Electrical problem

[bounder42]

Hi guys, I have a question that someone may be able to answer. Several electrical components don't seem to work in my rv. When I am hooked up to city power I do not get any power to the batteries. There is a battery disconnect switch but it doesn't seem to work (no power gets to the batteries either way the switch is). I would expect power to flow into the batteries when I am hooked up on city power. However when I push the battery disconnect switch I don't hear any sound. Normally I think there is a clicking sound. It is a fleet wood bounder rv (maybe 10 years old?) and I have had it hooked up to power. It has been sitting outside for about four months.

On ac power: The battery level indicator shows full, power and most other items in the rv work. The stairs does not work, radio doesn't go on, headlights don't work, LP detector works. Electric mirrors don't work. Vehicle wont start and it looks like the batteries are dead. Electric generator clicks but won't start on ac power.

On battery power nothing happens

Fuses look okay and none of breakers are blown.

I located the battery control compartment. The fuses look fine in there. Maybe a bad solenoid?
Thanks

[450Donn]

If your hooked to shore power, then the CONverter changes the 120VAC to12VDC to power all the 12V items plus charge the house battery. If your house battery is not getting charged, then you need to start at the battery with a digital volt meter and work back to the CONverter.
Now if your talking about the chassis battery then, thats the way its designed. Chassis battery is charged by the engine alternator only. There should be an isolator that when driving down the road allows both chassis and house battery to be charged.
If you suspect the salesman switch bad, simply jumper it out of the equasion and see what happens

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by bounder42

Hi guys, I have a question that someone may be able to answer. Several electrical components don't seem to work in my rv. When I am hooked up to city power I do not get any power to the batteries. There is a battery disconnect switch but it doesn't seem to work (no power gets to the batteries either way the switch is). I would expect power to flow into the batteries when I am hooked up on city power. However when I push the battery disconnect switch I don't hear any sound. Normally I think there is a clicking sound. It is a fleet wood bounder rv (maybe 10 years old?) and I have had it hooked up to power. It has been sitting outside for about four months.

On ac power: The battery level indicator shows full, power and most other items in the rv work. The stairs does not work, radio doesn't go on, headlights don't work, LP detector works. Electric mirrors don't work. Vehicle wont start and it looks like the batteries are dead. Electric generator clicks but won't start on ac power.

On battery power nothing happens

Fuses look okay and none of breakers are blown.

I located the battery control compartment. The fuses look fine in there. Maybe a bad solenoid?
Thanks

All the items on your list that do not work are likely powered by the chassis batteries, not the house batteries. Some coaches do not charge the chassis battery when on shore power and require a separate charger to do it. Your coach may have the dual charge ability but the bi-directional solenoid that allows for that may me malfunctioning, preventing the chassis battery from receiving a charge.

Do you have an emergency start button on your dash? If so, pushing and holding that should shunt power from the house batteries to the chassis for starting. If the solenoid is bad, however, it may not work.

Someone with your make of coach can offer some more specific help, but it sounds like dead chassis batteries.

[bounder42]

Originally Posted by 450Donn

If your hooked to shore power, then the CONverter changes the 120VAC to12VDC to power all the 12V items plus charge the house battery. If your house battery is not getting charged, then you need to start at the battery with a digital volt meter and work back to the CONverter.
Now if your talking about the chassis battery then, thats the way its designed. Chassis battery is charged by the engine alternator only. There should be an isolator that when driving down the road allows both chassis and house battery to be charged.
If you suspect the salesman switch bad, simply jumper it out of the equation and see what happens

There is a battery inside the engine compartment and a couple batteries for the motor home itself. All of them are dead. I don't have a long enough jumper cable to jump the motor home. I might need to get one though. There are two disconnect switches. One is labelled main and the other aux. Also there is an aux switch to start the engine with.

I was assuming that the batteries would charge when the motor home was plugged into city power automatically. I guess they need the engine to run in order to charge. The radio also doesn't work. I was assuming it would use 12 volt power from the converter if it was available. I guess the problem could just be dead batteries then?

[bounder42]

Originally Posted by Ljwt330

All the items on your list that do not work are likely powered by the chassis batteries, not the house batteries. Some coaches do not charge the chassis battery when on shore power and require a separate charger to do it. Your coach may have the dual charge ability but the bi-directional solenoid that allows for that may me malfunctioning, preventing the chassis battery from receiving a charge.

Do you have an emergency start button on your dash? If so, pushing and holding that should shunt power from the house batteries to the chassis for starting. If the solenoid is bad, however, it may not work.

Someone with your make of coach can offer some more specific help, but it sounds like dead chassis batteries.

I was assuming the house battery disconnect swich would "click" when the motor home home was hooked up to city power and also that the converter would charge the house batteries. I guess not though. I can get 12 volt power that way through the converter. I guess the disconnected switch might be powered by the batteries only. I can probably find that information in the instruction manual. I will take a look at it.
It sounds like the problem could just be dead batteries. I will see if I can find a way to charge them.
Thanks.