Circuit Breaker Question

[CamperCamper]

Does anyone know if the circuit breakers on the FWC function in the same way as the circuit breakers in your home? In other words if you turn off the circuit breaker would you expect the appliance to stop working? I am plugged in to shore power and have pushed in the kill switch. If I flip the circuit breaker to the reefer to off, the fridge stays on.

If I understand this correctly, the kill switch stops the 12V system from supplying power to the fridge and forces it to run on the 120v shore power. Why would the fridge still have power if the circuit breaker is flipped off? I thought that perhaps the circuits were mislabeled so I flipped off the gfci breaker and the fridge still kept running. When I also flipped the breaker for the converter, the fridge finally shut off.

The camper is a 2017 Hawk with an Isotherm fridge.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

My 2¢... When you’re on shore power, you’ll always have 12VDC on one of the busses. By tripping the circuit breaker, you’re eliminating the AC power source, but not DC. I suspect there is a fuse for the DC side.

 

[CamperCamper]

My 2¢... When you’re on shore power, you’ll always have 12VDC on one of the busses. By tripping the circuit breaker, you’re eliminating the AC power source, but not DC. I suspect there is a fuse for the DC side.

Thanks for the quick reply! Me and electricity are strangers. I could build a house as long as there was an electrician to hire. My questions may reflect my lack of understanding inside this grey box. Here’s what I think I know/understand: The silver kill switch took care of bypassing the 12V DC fuse panel. If the kill switch is pushed in, no electricity flows to the fuse panel and nothing inside the camper receives power to operate. In this state, solar power will still flow to the batteries and the Zamp solar charge controller will regulate the flow so as to not “overcharge” the batteries. By plugging in to shore power, the Iota converts the AC current to DC and then through the circuit breakers, distributes power to the camper.

Here’s the area where the confusion starts to come in to play. With the kill switch in and plugged into shore power, the reefer comes back on as you would expect it to. But, flipping the circuit breaker off to the reefer does not stop the power to the reefer. There are 4 breakers on the AC panel. The only way to stop power flowing to the reefer is to flip the breakers for both the reefer and the “converter” .

Does plugging in to shore power “bypass” the kill switch and energize the dc fuse panel directly? How do you stay plugged in to shore power for battery maintenance and leave the reefer door open (ventilation, mold avoidance) without the light staying on? I guess you could pull the dc fuse to the reefer or use the thermostat dial to turn off the fridge and pull the light bulb?

This is very confusing to me. If this is wired properly and I am understanding it on some level then it seems to me that energizing the dc fuse panel while on shore power is like wearing two pairs of underwear! Maybe the circuit breakers aren’t really circuit breakers? Maybe you want a power back up? I guess if you have food in the reefer while plugged into shore power being able to rely on dc as a backup is a good thing if you get a loss of power from the ac side?

I would much rather think about how to get a fish on my line or where is the next trail I want to hike. First, I need to get a handle on this.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Thanks for the quick reply! Me and electricity are strangers. I could build a house as long as there was an electrician to hire. My questions may reflect my lack of understanding inside this grey box. Here’s what I think I know/understand: The silver kill switch took care of bypassing the 12V DC fuse panel. If the kill switch is pushed in, no electricity flows to the fuse panel and nothing inside the camper receives power to operate. In this state, solar power will still flow to the batteries and the Zamp solar charge controller will regulate the flow so as to not “overcharge” the batteries. By plugging in to shore power, the Iota converts the AC current to DC and then through the circuit breakers, distributes power to the camper.

Here’s the area where the confusion starts to come in to play. With the kill switch in and plugged into shore power, the reefer comes back on as you would expect it to. But, flipping the circuit breaker off to the reefer does not stop the power to the reefer. There are 4 breakers on the AC panel. The only way to stop power flowing to the reefer is to flip the breakers for both the reefer and the “converter” .

Does plugging in to shore power “bypass” the kill switch and energize the dc fuse panel directly? <<< Yes >>>How do you stay plugged in to shore power for battery maintenance and leave the reefer door open (ventilation, mold avoidance) without the light staying on? <<< Turn the refrigerator off. The knob has a detent before the off position that can be hard to turn past. >>>I guess you could pull the dc fuse to the reefer or use the thermostat dial to turn off the fridge and pull the light bulb? <<<Turning it off is your best bet, but pulling the fuse will work, too/ >>>

This is very confusing to me. If this is wired properly and I am understanding it on some level then it seems to me that energizing the dc fuse panel while on shore power is like wearing two pairs of underwear! Maybe the circuit breakers aren’t really circuit breakers? Maybe you want a power back up? I guess if you have food in the reefer while plugged into shore power being able to rely on dc as a backup is a good thing if you get a loss of power from the ac side?

I would much rather think about how to get a fish on my line or where is the next trail I want to hike. First, I need to get a handle on this.