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Alde Wall Monitor not working

kipwillkipwill Member Posts: 15
in Battery/Electrical & Solar
The Alde heater in our 2018 TAB has worked well most of the time, but for some reason the Alde wall control monitor will now not turn on unless we are connected to our tow vehicle via the 7-wire connector.

I'm told that's probably an issue with the WFCO converter, and some fuse(s) must be blown - likely a 40 amp flat .  But when I open the converter and check the fuses, none seem to have the dark look of a blown fuse.

I tried to paste photos of our equipment and the fuses I have inspected, so you would have a visual sense of what I'm dealing with, but I can't get them to copy into this message.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

-Will

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Comments

  • pthomas745pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,322
    Is there 12V power to the rest of the items in the trailer when the 7 pin is not connected to the vehicle? 
    The main reason the Alde control panel does not come on is when the one of the fuses on top of the Alde blows.  The control panel basically runs from 12V power, from a cable attached to the Alde control board.
    The "40 amp" fuse in the WFCO is a " reverse polarity battery protection" fuse.  There is another battery charging fuse in the WFCO that is a 30 amp fuse.  If either of these were blown, there would be no 12V power to the trailer at all.
    So, sort that out: with the trailer not on shore power, and not plugged in to the tow vehicle, are things like the lights and fan working? If not...is the battery disconnect switch on?  
    And: if you do connect the vehicle to the trailer's 7 pin, does the Alde operate normally that way?  That would seem to indicate the "charge line" from the tow vehicle to the trailer is powering the Tab's 12V items.
    This is a thread that explains the locations of the two fuses on top of the Alde.  Before you go digging in here, make sure the other 12V items in the trailer are working without being plugged in to the tow vehicle.

    PS: what is the status of the trailer's battery?  The Alde requires at least a voltage of 10.5 to operate, so that might also be the cause of the panel failing to light up.

    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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  • ScottGScottG Administrator Posts: 5,612
    12V power to the Alde passes through the power center via the same path regardless of whether it comes from the tow vehicle or the battery. If it works on one, it should work on the other. That points away from the power center--or the Alde fuses--as the potential problem. My first suspicion would be low battery voltage (as suggested by @pthomas745) or perhaps a disconnected battery. Those should be easy enough to diagnose or rule out.
    2015 T@B S

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  • kipwillkipwill Member Posts: 15
    Thanks very much for your suggestions, PThomas and ScottG.

    Yes, the LED lights and the fan work on 12V when not connected to shore power or the tow vehicle 7-wire, but the Alde control panel stays dark.  If I plug in the 7-wire, the Alde panel comes to life and I can turn on the heat.

    The TAB battery has been in the 13 - 14V range, with the charge maintained by solar panels on roof when not driving.

    The thread that explains the locations of the two fuses on top of the Alde you suggested, pthomas, led me to the fuses that had not been mentioned by the NuCamp tech or our local NuCamp dealer.  I pulled out those fuses (with cardboard beneath, to prevent losing them - thanks!) and it looks like one is burned out.  So I'm about to drive into town to buy fuses, and hope that finally fixed our heating problem!

    I'm very grateful for this T@B Forum :)

    -Will
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  • Tabaz Tabaz Member Posts: 2,411
    The most common cause I've seen of the Alde fuses blowing is not turning off the Alde unit before turning off power to the entire trailer when leaving a campsite.  When you power up the trailer at the next campsite with the Alde on, fuses may blow.  Perhaps others know of additional causes for blowing fuses.
     
    2016 Outback 320
    2024 Ford F150 Supercrew short bed.
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  • kipwillkipwill Member Posts: 15
    Success!  I got a new tubular 3 amp fuse, installed it in the cabinet above the Alde boiler, and the wall monitor now works even if we're not connected to the 7-point on the tow vehicle or to shore power.

    Thanks again for your sound advice!
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  • pthomas745pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,322
    Every day, it seems, the Alde throws another curve ball.
    There are long discussions in the group about the Alde fuses you found in your 2018.  The Alde 3010 trailers have the two fuses...the newer Alde 3020 and 3030 have only one.  And, the newer models have better grounding and I'm assuming a better motherboard.  The "single fuse" Aldes rarely blow, which is probably why the techs and dealers have forgotten all about what a big issue this was a few years ago.
    This is one of the conversations about the fuses, and whether "slow blow" or "fast blow" fuses should be used.  I switched to the Slow Blow versions in around 2019, and out of the box of ten, I still have nine left.  Haven't blown an Alde fuse since then.
    This is just one thread, and there are others.  (Search for Alde fuses or Alde ground).

    These are the slow blow fuses I keep as spares.



    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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  • ScottGScottG Administrator Posts: 5,612
    Am I missing something here? This is perplexing... If the glass fuses on top of the Alde are blown, the unit should not work at all, regardless of its 12V power source. 
    Unfortunately I suspect there is more to this electrical gremlin story.

    2015 T@B S

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  • Bill&SuzeBill&Suze Member Posts: 157
    It's possible that @pthomas745 has forgotten that a year ago I posted regarding checking the Alde fuses and found that our 3020 with Flow has two 3 amp glass tube fuses. One is contained in the green plastic contact box inserted into the main circuit board and the second is on the secondary circuit board that I seem to remember was added to Alde circuitry if the Flow is included, although not sure of that. But I am sure that there are two glass fuses. @kipwill didn't say where his fuse is located but it's likely the main one in the green holder, the one that's so easy to lose down the back gap.  :|
    Susan & Bill, Yarmouth, Maine
    2024 T@B 400 Boondock Black Canyon
    2024 Kia EV9
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  • pthomas745pthomas745 Administrator, Moderator Posts: 4,322
    And, here that thread is, which has a picture of the fuse Bill&Suze mentions.

    Someone over on the FB page a week or so ago had the same "dangling" power cable that prevented the Alde flow glycol pump from working, and consequently, no heat in the trailer.

    Thanks for pointing this out again.  I just looked more closely at the Alde 3020 manual, and there is a schematic of the circuit board that has an "optional" board for the 3020 that does show this fuse.  (I'm guessing the "optional" board mentioned is for the Alde Flow.)
    2017 Outback
    Towed by 2014 Touareg TDi
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