Magnetek (?) RV Electrical Control Center Model 80

[thesameguy]

I don't have access to the motorhome at the moment, but I'm betting someone knows the answer here...

Under the fridge is the RV Electrical Control Center Model 80 and auto switch. Behind this fuse/breaker panel is a junction which connects the output of the motorhome's converter/charger to to the panel.

Is this panel *also* where the converter/charger is connected to the coach batteries (so they can be charged...)? I am looking for a convenient midships location to get 12v from the coach batteries. If so, I'm assuming I can use that junction.

Thanks!

 

[darsben]

Isn't there a 12 volt fuse panel somewhere in the area as well/

 

[thesameguy]

Yeah, it's part of the control center... 120v breakers, 12v fuses, and the ATS.

 

[Henry J Fate]

The point where there is a tee is usually connections to the fuse panel from the batteries and from the converter. I would try to confirm this as I never suggest to assume but a short answer to your question would be usually yes.

The batteries and the converter work together as a team.

Somewhere (usually close to the batteries) there is another cable from the engine alternator which charges the house batteries as a team when the engine is running.

 

[grashley]

My FW electrical is very similar to yours.  There are several empty slots in the fuse panel on mine.

I simply added a wire to an empty fuse slot and ran it to my desired location. (New USB ports under the bed) and ran my ground to a nearby slide frame bolt.  I added an appropriate fuse and done.  That is what any extra slots are for.

 

[thesameguy]

Thanks for that - that is precisely what I am looking to do as well.

At the same time, I'm trying to solve a mystery that has plagued me for a long time - there is a "cigarette lighter"socket in the bedroom, "cigarette lighter" plug coming through the right-hand outside wall. No idea what it does, no idea why it's there. There is also a fan mounted to the wall nearby. Nothing seems to work...

I pulled the socket off the wall, and there is 12v behind it, so the failure is the socket or the plug or something exterior. I am committed to making it work!

My hangup is that wall plate also has a coax f-type connector. I'm not sure whether I want to preserve that or not. *I* will never use it, but maybe someone else would someday? I guess I could always just tuck it into the wall and make a note it's there.

 

[Lou Schneider]

The wall plate in the bedroom is probably the second outlet for a similar plate in the living area, which contains the DC power supply and another coax outlet for the roof mounted batwing antenna.

The bedroom outlet probably doesn't have an on-off switch to send DC up the antenna line.  If not, the switch on the living room outlet has to be on to activate the rooftop antenna.  Off it sends the cable TV inlet to both outlets.

The cigarette lighter outlet was meant to power a DC television via a cigarette lighter plug.  Unfortunately, there never was a standard size for these so you may have to try another plug or wiggle around the one you have to make a connection.  There should be 12 volts between the center pin and a bare metal point in the outlet's sleeve ... not necessarily the whole metal shield.

 

[thesameguy]

That makes sense. There is *definitely* 12v at the socket, but nothing plugged into it works. A non-standard size issue makes sense.

I ultimately don't know enough about "conventional RVing" to know what's useful to keep around, and I'm pretty certain whatever Fleetwood did in the '90s has evolved in the intervening 30 years, so maybe it doesn't matter anyway.

I'm thinking about standardizing on Anderson Powerpole connectors where I need "universal" 12v... they are more standard/durable/functional than cigarette lighter sockets, and if someone really needed a cigarette lighter socket an adapter would be easy to make... eg:

https://powerwerx.com/panelpole-panel-mount-powerpole-housing

But maybe that's not even useful, since everything is USB these days.