at your GFI’s to see if the reset button has been tripped.
Inline 12 volt fuses – There is one inline 12 volt fuse for the refrigerator next to the 12 volt breakers in the converter/charger compartment. At this time I don’t know the locations of any other inline 12 volt fuses.

INVERTER

When Boondocking, your trailer is totally reliant on the onboard batteries to power every device and appliance on your trailer with the exception of the air conditioner. The Inverters job is to do just the opposite job of a Converter, it is tasked with converting 12v from your onboard batteries to 120v to power the wall plugs and any 120v power requirements your trailer has. When boondocking, the RV camper uses power very conservatively. Power failure will commence after the onboard batteries drop below 10v.

Terms used when your trailer is parked in a location where there is no outside hookups such as power, water or sewer:

1) Boondocking (most commonly used term)
2) Dry Camping
3) Dispersed Camping
4) Self Contained Camping
5) Free Camping
6) Wild Camping
7) Off-the-Grid Camping

The Inverter system schematic located on each of the battery doors, has nothing to do with the charging system. These are two separate electrical systems. Separating the two systems will help you avoid confusion regarding the system you are working on, and the issues you are having. Again the Inverter system is only used when boondocking, and it does not charge the batteries. The Charging system is only used when plugged into shore power.

1997 Alpenlite AFS 33′ RKS
September 1, 2017

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