2000 Concourse problem tripping of the in-cab house power switch

[HappyCamper]

I have a 2000 Concourse which has been tripping of the in-cab (on ceiling of cab) house power on/off switch when I turn on the propane furnace. This has happened twice when the house battery bank is still showing one green light on the solar battery status panel. As I do not understand where the wiring diagram reflected 15 Amp and 30 Amp 12v house battery bank circuit breakers are positioned/located, I don't know how to test them. Any help with this problem will be appreciated.

[caconcourse]

The power is probably disconnecting due to the low-voltage disconnect (LVD), which trips when the battery voltage dips below 11.8V. Your batteries are probably weak and adding the furnace draw is lowering the voltage below the LVD setpoint. It is common for batteries to show higher voltage when not under load, especially if solar is trying to charge.

The two breakers are attached to the outside wall of the battery compartment near the driver door step, under a white plastic cover. These can fail over time due to rust or corrosion, or lead to voltage drop due to added resistance. There should be some posts in this forum describing the replacement process and part numbers. One is 50amp on mine and the other is 15amp.

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[HappyCamper]

Clay, Thanks for the info on the CBs. I agree that it is probably the LTV because, when it happened, the battery bank was weak due to overnight (I use a CPAP machine at night) use and the Solar panels were just starting to charge them. I am planning to add a third AGM battery to my house bank to help with this problem.

[chin_k]

I assume you use your CPAP from DC directly, correct? If you need to invert it to 120V AC and down convert it to your machine voltage, it will use a lot more electricity. The two batteries should be plenty for most CPAP machine overnight, I think.

[HappyCamper]

chin_k and Clay, Thanks for your help. I have slept overnight around thirty nights and this only has happened once. Yes, I run my CPAP directly off 12v, but I have the Frig running on LPG at night also and use a little 12v with lights in the evening. Thus, I decided to add a third 125 AGM "like" battery to my parallel bank to sustain 12v power over a longer period. Haven't tested it overnight yet, but feel that it may work as my meandering routine is to drive to my next scenic area each day, thus, charging the battery bank en route and via 150W in solar panels. Jim

[chin_k]

The 150W panels will definitely help you a lot. The old 50W panel is 20+ yrs old, and barely generate more than 20W nowadays on a perfect day. One more thing that I want to mention is that LED lights will save you a few watts. The florescence lamps and the tiny bulbs in the closet drains a bit of current.

You also should be able to charge via the alternator en route, but IMHO, it is a bit of a waste to use gas to charge up the batteries.

[Blue~Go]

Related to the CPAP, I don't use one but I have friends that do (on boats and in RV's). They do a couple of things to reduce the power usage when not "on the grid":

1) Turn off the heating element. (Making heat with electricity is always a huge power draw.)
2) Turn off the humidifier (but they do fill the reservoir with water which apparently still adds some humidity).

Not a doctor, obviously, so YMMV.