Rv inside lights only work when plug on ac and do not work on battery dc

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Rvforlife

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Feb 22, 2013
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Hello i have a 2002 28ft majestic class c , the problem is that evrything works fine when im either plugged in tomac or when i run the generator But if i just want to run my interior lights or look at my control dash nothing works , i looked at the breaker fuse box that is on the back bed right side of the rv and they looked fine switched everything on and off removed all fuses and put them back, i also looked under the hood for a breaker switch next the solenoid and did not see any switch at all, i did reset the plug outlet that is inside the restroom, i checkd the generator breaker and turned it off and on,i recharged all my 3 cabin batteries and also my engine battery, checked for fuses under the hood all seemed fine, IM PRETTY SAD I DO NOT KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO PLEASE HELP ME ANYONE ?

Just a note everything was working fine 2 weeks ago but maybe this might have something to do with it or not but i will mention it, i had my rv sitting for 3 months in front of the beach plugged in to ac and i noticed that since the rv was on top of the sand 30 feet from beach water when your feet were wet and i touched any metal part of the rv i will get and electric shock, the conection ac outlet on the beach was all broken with wires exposed but everything worked fine other than that when you had wet feet, last day before leaving i turned on the generator onan4000 and i was running the generator and i started charging the cabin batteries with and outside charger i had that i plugged from an outside ac source and after turning of the generator now my inside power will not work on battery dc power.
Any thoughts?
 
Hi RV, welcome to The RV Forum!

First, getting a shock when you touch an RV is NOT normal and needs to be checked before someone is seriously hurt.  The problem might have been exasperated if the broken shore power outlet had a bad or missing ground, but there shouldn't be ANY connection between the skin of the RV and the active electric lines.

On the light issue, your lights run on 12 volts DC.  This is supplied by the converter when 120 volts is available from shore power or from the generator and by the house batteries when 120 volts is not available.  Something is keeping the house batteries from sending voltage into the house circuits.

Check the battery terminals, make sure they are clean and tight, and there's no corrosion between the post and the wires connected to it.  Corrosion can block electrical flow.  If the connections are corroded, they can be cleaned by taking the wires off and rinsing the wires and post with baking soda dissolved in water.  Brush it on to the corroded parts, but do not let any of the baking soda get inside the battery cells.

Many motorhomes have a master battery disconnect, also called a Storage Switch, that lets you disconnect the batteries so parasitic loads don't drain them while the rig is in storage.  Usually these are located near the entry door so you can turn off the batteries as you exit the coach, or they may be part of the tank metering and control panel.

And be sure to get that electrical problem checked out ASAP!
 
Rvforlife said:
i turned on the generator onan4000 and i was running the generator and i started charging the cabin batteries with and outside charger i had that i plugged from an outside ac source and after turning of the generator now my inside power will not work on battery dc power.
Any thoughts?

The generator should have some sort of charger for the house batteries. It may have a auto transfer switch that will switch the 120 over if your plugged into shore power but I doubt it would be able to "out think you" if you added the second charger to the batteries. must have popped a fuse inside the charger/converter. Running the Generator at the same time as being plugged into a power pole is like sticking 2 extension  into a toaster it ain't going get your toast done any faster. it will just burn something up.
Have someone look the 12 and 120 volt systems over.
 
If you get lights, water pump, furnace and other 12 volt stuff ONLY on shore/generator power then your batteris are either

1: Toast or
2: not connected.

NOTE: 2 can be due to a bad connection, USUALLY, but not always, a ground connection.
 
I had the same issue on my 1994 Cordoba, the coach batteries were fine but I would only get 12v lights and systems to work on generator or shore power. It ended up being a blown 12v converter/power supply that I had to get replaced at a local dealer.

Good luck,
Veritech
 
On my MH there is a manual disconnect switch for both the Chassis and House Battery Banks in my Battery Compartment.  These switches are in addition to the Battery Disconnect in the Coach Entryway.

The Manual Disconnect Switch in the Battery Compartment will disconnect the Batteries withot disrupting the DC Output of the Converter to the MH interior (assumes that you are connected to Shore Power or Genny). 

Using the Manual Disconnect in the Battery Compartment allowed me to change the House Batteries without disrupting my DW and MIL.
 
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