Community Forums

Beanue · 07-20-2015, 06:00 PM

My 12 volt lights inside the coach stopped working so I ran a wire from the battery to the converter fuse box and now I have all of my lights working but I need to correct this problem the right way and I am at a loose as to what the problem is. I would appreciate any help

Larry

Waiter21 · 07-20-2015, 08:11 PM

What kind of coach?

Do you have a "Store/Use" switch?

mhbell · 07-20-2015, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beanue

My 12 volt lights inside the coach stopped working so I ran a wire from the battery to the converter fuse box and now I have all of my lights working but I need to correct this problem the right way and I am at a loose as to what the problem is. I would appreciate any help
Larry

It would help if you told us the year make and model of the motor home.. Then someone can help you.

Beanue · 07-21-2015, 03:54 AM

1998 Georgieboy Pursuit on a Ford F 53 Chassis and yes I have use/storage switch and it works as designed

Waiter21 · 07-21-2015, 05:30 AM

OK - Next question, Did it ever work?

If you ran a wire from the battery to the converter, basically what you just did was bypass the "storage/Use" solenoid.

These have a habit of intermittent operation. Check the fuses on the solenoid. use a volt meter to measure the voltage on both sides (the big connector bolts) of the solenoid. If you don't have a voltmeter, you could take a piece of wire and jump across the solenoid to see if that restores 12 volts to your lights.

ShapeShifter · 07-21-2015, 11:42 AM

Waiter21 has a very good starting point.

I would also look for a master fuse, circuit breaker, or fusible link near the battery. Also it could be a switch problem if there is an additional cutoff switch by the battery.

Basically, at this point, everything between the battery and fuse panel is a suspect.

Beanue · 07-22-2015, 07:51 AM

The use/storage as far as I know has always worked just before the light quit working the went on and off a few times. I don't think it has another switch I believe something failed as it has worked fine for the past 18 years. I have a multimeter coming in tomorrow and I can start check voltage. I have checked the fuses going and coming from the Battery ISO and the solenoid, could it be the Solenoid?? Which is my next area to check, I have replaced the ISO

Gary RVRoamer · 07-22-2015, 01:35 PM

The solenoid is what the Use/Store switch controls and the most likely candidate, but you previously said that it "works as designed". Which is it?

Beanue · 07-23-2015, 06:18 AM

To answer your question Gary, a comment was has it ever worked and I responded it worked as designed for 18 years. Does it work now that is what I am attempting to find out here on the forums. I do know that I re-hooked everything up this past Sunday and the lights still didn't work and when I shut off the Use/Storage switch the Refrigerator was off so when I turned the switch back to use the Ref. came on so in my opinion the switch is working as designed. So far what I am hearing here the roads lead to the Solenoid, which I will check out this weekend as I don't time during the week to get into extensive checking, but right now the failure seems to be the solenoid. If anyone has a better idea please post it, Thankyou Larry

ShapeShifter · 07-23-2015, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beanue

when I shut off the Use/Storage switch the Refrigerator was off so when I turned the switch back to use the Ref. came on so in my opinion the switch is working as designed.

Pardon me for asking, but did it always work this way that hitting the store button stopped the refrigerator?

On many coaches, the battery switch(es) do not shut off the refrigerator, or a few other critical loads like LP/CO detectors. If your coach used to be like that, and now isn't, might point to a problem with the way things are connected.

Many coaches also have a main fuse, circuit breaker, or fusible link just after the disconnects, protecting the line to the fuse panel. If everything is good with the disconnects, that might be something to look for.

Beanue · 07-24-2015, 06:27 AM

I haven't shut it down very much over the years as I work out of it, but the few times I shut down for storage I turned the switch to storage and the refer as was everything else was shut off, so I guess my answer would be it has always turned everything off. Let me ask you this the 12 volt lead from the battery to the solenoid comes from which battery the house battery or the coach battery. I recently change both batteries and maybe somehow I got something switched, I am planning on Saturday to follow the wiring diagram in my coach manual and see if that could be the problem, but on the morning they went out they kept going on and off and then after about the third time they went off they stayed off, acting as if something was tripping and resetting it self and then is shut off completely.

Beanue · 07-30-2015, 07:26 AM

I found out the problem is was an inline circuit breaker, I received the new ones yesterday will put it in when I get back from home. Thanks for everyone's help