Electrical Gremlins

[tps0424]

I am having a strange issue with my coach. It is plugged into shore power but other than the microwave, nothing is working. If I unplug it from shore power, the microwave goes off so, I am assuming that the power is getting to the coach. Any ideas on what to check?

[tps0424]

A little more info...

There is no power to any lights, fans, a/c. The only thing with power is microwave and it is fully functional.

The coach won't start... even with the emergency boost. The chassis battery appears to be dead. The viewfinder on top of the battery is not it's normal green, it is red.

Would a dead chassis battery cause this?

[RJay]

You appear to have a dead battery and probably the rest is low. You need to find out what caused the dead battery and determine if the inverter is charging them.

[tps0424]

Thanks RJay. The battery may be dead because it is stamped Dec. 04 so, it is over 6 years old. Would a dead chassis battery cause the lack of power to the house?

[YC1]

You are probably missing 110 volts to your converter which charges your batteries. Dead batteries and dead outlets are both symptoms of missing 110 volts to some circuits. Find your circuit breaker panel and cycle them off and on. Press them off soundly and briskly turn them on.

[tps0424]

OK. I found the electrical panel in the bedroom. I switched off all of the circuit breakers and then back on. I noticed that the TV and the vcr/dvd player also have power. I didn't notice that before but, that may not be a new development. Otherwise, still nothing. Is the panel in the bedroom the one you were talking about?

[RinkersRanch]

Check for a GFI outlet in the bathroom or near the kitchen sink. Make sure the coach is powered with 110, generator or plugged in, and 'test' then 'reset' any GFI outlets you find. I have one in the bathroom and it feeds the all outlets on the opposite side of the coach from the bathroom. That took me a bit of searching to find. Good luck in your gremlin chase.

[AFChap]

I believe it is possible that dead chassis and coach batteries could cause your symptoms ...because the microwave is just about the only item in the coach that runs on 120v ONLY ...the lights, thermostat, refrigerator controls, etc, etc, etc, ALL require 12v to work even if they do also use 120v power. If you also have 120v power at your outlets when plugged in, the dead/bad batteries would be my guess.

[YC1]

With either a voltmeter or a drop light or something that runs on 120 volts, go to each outlet to see if they are working. If so then you have a 12 volt issue and you need to go to your batteries and measure the voltage across them. A test light will not be sufficient here. If they are low then you need to find your converter/charger and check any DC fuses there.

[tps0424]

OK. I'm working on a new theory here. The coach is 50amp and I have plugged into a 30amp recepticle using a 50 to 30 reducer. The new theory is that one of the 'legs' in the dogbone is no good.
If I could find a dogbone this afternoon/ evening I would know for sure if this theory is right.
I'll let you know tomorrow as my search for a new dogbone continues.

[M&EM]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tps0424 OK. I'm working on a new theory here. The coach is 50amp and I have plugged into a 30amp recepticle using a 50 to 30 reducer. The new theory is that one of the 'legs' in the dogbone is no good. If I could find a dogbone this afternoon/ evening I would know for sure if this theory is right. I'll let you know tomorrow as my search for a new dogbone continues.

The dog bone leg theory is easy to check out. Simply start the gen and see if that changes the situation.

Marty

[tps0424]

Must be the dogbone! All three batteries are dead so, I had to jump it. I ran the jumper cables to the chassis battery and then pushed the emergency start button while starting the generator. The car didn't have enough umph to start the RV itself. The generator is running now and everything inside is working. I'll go out in a while and see if I can get the engine running so that I can move the RV to a more jumper cable friendly location.

Thank to everyone for their help!!!

[tps0424]

AFChap was right. I needed new batteries. Got 2 new U2200 Interstates for the house and a 12v interstate for the chassis. I hope this finally solves my problem.

[tps0424]

My problem was not solved!!!

After one weekend camping with the new batteries, plugged into shore power, I noticed the lights were getting dim. It turns out the converter had no output so, I replaced it!

Now, after replacing the batteries and the converter, the lights are still dim and the panel is showing only 11.6v for the house and 11.7 for the chassis batteries. They were at 11.7 and 11.8 respectively 12 hours earlier. What else could be wrong? This is getting expensive!