Lights, etc in coach not working on 12v power

[happycmpr1]

Hi - we are new to all of this and could sure use some help.  It seems that we only have power inside the coach when we are either plugged in or if the generator is on.  When either of these are on, then we everything works - refrig, furnace, lights, etc., but when we unplug or turn off the generator, then all is dark, no refrig, etc.  The battery is brand new.  It is a 12v deep cell.  We had two 6v deep cells in there, but the dealer mechanic thought they were bad, which is why he gave us the new 12v.  After my husband put it in, we still had no lights, etc from the battery alone.

Our RV is a 1993 Southwind.  We checked all the fuses inside the coach, but all seemed good.  We were told by a friend that there may be a swithc or something like that near where the electric cord comes out, but we looked and there isn't one.  Couldn't find any other switches either.  The battery disconnects in the coach appear to be fine, in that we do hear a clicking noise when we push the buttons to "on" or "off".  We discovered that the outside lights near the water tanks work with just the battery and they did go off when we hit the disconnect, but we can't seem to get anything on the inside to work with just battery power.

If you need anymore info, please let me know and I'll do my best to answer.  Thanks in advance for your help.

Beth

 

[John From Detroit]

Well, there is almost always a switch.. It may be in any of a number of places though.. Here are some of the places I recall seeing it.

ONE: On or near the house batteries.
Two. In the step well (That's where the control for mine is located. the actual switch is.. .Elsewhere, There is a long story here)
Three: on the dash
Four: On an panel somewhere inside the motor home. usually this panel has other switches and often a voltmeter or other battery condition indicator (LEDs) 
Five On a panel INSIDE a compartment.


In addition: You may have a dead (Flat) battery that won't take a charge


The long story:  (much shortened) The control switch for my 'Battery control center' went  bad  IT would work find when you selected "STORE" but pressing USE gave no joy at all....

I was able to fix it at no cost  but the path from discovery to repair.. Is the long story

 

[Ron]

As John mentioned there is usually a battery cutoff switch that shuts the battery power off.  I suspect it may be located just inside the door.  There may be two one for the chassis battery and one for the house batteries.

 

[happycmpr1]

Thanks for your replies.  We will look in the places you said.  I also noticed in another post someone mentioned something about a 200amp fuse.  Do you think that could be our problem, and if so, where would we locate this fuse?  We didn't see anything like that when checking the fuses in the coach.

Thanks again.

 

[happycmpr1]

Also - we see the Battery Disconnect switches, but they are not the problem.  We have pushed them on, yet we still don't have power to the coach via battery only.  Is there another switch that we should look for?

 

[John From Detroit]

Note that on my coach.. I pushed the switch to ON and nothing happened.. (I fixed it later)

Find the battery(ies) themselves and make sure they have energy in them,  They may be toast.

A 12 volt test lamp or a volt meter can check them

Also make sure they are connected physically... And of course.. That they exist

 

[happycmpr1]

The battery has volts - we tested it with a meter.  Right now, there is a 12v battery hooked up for the coach besides the main battery.

As for connected - it is connected with the battery cables - that is all that needs to be connected, right?  The main battery is connected also.  The converter works because the frig and heater will work as long as we are plugged in or with the generator running.

I have just been everywhere inside and out and I am not finding any other switch.  My husband is now looking for the 200amp fuse, but we are not sure where to look exactly - any suggestions?

Thanks again for trying to help.  Seems to me like it is going to be something stupid that we are missing, but we can't figure it out.

 

[John From Detroit]

Ok, next stop: On my coach I have a "Battery Control Center" this is a black box that says, well "Battery Control Center" on it's cover. This box is the actual "Switch" the button I push is a remote control.. (I mentioned it failed didn't I)

Well, while I was shooting that bit of trouble I found the diagram for the BCC and it showed a pair of 30 amp "Push to reset" type breakers should be installed in the bottom of the box  (My rig has a different type of breaker elsewhere)

Note that these breakers are in a place where if you did not know they were there... I do not think you'd ever find 'em

If you have a system like this.. You may need to check the Battery Control Center for such a breaker

Next we get into advanced trouble shooting...  Not easy to do long distance but .... I have time.

 

[happycmpr1]

Yeah - we found those breakers and sure enough there was a little button on the side of each that was out, so my husband pushed in the buttons on each and tada - we have power in the coach now!!!

First he checked the two stems (forgive my lack of proper terminology), and the one on the right was showing 12v, but the one on the left was reading zero, so we figured those had to be the breakers, and sure enough when he took the wires off of one and pulled it out, we saw the little button on the side. 

You are correct in saying that we would never have found these and seen the buttons or switches to push in on our own.

Thank you so very much for your help.

Now if we could just figure out why the Check Engine Light is on, we'll be in great shape - actually, I believe the correct wording on the light is "Service Engine Soon".  Any ideas on that one?

Thanks again!
Beth

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Glad you got one problem fixed!

A Service Engine Soon light should be defined in your engine/chassis owner manual but a shop will still have to read out a code to determine the specific problem.  You probably have a GM engine in your Southwind (is it the 454 engine?), so most any Chevy dealer ought to be able to diagnose it. The only hard part is finding the diagnostic connector, which is typically buried under the dashboard somewhere.

 

[John From Detroit]

Glad I could be of assistance on the 12 volt side of life...  Though I was a bit upset when the )(*#&)$(@# switch failed on my less than 3 year old Motor home...  As it turned out I was able to fix without cost, and in the process of shooting the trouble I learned a ton of stuff.

Including the answer to your problem.    Thus it worked out for the best (Perhaps a higher power had a plan for me to assist you )

As to the check engine light..

Most any automotive repair shop and not a few RVers can climb into your driver's seat with a device called an OBD reader (Depending on the engine and year it may be an OBD-1 or and OBD II) plug it in and tell you what the problem is.

Usually charge the minimum labor charge 1-hr, if its a business that does it..  You can buy OBD code readers at places like Pep Boys, Auto Zone, Wally World, and most any store with a good size automotive depratment.  They run from around 40 bucks to around 400 bucks depending on how much you want.. You can even buy computer software/hardware packages that will read the On Board Diagnostic computer and display the results on your computer screen so you can print it out and hand it to your mechanic.

Depending on the cost and the OBD level (i or ii)

The unit will 1: Blink the check engine light you note the pattern of blinks and look it up in the manual
2: Display a code number... Which you then look up in the manual
3: Display the code meaning (The manual is "Internal" and it looks it up for you
4: Reset the display (Clear the trouble code)
5: (The most expensive units) Display the code, translate it (look it up) and suggest repairs to correct

NOTE that the code may have nothing at all to do with the problem.... But WILL give you a path to follow if you know engines

Had a trouble code on my towed after having some work done... I'm able to read the codes out using about 2? worth of wire (Some of those code readers are real inexpensive) on my towed (OBD I)  Translated when I got home  MAP sensor.

The MAP sensor on my car is literally the very first thing you come to when you lift the hood, (It is higher than the radiator cap) and when I layed the good old mark one eyeball on it.

I found that the technician had disconnected it and forgotten to plug it back in.... Problem solved

 

[happycmpr1]

Thanks for your information and suggestions.  I will tell my husband when he comes home and see if we can get this taken care of as well.

Will let you know the update once I know.

Thanks again.

Beth