Alde screen does not come on. Help!

maddmike

So, my brother-in-law was helping me shoehorn a larger agm battery into my '17 T@B. I was not paying close attention to what he was doing. Long story short, the cables were reversed and I didn't notice. Turned everything on and noticed that it would not come on on battery. Blew the 30amp fuse on the battery and blew the 30amp fuse in the fuse panel but not the 40amp reverse polarity fuse.

Fixed the issue but, I noticed the water was not getting hot last weekend camping trip. Went to go adjust the settings on the Alde screen. It is not on and I can't get it to come on.

I checked all of the fuses that I know of (fuse panel and the two little ones on top of the Alde) and they are all good. Even swapped out the 40amp for good measure. No dice. Any other fuses that I should look at? Could I have burned out the control panel?

Verna

Try a couple of more simple things first. 

Turn the Alde control panel off with the left button, which is not really needed since it won’t turn on anyway. Unplug the Alde from the electrical outlet under the seat. Remove the two glass fuses on the top of the Alde.  Turn off the battery switch.  Go have a glass of lemonade.......

After at least 5 minutes, longer if you want two glasses of lemonade, put two new glass fuses in their place on top of the Alde, turn on the battery switch,  plug it into electricity, turn on the control panel and see if it works. 

If this doesn’t work, call Alde USA, and I don’t have the number handy, but I think it is on the top of the Alde. 

maddmike

Verna said:

Try a couple of more simple things first. 

Turn the Alde control panel off with the left button, which is not really needed since it won’t turn on anyway. Unplug the Alde from the electrical outlet under the seat. Remove the two glass fuses on the top of the Alde.  Turn off the battery switch.  Go have a glass of lemonade.......

After at least 5 minutes, longer if you want two glasses of lemonade, turn on the battery switch, put two new glass fuses in their place on top of the Alde, plug it into electricity, turn on the control panel and see if it works. 

If this doesn’t work, call Alde USA, and I don’t have the number handy, but I think it is on the top of the Alde. 

Thanks! That was the type of advice I was looking for. I will try that tonight when I get home from work. Do you know what the glass fuses are? That way I can pick up some spares on my way home.

maddmike

Oh, and based on your turn off the battery switch, this is the main switch you are referring to? If so, I'm assuming I should also unplug from AC.

Verna

Yes, the main big battery switch. I forget if you have a 320 (switch is in the front tub) or the 400 (switch is inside the cargo door on the passenger side.  I’m going to edit my post and have you change the glass fuses BEFORE you add any power.

The fuses are 3.15Amp slow or fast blow ( it comes with slow blow....at least mine did).  They are not always readily available. If you live near Indiana, I have extras. Elsie in Parts at nüCamp has them or they are available on Amazon. 

If you are familiar with a multimeter, you can check your glass fuses for continuity to see if the existing ones are good....but there’s a good chance they are blown with the reversed power.

Be sure to print out the post Fuses for Newbies, located in the User Manual/PDF......Category. Keep a copy of it so you can shop and get the necessary fuses.

Also, try to always turn the Alde screen off when connecting or disconnecting power. That seems to have stopped a lot of start- up fuse blowing.    

Verna

Yes, unplug from AC power, please. You want no power at all to the Alde for your waiting time. This is like a reboot on a computer. Give it plenty of time to forget it didn’t like the power reversal. 

maddmike

Verna said:

Yes, the main big battery switch. I forget if you have a 320 (switch is in the front tub) or the 400 (switch is inside the cargo door on the passenger side.  I’m going to edit my post and have you change the glass fuses BEFORE you add any power.

The fuses are 3.15Amp slow or fast blow ( it comes with slow blow....at least mine did).  They are not always readily available. If you live near Indiana, I have extras. Elsie in Parts at nüCamp has them or they are available on Amazon. 

If you are familiar with a multimeter, you can check your glass fuses for continuity to see if the existing ones are good....but there’s a good chance they are blown with the reversed power.

Be sure to print out the post Fuses for Newbies, located in the User Manual/PDF......Category. Keep a copy of it so you can shop and get the necessary fuses.

Also, try to always turn the Alde screen off when connecting or disconnecting power. That seems to have stopped a lot of start- up fuse blowing.    

Thanks. Yes, I am a former Air Force Avionics technician and am familiar with continuity tests. I did not ohm out the glass fuses though, just did a visual inspection. I will do that tonight and unplug everything when I get home and check on it in a couple hours.

DurangoTaB

Here’s the Alde (US) contact info:  https://www.alde.us/contact-us/ .  Best to call vs. email.  Spencer (the maintenance/service lead tech) is a great guy, but awfully overloaded...

maddmike

So, I disconnected it and went and washed dishes. I went to go ohm out the glass fuses but my multi meter was dead. I swapped out the fuses with spares but I don't think they were the issue.

Sure enough, powered right up. thanks for the suggestion!

Verna

@maddmike, that is absolutely great!  Print out these directions and remember the Alde is run by a circuit board, which means it has it’s own computer type based brain. You can fix it with your technical skills!

The fun time comes if your circuit board goes out and you need to change it out, but ya don’t feel confident of your detaching and reattaching propane gas lines.  It took me 3 hours, but the new circuit board worked. 

newell

If you used the two spare small glass fuses supplied with the Alde unit, hurry up and order some more from nucamp.  These are not available at most hardware and camping stores as they are a real oddball.  They are a 3.15A/ 250V fuse.  Not a 3.15A / 125V fuse so be careful.

Verna

Elsie in Parts at nüCamp has them or they are available on Amazon. Please do keep spares on hand. They seem to blow when you expect them to be OK. 

 Experience had taught us that if you turn your control panel ( touch screen) off before attaching or removing power, the fuses are less likely to blow. 

What to order from Amazon:  
(Or if you see me, I was “gifted” a box of these fuses and I can spare a few for you—thanks, @Carolyn!)

maddmike

Thanks!

I ordered some extra on Amazon.