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Old 10-18-2019, 05:51 PM   #1
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No 12V coach lights working

I recently bought my first motorhome,at what I think is a good deal, knowing it needed some work. It is a 97 Firan Covington Lx 34' with 51k original miles. Has 2 slideouts,levelers,jacks(HWH hydraulic). It sat up for a few years and had a roof leak that previous owner repaired. It runs and drives great, and I paid $2300 for it. It came with owners manual for the RV itself and every appliance right down to the toilet. My problem is none of the 12V lights work from battery,shore power ,or generator. Some of the overhead lights showed corrosion and I removed them, no power at wires. All 120V works fine, 12v chassis works fine. I checked power at magnetek 6345 converter,although Im not sure what Im checking, but I have 13.2V at input lugs with engine running,and the same at all fuses.so I assume that the fuses are output? I have paperwork for an Intellitec micro battery control center, but I cant find anything on the motorhome home that looks like the image on the paperwork. The battery disconnect swith by entry door is at least partially working,because generator starter wont operate unless it is on, and the outside storage compartment lights(they do work) go off if i turn it off. The stove hood has one light on that says "pump", but hood light doesnt work,and no "monitor" swith does nothing. Refridgerator doesnt come on, and slideouts dont operate, although Im not sure if there is a certain procedure for them. Any help in pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. I can post photos(maybe if Im smart enough to figure out how) of battery cables and isolator wiring under hood,or anything else that may be of help. Thanks in advance, Roger
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Old 10-18-2019, 06:47 PM   #2
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I will give you a few tips.
Find all of your 12 volt fuse strips.
Most everyplace that you have fuses you should have some solenoid's.
Test each solenoid.
Take your 12 volt meter or test light and see if you have power to the solenoid.?
Jump the solenoid from one side to the other.
Large terminal and see what happens.

Check the small terminal on the solenoid and see if it shows voltage?
Follow the wires to and from, best you can.
Those solenoids go bad.
Easy to replace, NAPA has them.
Amazon has them listed.
Regardless
You should learn more about your coach by going through these steps.

You should have two battery switches, check them.
1. For the house batteries
1. For the chassis batteries
Do you have a battery house switch by the entrance door ?
Check to make certain that these 3 switches are good ? And on.
This is a start.
Good luck
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Old 10-18-2019, 08:14 PM   #3
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the only battery discoonect switch is inside the entry door and looks like a big red key. says battery disconnect. motor home has 1 starting/chassis battery, and 2 12v house batterys, all new. the only solonoid i have found is under the hood, positive cable from chassis battery on one side, coach battery on other side.1 small wire on 1 small terminal of it that appears to go thru firewall into drivers side dash area. each large terminal of solonoid also has smaller cable going to isolator. i greatly appreciate your responce and any help you can give.
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Old 10-19-2019, 12:36 AM   #4
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Do you have power going to your isolator ?
Do you have power coming from both sides of Isolator???
Trace your 12 volt with a meter until you DONT HAVE 12 VOLT POWER

Loose ground ???

Your voltage tester is your friend.
Follow the path from your house battery
All the way through.
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Old 10-19-2019, 06:56 AM   #5
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Chasing isolaters before diagnosing the 12V system seems premature. Since the batteries are new, with the engine and generator off and the shore unplugged, house batteries should power the house circuits for at least a little while. Voltage measured at the house batteries should match the voltage at the inverter/charger lugs and should be around 12.7V for charged batteries at rest. Remove and ohm out each fuse to be sure none are blown. While the fuse is out, measure the voltage on each side of the fuse holder. Only 1 side should have the same voltage as the battery. Voltage on the other side of the fuse holder could suggest altered wiring by the previous owner or little 4 legged visitors. Reinstall the fuse and assuming the circuit is labelled, check that the circuit is working. If not, chase the wiring between the inverter/charger and the first device in the circuit and look for damage. If the coach has been sitting, critters may have altered the wiring or a random switch will control the circuit. Once all circuits work from the house batteries, then verify that running the generator and/or shore power results in an increase in voltage at the batteries indicating that the charge side of the inverter is working.
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Old 10-19-2019, 07:03 AM   #6
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Agree with the last post.

If you have other 12 volt items working, you have power to the fuse panel.

You may also want to look behind the fuse panel. Sometimes the push on spade connectors slide off or get loose.
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Old 10-19-2019, 07:08 AM   #7
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Converter has two "Reverse Polarity" fuses. 30/40 amps. There is an inline resetable fuse with in 6' of the battery. check all FUSES on or near the converter.
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Old 10-19-2019, 02:19 PM   #8
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the only 12v components that i know are working is chassis for sure. but all outside storage component lights work, and generator starter,but im not sure if they are on chassis or coach battery. i do know that the battery disconnect switch by steps just inside door will turn kill power to both. i have ohmed and visually checked all fuses in converter, and checked voltage on both sides of fuse itself while they were still in,and both sides has same voltage...12.7 with eng off, 13.2 with eng running. i did not check fuse holder/receptacle itself. there is a monitor switch on the hood above stove that the only thing lit up is the word "pump", and hood light fan and monitor switch do nothing when switched. by the inside entrance steps there are 2 rocker switches, one black which i assume turns outside light on if it worked,and one red which lookjs like it should light if it had power,and i have no idea what it is for, and i must be pretty dumb because i dont remember checking for power there i will do that and let you know. again, i thank all of you for trying to help me through this! Roger
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Old 10-20-2019, 08:20 AM   #9
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Had another thought. With such a widespread outage, take a minute to understand the grounds as well. If your testing to the ground lug on the inverter, it may not be representative of the ground bar that every thing else is connected to. Other than that, it might be time to start chasing the wires out of the converter testing for voltage as you go.
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Old 10-26-2019, 01:29 AM   #10
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Hey I just wanted to thank all of you for responding and trying to help me solve my " no 12V coach power " problem. I never could find the Intellitec micro BCC center that I have paperwork for, but I kept looking! Finally pulled the converter completely out thinking maybe they hid it behind there! It wasnt there, but about a dozen or more wires chewed in half by either rats or squirrells were there, along with nit shells and what appeared to be nests! I am in the process of repairing them, and now have the slide-outs working, and I'm confident that soon I will have a fully functioning motorhome. Thanks again for all the help!!! Roger
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Old 10-26-2019, 04:59 AM   #11
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We hates varmints. Good luck.
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Old 10-26-2019, 06:44 AM   #12
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Seal everything up with this stuff

Mouse Shield Foam Sealant + Blocker | Touch 'n Foam


It does not rise very quickly but does after a while (few hours), so don't over fill. Be patient with it. Works great. Watch the video on the site.
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