Salesman switch question

[DaveBunker]

Hey, fool me once. The salesman switch disconnects all 12v power in the RV. Sitting at home, hooked up to my 50 amp shore power, I have the RV all set up and running. Just a spring run through before the next trip (when ever that is). Norcold running great, making ice like crazy, water heater and water pump all good. So I walk out, hit the 12v salesman switch and close the RV. I never usually bother the salesman switch, hardly use it. I come out the next morning and the fridge shows NO AC, ice has melted. I was under the assumption being hooked to shore power the fridge wouldn’t be interrupted by killing the 12v power.

Will someone explain the basics as far as shore power, inverter power and 12 volt power in this RV. I thought I knew how things were wired, but I guess not. What part of the fridge uses 12v when I’m hooked to shore power?

BTW, it’s a 2004 Monaco Camelot.
Dave

[DaveBunker]

I guess my question is....what part of the fridge uses 12v when I’m on shore power?

[Skip426]

Salesman switch , or coach battery disconnect , should only be used when the RV is in storage to eliminate drain on the coach batteries. The name " Salesman Switch " is derived from the RV being on a sales lot and flipping the switch eliminated the need for the salesman to go through the entire coach looking for anything left on by himself or anyone who toured the RV, to prevent the batteries being drained .
When on shore power , flipping the switch will stop the coach batteries charging, and stop distribution of 12 volt power through the coach..
The fridge control panel operates on 12 volt power , and controls the 120 volt operation of the fridge through relays on the control board , just as it does for the propane operation.
Hope you didn't lose any food , but if you're always driving the RV or on shore power , leave the switch on.

[Old-Biscuit]

W/O a 'converter' then shore power ONLY supplies 120VAC and RV Battery supplies the 12VDC system
'Converter' takes 120VAC and converts it into 12VDC to supply DC system when on shore power or generator



An 'Inverter' takes DC from battery and inverts it into 120VAC to power AC System when NOT connected to shore/gen power



Converter/Inverter ---both have 'charging section' to maintain battery voltage when connected to shore/gen power


'Salesman Switch'....isolates battery ----no output and no charging when salesman switch is OFF

[twinboat]

The fridge need 12 volt power. It gets it from the battery, so switching it off stops the power.

If you had a converter/charger it would power the fridge and other stuff. You don't.

You have an inverter/charger. Its not designed to power 12 volt stuff, only charge batteries, while shore power is present, so its hooked directly to the batteries.

As explained above, leave the battery disconnect on, unless you have no shore power avalable.

[8.3Oilbuner]

Good afternoon Dave; I know this can be frustrating! On my previous 2000 Monaco Windsor 32', nothing in the coach that was 12V powered would not work unless the salesmen switched to the on position. I had no inside lights, no 12V power to the fridge, no CO2 alarm, no propane detector, no A/C, or heat, no radio and even the gen would not start. NOW I purchase my current 2001 Monaco Windsor 34'PBD. The ONLY items powered by the salesmen switch now are the A/C and heat, sparker for the range and the inside lights. Different year coaches are wired differently from year to year and I don't know why! I guess we just need to figure out what is and what not is powered by the salesmen switch and go with it. Just my thoughts!

[96 Wideglide]

Originally Posted by twinboat

If you had a converter/charger it would power the fridge and other stuff. You don't.

You have an inverter/charger. Its not designed to power 12 volt stuff, only charge batteries, while shore power is present, so its hooked directly to the batteries.

Good to know!

I noticed I could change the DC amps going into the batteries just by turning on/ off different light fixtures.

[8.3Oilbuner]

Hi Ben; Done the same thing looking at my remote panel. Have installed a few LED lights. What a difference in the power draw!

[96 Wideglide]

Yeah, the halogen's in the ceiling appear to use about 3 times the power of the fluorescent. The LED's I installed under cabinets obviously the most efficient.

One thing that surprises me, the factory installed bedroom ceiling fan uses very little power.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

As "8.3" said, 12V power circuit to the reefer may be different in different coaches. My coach, which uses the (common Monaco/HR) Front Distribution Panel design, bypasses the house battery disconnect (a.k.a., "salesman") switch and provides 12V directly from the batteries- albeit through a manual battery on/off switch.

The simple test would be to start the reefer as usual, then use the house battery disconnect switch to shut off 12V power. If the reefer control panel still shows life then it's not fed through the disconnect switch.

When I installed the ARP system, I had to add a on-off switch to its 12V feed, which has as its source the reefer 12V. Without the switch, there would have been no way to shut off the ARP system (except perhaps by the sequence of button-presses indicated in the manual).

[K7JV]

On the '06 Dynasty and it's ilk, the fridge is on a feed from the house battery system that is ALWAYS HOT. Not only is it on the battery side of the "Salesman switch", it is even on the battery side of the manual battery disconnect switch. I'm surprised yours is not, as well.

You certainly could move it, if you have an "always-hot" source that you could tap into. In our case, there is an "always-hot" source in the rear run box, and that is where the refrigerator is fed from. There is also a board in the front run box that is "always-hot" and fed from the house battery.

The other things that are "always hot" on the house battery on our coach include the door and bay lock key-fob operated system, the CO and propane alarm devices, the AquaHot (to prevent a hot shut down without a cool-down) and the Aladdin.

The refrigerator only needs 120 VAC to operate the ice maker. The rest is 12 VDC.

[RobRoy]

Originally Posted by twinboat

The fridge need 12 volt power. It gets it from the battery, so switching it off stops the power.

If you had a converter/charger it would power the fridge and other stuff. You don't.

You have an inverter/charger. Its not designed to power 12 volt stuff, only charge batteries, while shore power is present, so its hooked directly to the batteries.

As explained above, leave the battery disconnect on, unless you have no shore power avalable.

Thank you

[YC1]

I bypassed my salesman switch after the second time accidently bumping it on the way out.

With fur babies the chance of the ac's getting turned off was a problem. And no one wants to come home to warm beer after a long days adventures.

With 27 halogen lights in my rv running from 1.5-2.5 amps even leaving a few on can run your batteries down in a 24 hour day.

I took my floresent fixtures down and repopulated with led strips. Cheap to do and the lights don't mess with my tv remotes any longer.

[153stars]

My fridge , Aquahot burner and detectors stay live if salesman is off.