Community Forums

Reay21 · 07-27-2012, 10:05 PM

Hi everyone,
I hope that someone can point me in the right direction with this issue.
I just noticed that we do not have any 12v power coming off of our batteries to our coach. Does anyone know what it may be?

It is a 2008 Winnebago Sightseer 35j w/ Ford chassis
The batteries are charged and the generator starts and runs great, but it's no fun running that all the time for power. As soon as I stop the generator I will get a chirp from the carbon monoxide doctor signaling loss of power and then everything is dead. There's no power to the information panel when running on 12v. I have also checked the power main and that is on, along with cycling all of the 120v & 12v breakers,. But nothing has worked.

Is there a fuse or breaker that I am missing?

Thanks,
Brent

**"007"** · 07-27-2012, 10:16 PM

Welcome to irv2 Brent.
Do you have a battery cut-off switch near your door entrance someone may have flipped the switch.
Enjoy the forums.

Reay21 · 07-27-2012, 10:46 PM

Yes I do. However, I do not believe this to be the issue as I have cycled it off and on and it did not fix the issue. When the aux switch is on, there are no working 12v systems. I am able to start the generator to get power. I have also turned the aux switch off while the generator was running and this stopped the generator from running.

Hope that this helps,
B

Jim_HiTek · 07-28-2012, 10:26 AM

The Aux switch controls a latching relay. These relays can and do fail. They generally look like a starting solenoid with a black plastic top hat. They can develop carbon and pitting on the contacts or other issues. But they can also be pulled apart and the contacts serviced. With a meter, measure the voltage on the input and output terminals to see if the voltage is the same on both sides after the relay has been energized. A difference of more then 0.1V-0.2V or so would indicate a problem with that relay.

Why operation of that relay would stall the genset is a mystery. Unless there is a mis-wiring of the Aux relay main cables. Have you changed batteries recently? Or did some rewiring in the battery compartment?

Reay21 · 07-28-2012, 09:27 PM

Hi Jim,
Thanks for the help. I looked up where the solenoid was and found a set of breakers next to it. There was the problem. I tripped a 40amp fuse for the house power that I did not know about. I popped it back in and everything is back to normal.
Thanks!

Jim_HiTek · 07-28-2012, 10:37 PM

I don't like the fact that the 40Amp CB was blown...there's a reason. If you were working on something that might have caused it, or in a lightning storm or heavy rain storm, well, then maybe it'll be OK. But if nothing like I mentioned occurred, I'd be watching things carefully. 40Amp is quite a bit power. That's 480 Watts.

Recommend some searching around for loose connections or connections with burn spots, etc.