Trouble Shooting AC And Circuit Breaker Function

Question:

The 12V system does not work with our battery in our 2015 Sonic 200 VML travel trailer. The lights/heater etc.. work fine when plugged into the shore power or when connected to the 7 point tow vehicle wiring plug, but we get no power when running off the battery on its own. We have hooked it up to fully charged and tested batteries and still nothing. I am told the most likely culprit is the inline circuit breaker located somewhere near the tongue of the trailer.Does this sound right? So, my question has to do with the proper amperage for this breaker. I want to be sure it is automatic reset. My AC system is 30A. My second question is about the proper orientation of the terminals - which color terminal should be on the battery side, and which towards the converter. Thanks so much.

asked by: Judd M

Helpful Expert Reply:

The Pollak Circuit Breaker - Cycling/Automatic Reset - 40 Amp # PK54540 is a continuously cycling circuit that will reset itself. The Copper terminal goes to battery and the zinc terminal to accessory. To run a 30 Amp system, you will need a larger circuit breaker or it would trip the breaker each time it started up.

A bad circuit breaker may be the issue, but typically an AC unit cannot run off a 12V battery because it simple pulls too much power too quickly. A deep cycle battery may be able to handle some of that abuse, but AC units are made to be used with the 120 AC.

expert reply by: Jason S