Where Are Pace Arrow Air Conditioner Breakers Located?

Motor Home Circuit Breakers

• Motor home electrical systems are divided into two distinct systems; the chassis system controls and operates the vehicular functions, as in a car or truck, while an entirely separate coach system comprises the “house” circuits and appliances. In the majority of motor homes, the circuit breakers -- or, more commonly, the fuses -- that protect the chassis systems are under the hood or under the dash inside. The circuit breakers or fuses that protect the coach systems are typically found inside the exterior storage cabinet, where the shore power connection cable is housed when unused. Far less commonly, they are inside one of the kitchen cabinets.

Pace Arrow Breaker Panels

• Pace Arrow has, as of March 2012, been a manufacturing marquee for more than 45 years. Gas and diesel engines have powered the range, which spans the gulf from sub-20-foot vintage machines to the massive 39-foot A-Class units of the 2000s. As noted, this range makes it impossible to identify model-specific locations, but the brand’s practice has always been to locate the breaker panels in an outside storage compartment. Physically follow the shore connection cord into the motor home; within a foot or two it will terminate in the circuit breaker panel.

Air Conditioner Breakers

• Air conditioners are usually the appliances that draw most 110-volt power in a motor home, so they are typically protected by dedicated circuit breakers; they do not share their wiring circuit with any other equipment. Modern units fitted with a tumble-dryer typically have a separate circuit breaker to protect that circuit, also. It is common for all other lights, outlets and hard-wired appliances to share a small number of circuit breakers. The circuit breaker that protects the air conditioners, then, is very likely to be labeled as such. If no breaker is thus labeled, plug the motor home into an appropriate outlet, switch on the air conditioner units, and manually flick off the larger-voltage breakers one at a time; when the air conditioners cease to function, you have isolated the breaker that protects that circuit.

Either-Or Switches

• In Pace Arrow motor homes that have two roof air conditioners and a 30-amp shore power connection, only one unit can be operated at a time. In motor homes with a 50-amp shore power connection, both units can run simultaneously. Twin-unit, 30-amp models have a switching array that allows the motor home operator to choose which of the two units he wants to function; the usual configuration is to use the forward unit -- above the shared accommodation -- during the day, and the unit to the rear while sleeping. The switches, known in industry-speak as “either-or” switches, are typically on or adjacent to the master control panel, itself invariably wall-mounted in the galleys of Pace Arrow vehicles.