Reliable source for Alde fuses

Ratkity said:

I vaguely remember one person had ONE fuse a fast blow and ONE a slow blow fuse in their Alde. The fast blow kept going out, so the owner replaced it with a slow blow. No more problems after that. 

My theory was that people may be accidentally leaving on the manual Alde thermostat. Then they plug the camper into the campground power pole, causing a brief surge. I found several holes in that theory, however. Some folks had surge protectors (good ones). Others weren't even on 110V power and the thermostat was off. 

Sorry, no answers here. I'm as flummoxed as you all!

I have experienced several scenarios where the Alde fuse has blown as follows:

• The Alde fuse (e.g., the small cartridge fuse on top of the Alde unit) blew when the Alde unit was left on via the thermostat and when I plugged the trailer into shore power, resulting in (what the Alde viewed IMHO as) a power surge/voltage imbalance to the unit.  
• The Alde fuse also blew when my trailer was plugged into the 30 amp power supply port on the side of my garage and after a passing storm interrupted power to my home briefly (the substation operated momentarily, but power did remain on), the lights blinked on and off and my home did remain in power.

I do make it a point to and as a part of my trailer ritual if you will, to ensure that the Alde unit is powered up properly and turned off properly every time I use the trailer as follows:  

• I hook the 30 amp trailer power cord to the trailer first, to shore power last (and with the campground circuit breakers in the "off" position) and then "flip the circuit breakers on" to provide power to the trailer.  I do have an "in-line" Progressive Industries surge protector too that analyzes the circuit and shore power connection and voltage.
• After shore power has been properly hooked up and power is safely flowing into the trailer we then turn on the Alde unit.
• When we are completed with our camping activities for the weekend we then shut the Alde thermostat off and unhook from shore power in reverse, as noted above.  

I have not experienced any issues with my trailer's Alde system after using the above criteria and understand that everyone has their own Alde Voodoo or steps therein that they stick to.    As they always say, "to each his own" and I believe that should people find ways that allow things to work best for you personally, you should stick to your own game plan/procedures as we are all creatures of habit.  Thus far my lucky string has continued and am only passing along a few tips that have worked well for Linda and I.  

I'm guessing that any surge that happens on the 12V side isn't going to be caused by our shore-power, protected or not by 120V surge protectors. I think the 12V system and the 120V system are relatively independent, or should be. 

It seems that it's a surge that happens specifically on the 12V system, and would therefore be caused by the converter, possibly being caused by the converter's electronics suddenly powering up.

So I'm thinking that our Progressive 120V surge protectors aren't really going to affect this downstream 12V problem, unless there's a bad filter in the converter's rectifier or other leak of some kind between the 120V side of the converter and the 12V side.

Also, I wonder if the 12V side of the Alde's circuitry is powered up no matter what position the control switches are in. I might have to check that. (Edit: in fact, the Alde looks to be drawing @ 50mA when all switches on the control panel are 'Off') Note, we have the analog control panel on our Tab, but I'd think the digital one would operate the Alde in the same way.

In any case, @Michigan_Mike's routine makes lots of sense, to maybe keep the Alde somewhat electrically isolated as we apply power to the Tab, at least isolated on the 120V side. 

@Photomom, your 'test the pedestal' voodoo point is well taken. I've had more than one pedestal wired wrong, and heard (read) many others speak of it.

I have to say though, that with all the various voodoo steps I've taken, Mike's included, I've still had one of the Alde fuses blow mysteriously. 

That's why I'd like to hear from Alde directly, about slo-blow fuses.

@Michigan_Mike, your "voodoo" is the one I've always used on all of my rigs, and I've never had a problem.  However, to @ChanW's point, if fuses are blowing while off of shore power, that is a 12 volt issue, and a bad converter (surging et al) could certainly cause something like that.  I believe T@Bs (at least the newer ones) use WFCO converters, but I'm not certain.  I have not had any problems, yet, but if I did, that is certainly one area I would be scrutinizing.  Of course, I am assuming the Alde is NOT the problem, and that could be a bad assumption.

I never had a problem with the Alde fuses in my 2015 and I converted the analog thermostat to digital too. I have a ritual much like everyone else.

Check the breakers are off on the campground pedestal
Connect the cord to the trailer side first
Progressive surge protector connected to cord, the connect to pedestal.
All Alde, pump, frig, AC, fans, anything plugged in are off from last camping trip (I'm a weekender.. I just put frozen jug of ice in frig and use it for drinking and brushing teef - food is ok, frig has been cooled down the night before).
Flip breaker on campground pedestal, check lights on surge protector.
Turn on lights inside (I usually get there in the dark.. bleh).
Turn on propane and light stove, extinguish stove.
Turn on Alde.

I never pulled the fuses to look at them. I was afraid gremlins would get in, or more than likely, I'd drop the fuses behind the converter or in it! I would test the outlets, but my Progressive protector does that (reverse polarity, proper voltage). 

BTW, I've never known anyone (not speaking about Dutchman T@Bs) that didn't have a WFCO converter in their T@B.

@gbell When you don't plug into 110V and are only on battery, do you blow fuses? Your Alde 110V plug doesn't have to be in the socket if you don't want. No AC power will be going to it. 

I was under the impression that this was happening on both battery power and 110V. Is it? If not, then I'd drop by an RV repair place to check out ALL your wiring connections to your converter for 110V. Something is loose or needs replacement.

Thanks Mike, appreciated! 

Photomom said:

@Verna and @Michigan_Mike would you be able to ask someone from the factory to check with Alde about the slow-blow vs. fast-blow issue? I would think since nuCamp buys Aldes in mass quantities they are in a better position to get an authoritative answer than us minions.

From Elsie at the factory:

Good Morning Mike

It is the fast blowing fuse, F3.15AL Fast-Blow Fuse 3.15A 250V Glass Fuses 

There are 2 fuses in the system, no extra. They are available through nücamp or Amazon.

 

 

When on a trip earlier this week to see the eclipse, I again blew one of the fast blow fuses. I replaced it with a slow blow that I had received from Elsie. No luck -  the display did not come on. I then replaced the remaining fast blow with another slow blow and the display still didn't work. Everything was correctly plugged in along with a surge protector. I also plugged in to 15amp service when I returned home. I still can't get the display to work. Has anyone else had the same problem? What else do I need to check? Oh yes, I have ordered some fast blow just to check those again.

@dmerzbac, Just gonna throw this one out there since it sounds like you've checked just about EVERYTHING it could be. Have you checked the receptacle for the plug in, and the other end going in to the Alde unit itself?
I have to agree with @Photomom about re-checking the fuses again as well. Since I haven't seen any mention of your particular issue here, I'd be curious to know how you resolve it, and what you find. Thanks, and keep us posted.

Will check, Scott. Thanks!