Community Forums

Jhefley · 05-17-2014, 11:00 PM

I stored my motorhome this winter and had the shore plugged in. The batteries are dead and the shore power does not provide any power to the interior . The coach batteries are dead. What could be the cause of this? Thank you

Skip426 · 05-17-2014, 11:17 PM

Tripped GFI plug on the house , bad extension cord, tripped main circuit breaker in the coaches interior panel. Bad power transfer switch.
Have you checked anything out yet?

Jhefley · 05-17-2014, 11:30 PM

I reset the breakers. Extension cord had power supply. Did not check the gfi. Will check it out and reply tomorrow. Thanks

Skip426 · 05-17-2014, 11:43 PM

Also if your coach is equipped with a combination , converter charger/ inverter, you need to check for tripped circuit breakers on that unit as well.
Do you have all the manuals for your coaches systems?

Edit : I see some info in your profile but no year of your coach.
If you go to your " User CP" and the " Edit signature " on the left side , and enter your coaches info , it will appear as mine does below, and you don't have to type it in every time you post.

Jhefley · 05-18-2014, 08:00 PM

I reset the Gfi and reset the inverter. Nothing happened. I'll go thru the manuals I have to try and isolate the problem. When I tried to out a charger on just one of the 2 coach batteries I kept getting fault with the battery charger after 5 minutes on a trickle charge. I'm going to remove both batteries and charge them off the motor home to a full charge and reinstall them. Thank you. Will continue to troubleshoot and post

"007" · 05-18-2014, 08:12 PM

Welcome to irv2.
During the winter months have you been checking the water levels of your batteries if they are dry, batteries dead and maybe crack from freezing.
Here is information you need to know about everything in your coach.

Jhefley · 05-18-2014, 08:29 PM

Batteries are sealed and no signs of cracks. Motorhome kept in a covered and sealed shop and the shop did not get below 30 degrees.

Jhefley · 05-18-2014, 08:31 PM

Thanks for the coach info. I'll check out the transfer switch for loose wires

"007" · 05-18-2014, 09:10 PM

Can your start the coach and maybe you will get 12v from alternator and your battery cut off switch has been on all winter to charge your batteries.

Skip426 · 05-19-2014, 08:32 AM

Thanks for filling out a signature line .

Be very cautious charging that battery, internal short could be the starting point of all your problems.
Is the battery original , or do you have any idea of it's age ?

GaryKD · 05-19-2014, 09:41 AM

Hi Jhefley,
Welcome to iRV2. The clue here is no power to anything in the coach when connected to shore power. Consider starting with the 120 VAC shore power cord. Get a meter and see if there is power incoming to the transfer switch. One needs to start at the beginning and work to the point of power loss. All the 12 VDC stuff comes from the batteries. Since they are dead, they must not have gotten a charge. The charger needs 120 VAC. This is why I ask you to consider starting at the very beginning and get 120 VAC into the coach. While at the TS, tighten all connections. If there is power incoming, there should be power outbound. The next appliance in the 120 VAC circuit is the inverter/charger. You know the drill. Power in but no power out, the appliance is suspect. No power in and one needs to back up to see where the power was lost.

Gut feel says you get 120 VAC into the coach and the 12 VDC problems will fix themselves. The caveat is the batteries may need to be replaced.

RABBITFISH · 05-19-2014, 04:12 PM

I experienced a similar problem a while back. While the coach was stored on shore power there was a power outage, so the system switched to battery. After a while the batteries drained. When shore power was restored, I could not get any ac into the coach. I discovered that the switching systems needed the twelve volt batteries to operate, and tell the system to switch. Without the batteries it would not function. After I was able to bring the house batteries up to twelve volts, everything went back to normal operation. Try to charge the house batteries first, then connect the ac shore power and see if the switch works then. I am not going to tell you how long it took to figure it out..............

Jhefley · 05-19-2014, 09:15 PM

Thanks for all the input. Will post after trying suggestions

gemini5362 · 05-19-2014, 11:21 PM

First of all are you sure you do not have AC power inside the coach when hooked up to shore power. Most of the stuff you try will be DC. Try turning on the microwave or turning on the TV both of those take AC to work. If you are not getting 12 volt power then you probably wont get power to the inverter so the only way for the TV or microwave to come on is if you have 120 volt ac power