Electrical issue. Where to next

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Rene T

Rene T

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Joined
May 20, 2011
Posts
22,417
Location
Farmington NH
I went down to the RV storage area. I needed to open 2 slides. I plugged into the truck, went inside and opened them then closed them. All went good. Then as I was walking out, I noticed that the awning wasn't fully retracted. I hit the switch and nothing happened. I checked other things and there's NO 12 volt DC power anywhere. I checked the connection at my truck and it looked good. I turned on the running lights and they work.  Where to I go from here.  It appears that I lost power just as the last slide stopped in the retracted position. Any ideas where to look?  I'm going to see if there's a fuse near the battery the next chance I get. Didn't have time today.
 
Chances are that the momentary increase in load as the slides reached their end of travel may have blown the fuse.  The blown fuse may be in your truck!  Depends on the state of your trailer batteries.

Depending on which brand of awning you may be able to bring it in with a couple of wires hooked directly from the motor to a jumper battery.

Might it be a self resetting breaker?  My Montana had them.
 
Rene,

I bet you don't think that your unit is that old, but when you consider that it is now 9 years old, you may have a better handle.  That is about the age when electrical junctions start to go bad. 
You say there is no 12V anywhere?
Well start by tracking the wires into the panel and testing all along the way.  If you are using a typical meter or normal test light, be sure that something is turned on to load the 12V circuit or else the tester may not show the fault. 
My bet would be that a connection at a fuse or major junction has gotten loose and the power to close the slide finished it off.  Fortunately, I am talking about a "no parts fix".  The trick will be finding it.

Matt - used to make a living doing this on boats.
 
I'm such a dummy.  One thing I never do is use the disconnect switch. YUP, you got it. Typically, I'm always plugged into shore power so I never need operate that switch.
When I moved my rig to storage here at the CG last month, I shut off the disconnect switch. When I went down to it the other day, while connected electrically to my truck, I was able to operate all the slides. Then once I disconnected from my truck, I noticed that the awning had to be retracted just a little that's when I thought I had a electrical issue because I couldn't operate the awning. It was that disconnect switch all the time. I went to the rig today and with the disconnect switch off,  I was still able to operate the slides and the front landing gear but that was all. That's why the awning didn't operate. With the switch on, I had full power back. What a lesson learned.
 
Well. I'm fond of saying many RVers have a few screws loose.. Usually I'm speaking of the kind you use a #2 Square bit to tighten (Which reminds me I have one needing tightening)  But hey.. You found another kind :).

(What most folks THINK I'm talking about till I specify the #2 bit bit.
 
Rene, did you check the disconnect switch? Common oversight by new RVers  ;) ;D ;D
 
That was a joke Rene, I was kidding  ;)


You probably have more RV experience than I do. Glad you got it figured out
 
That sounds like something I'd do because I'm such an airhead. Just after I read about you solving your forgetting about the disconnect switch, I found my computer case after looking for it for the last 2 days. Forgot where I put it. How can I lose something like that in a 24 foot TT.  :-[ :-[ :-[

P.S. Not suggesting you are an airhead like me. I tell everyone that aging is making me forgetful. Actually, I've always been forgetful. But, now, I have an excuse.  ;D ;D ;D
 
IBTripping said:
That sounds like something I'd do because I'm such an airhead. Just after I read about you solving your forgetting about the disconnect switch, I found my computer case after looking for it for the last 2 days. Forgot where I put it. How can I lose something like that in a 24 foot TT.  :-[ :-[ :-[

P.S. Not suggesting you are an airhead like me. I tell everyone that aging is making me forgetful. Actually, I've always been forgetful. But, now, I have an excuse.  ;D ;D ;D
Click to expand...

They say the 1st thing to go first is your mind. I forget what the 2nd thing is.  :eek: ??? ::) :'(
 
Back2PA said:
Glad you got it figured out
Click to expand...

Me too. I was going to sleep thinking about that and waking up thinking about that. While in the pool this afternoon, the light came on.
 
IBTripping said:
How can I lose something like that in a 24 foot TT.  :-[ :-[ :-[
Click to expand...


You're not the only airhead. I've got a handful of things right now that I have no idea where they are. Each time something "disappears" I mutter to myself, "you goof, how can you lose something in an 8'x37' box?!"  ::)
 
When we first got this coach, I was exploring, trying to learn stuff like which set of batteries provided power to the 12v power outlet by the passenger floorboard.  I decided to plug something into the power port and then turn off the battery switches to see which one killed the outlet in question.
Turned off the chassis battery and nothing, turned off the house batteries and the outlet died.  Turned the house batteries back on and outlet came back on.  Hit the switch for the chassis battery and nothing...nada...zip.  Cycled the switch a couple of times and still nothing.  Decided to swap switches to see if it was a switch problem.  Pulled the little plate out of the wall, photographed the back of the switches and started to remove them from the switch panel.  In doing this, I momentarily touched the aluminum switch plate to a couple of terminals on the back of the switch(accidentally, not on purpose)and all of a sudden the dash came back to life.
I very carefully put the switch plate back in the wall and haven't touched it again in 3 years.

I suppose I'll have to fix it when I finally need a new chassis battery.
 
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