Help with house power thunderstorm

[Elite Washington]

Looking for some advice where all to look after being caught in a bad thunderstorm.

So last weekend we were at a park and a thunderstorm came through knocked the power out for a a minute or two and then everything came back up.

We have a progressive industries surge protector so I thought we were okay. Come the next day getting ready to leave. Pull in the slides in plug the power the go to turn the generator on and it won’t start, the board says battery is dead. Start the coach try starting the gen up and it works just fine. So I figured one of the kids hit the store switch no big deal.

Get home plug in like normal make sure it’s set to charge. Today messing around same thing generator won’t start acting like the house battery is dead.

Pull the batter through it on a charger says all is good 100% . Check all fuses and breakers. Fan comes on with the converter just like normal. Store use switch works and all the electrical works in the coach.

Any ideas of what else to check would be appreciated. Oh yeah coach doesn’t have an inverter only the converter.

[16ACE27]

Did you check the 100 amp DC breaker near your house batteries?

[Judge]

Follow ACE's advice.

The Generator starting circuit is a direct connect to the house batteries. It does not go through the Use / Store disconnect circuit at all so the Use / Store switch for starting power. If the switch is in the Store position and you have a digital control panel like a FireFly System you can't get to the start button.

There is a 100A Bussman Breaker (likely in or near the battery compartment) that is between the house batteries and the starter on the generator so that could be the culprit.

[Elite Washington]

Okay thank you, I will have to to trace the lines I do not see that in the battery box.

[sparky322]

my circuit breaker hidden on rear panel in battery box under steps ii had to move battery forward some to reset mine same thing happen to me.THANKS

[Elite Washington]

Took the battery out and can’t find any hidden panels. This is on a Freedom Elite 30fe/four winds 30D.

[ducksface]

While my 24.1 is nit your model:
My breaker is hidden UNDER another breaker, as in:
One sits directly top of the one that blew. I could barely see the flag.

Breakers are somewhere....
Therr is no panel hatch.
It's just the wall of the battery enclosure.

[sparky322]

relay is smaller than cig package it;s black mine bolted to rear wall of the metal battery box.i have a freedom elite,no telling where yours is look around generator maybe..has 2 BIG wires on it.

[Judge]

It will look like this.....

The easiest way to find it is go to the generator and look for the red battery cable that runs to it and the starter. Then start following that cable back to the house batteries. It will be at the end of that cable near the house battery compartment. As mentioned... it could be on the outside of the battery box, the inside of the battery box, the frame rail, etc.

[Elite Washington]

This is the only thing I can find under the steps, but this doesn’t look like a breaker.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by sparky322

relay is smaller than cig package it;s black mine bolted to rear wall of the metal battery box.i have a freedom elite,no telling where yours is look around generator maybe..has 2 BIG wires on it.

It won't be near the generator. Breakers and fuses are always near the source of power - in this case, the house batteries. Thor is very inventive in hiding these breakers on a Class C MH.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

This is the only thing I can find under the steps, but this doesn’t look like a breaker.

That is just a Busbar..... keep looking.

[JimOIB]

Could look like this too. And the generator has a fuse and circuit breaker on it by the on/off switch - physically on the genset when you open the genset door and cover.

[Elite Washington]

100% convinced this part doesn’t exist

[Judge]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

100% convinced this part doesn’t exist

I would not put it past Thor that they screwed something up.... or a previous owner changed something..... but......

Depending on the size of your generator, it is supposed to have a circuit breaker in the positive cable portion of the circuit to protect from pulling too much current when starting.

[Elite Washington]

Originally Posted by Judge

I would not put it past Thor that they screwed something up.... or a previous owner changed something..... but......

Depending on the size of your generator, it is supposed to have a circuit breaker in the positive cable portion of the circuit to protect from pulling too much current when starting.

I have crawled under every spot of this thing . The gen is a QG4000, the breaker that’s on the generator itself is in the on position.

[JimOIB]

Then it is the battery - have it checked. When my battery started going bad I could get power to the lights in the coach. When I went to start the genset it started to turn over and hit TDC and stopped - not enough juice. I got it off of TDC by hand and tried again…same thing. Then I replaced the battery and the world was fine again.

[Elite Washington]

Let me ask this, so the gen just does the clicking sound just like where your car battery dies. If the breaker assuming I can find it out is tripped it would act just like a normal breaker works and wouldn’t allow any power even to make it click correct?

[JimOIB]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

100% convinced this part doesn’t exist

My wiring diagrams don’t show any breaker between the battery and genset on my Class C. I don’t think we have one like the A guys.

[JimOIB]

Originally Posted by Elite Washington

Let me ask this, so the gen just does the clicking sound just like where your car battery dies. If the breaker assuming I can find it out is tripped it would act just like a normal breaker works and wouldn’t allow any power even to make it click correct?

Correct. The house battery is bad or seriously undercharged. Based on my experience I would have it checked and replace as needed.