New Hawk Owner need assistance :(

[XJINTX]

First... great site and glad I found it. Little background... recieved my 2015 Hawk in November. Bought here in TX at the Grand Opening of the new vendor store He has since closed and moved back to CA So I may have a lot of questions for those of you with experience.

My wife and I just returned from our first trip where we had to be self sufficient and not in State or National Park Love the Hawk and had a blast even when cold outside.

1. Last time we were in a park before this trip we had shore power. The Hawk's GFI kept tripping... I chocked it up to maybe bad service? This trip our last night out (yesterday) we had shore power again. The GFI still kicks off and needs to be reset multiple times just to peculate some hot water for wife's tea. NOTE: my Hawk came with a 30 Amp plug adapter and we use a regular extension cord to the shore power box. Maybe that is the issue? I will buy a full 30 amp cable this week. Anything I can check... maybe just bad GFI?

2. We discovered that "APPARENTLY" there is not an inverter in the Hawk? On the breakers one is labeled inverter? This is not my first trailer and I "ASSUMED" it had inverter since it has dual battery, Solar and isolator and such not sure if I even asked. I will call FWC tomorrow to clarify. My question is if not built in what invertor does everyone use or recommend?

Blue Skies & Dusty Roads,
Roger
Eddy, Texas

 

[Durango1]

2. We discovered that "APPARENTLY" there is not an inverter in the Hawk? On the breakers one is labeled inverter? This is not my first trailer and I "ASSUMED" it had inverter since it has dual battery, Solar and isolator and such not sure if I even asked. I will call FWC tomorrow to clarify. My question is if not built in what invertor does everyone use or recommend?

I don't believe FWC offers an inverter option, Roger. And (as you probably know) inverters (and 110 V appliances) are incredibly inefficient for our little campers. I thought I needed one but honestly find most of my needs can be met with 12V stuff. (We do have a built in inverter in the cab of the Ram when needed and a little 400 watt unit for the camper but I never hook it up.)

You will really enjoy your Hawk. We are on our second one in four years!

Steve

 

[Yukon]

A couple of ideas to try:

• A different cord from camper to house outlet. Could be a bad extension cord.
• Try another appliance (other than teapot). Teapot could have a defect.
• The GFI outlet itself could be wired incorrectly (but unlikely).

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Roger, don't waste your money, and your storage space, for a 30 amp power cord. Huge, heavy and not needed. The supplied cord works fine, but if it's wet outside can lead to problems. I taped plastic around the 15 ampere connection so it and the extension cord are kept dry during wet weather.

I suspect your GFI was popping due to the load/teapot, or the power that you were plugged into. Some RV parks have faulty wiring that can give you lots of trouble.

 

[longhorn1]

Get a 30amp surge protector. I don't trust the shore power at campsites and the surge protector does provide peace of mind. Also make sure the 30 amp power is off at the box. Connect to truck and plug into box and then flip the switch on.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Wander The West mobile app

 

[idahoron]

I have had faulty plug in's more times than I can shake a stick at. I have a long cord so I can reach to someone else's power when I am in a camp. I report them when I find them but most people don't.

 

[DrJ]

My 2013 Hawk and my 2015 Grandby both "pop" when I plug into 110 volt power at home.

It always seems like there is a load on whenever I plug in.

I have also had a hard time with GCI plug in's tripping as well.

I eventually just removed it from my garage and put in a normal plug. Works just fine.

Maybe I am doing something wrong when I plug in my camper too?

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Dr J, throw the circuit breaker on the converter when you plug in, turn it back on after you've made the connection. That should cure your 'pop'.

 

[snuffy]

when you say inverter do you mean 110v. to 12v.? if so yes your hawk does have that it will charge the campers battery and power 12v. stuff too. Just be sure that the cutoff switch is pulled out.

 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

An inverter is DC to AC. A converter is AC to DC. Our campers have converters, although there may be a few that are owner customized with inverters. We just carry a portable that plugs into a 12VDC socket, used for lightweight stuff like charging camera batteries and laptops.

 

[snuffy]

yes what WS said. i am only on my third cup of java...

 

[PaulT]

The "pop" you hear may also be the battery isolation relay switching as the camper battery voltage rises above the switching voltage. If that is the case, you should hear it pop when switching the converter back on when following the WS protocol.

When the Iota is switched on, it will can draw as much as 30 amps for one power line cycle. http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls30.htm

While that seems like a large amount, circuit breakers and fuses typically have no problem with such a short surge and electrical circuitry is designed for inrush surges higher than the rated amount. It takes a finite amount for the power from the AC lines to reach a steady state.

Inrush current from AC mains will be even higher if you have a space heater plugged in and turned on or the fridge turned on.

Paul

 

[DrJ]

Dr J, throw the circuit breaker on the converter when you plug in, turn it back on after you've made the connection. That should cure your 'pop'.

That makes sense to me.
Thanks for idea. I will have to try that next time and see if it makes a difference.

 

[Trailbob]

"Roger, don't waste your money, and your storage space, for a 30 amp power cord. Huge, heavy and not needed. The supplied cord works fine, but if it's wet outside can lead to problems. I taped plastic around the 15 ampere connection so it and the extension cord are kept dry during wet weather."

I do the same thing. I use a 25' 12 ga cord and seal the connection to the FWC 15 to 30 amp adapter with electric tape; I leave the extension cord and adapter connected together when it stored. The cord is long enough to reach the generator that I sometimes carry on the front of my truck, and also most campground power outlets.

 

[XJINTX]

Thanks for all the great replies. Just in case I will buy a NEW 15 amp 12 gage cord today so no doubts. I will tape and heat shrink the connection to 30 amp adapter.

Wife and I both work remotely on laptops so I need an inverter for extended trip off the grid. I will buy an inverter to plug into the cig adapter plug. I have already replaced one adapter with a USB plugin for our phones and tablets.

 

[Durango1]

Wife and I both work remotely on laptops so I need an inverter for extended trip off the grid. I will buy an inverter to plug into the cig adapter plug. I have already replaced one adapter with a USB plugin for our phones and tablets.

Most inverters will produce much higher wattage if connected directly to the 12V battery source than through the cigarette lighter. I'm going from memory here but believe our little 400 watt inverter will only crank out 120 watts through a cig adapter plug but 400 watts connected with clips or hard wired to the battery.

My biggest issue with our inverter (besides the battery draw) is the noisy fan that kicks on under current draw!

 

[Yukon]

Great topic. I also was using a DC to AC inverter for camera batteries and laptop PC. I still use it for camera batteries, BUT I also didn't like listening to the inverter fan. I recently went on line (Amazon) and bought a 12 volt power brick for my laptop. It is GREAT. No waste of energy converting the DC to AC, and no fans. You can buy these for most computers (less than $20). Since I use my laptop to watch movies at night, I needed to re-charge regularly.
Chris

 

[camelracer]

I'm not sure if this applies to all solar systems but my Morningstar Sunsaver solar controller doesn't recommend connecting an inverter to the load side. I'm not sure why but this is the warning in the manual:

CAUTION: Do not wire an AC inverter of any size to the load terminals of the SunSaver MPPT. Damage to the load control circuit may result. Wire inverters directly to the battery or battery bank.

 

[Happyjax]

I would NOT attach an inverter to the load side of any small solar controller. Inverters will draw big amps quickly and just blow up anything not able to supply. Remember if you need 1 amp to run a 120v appliance the inverter will need 10 amps to supply it from a 12v source.

 

[XJINTX]

Man glad I posted here before I wrecked something... keep the info coming and THANKS AGAIN!!!