1979 Dodge Class "C" motorhome 2nd battery

We had a 79 Chevy powered motorhome with the starting battery on one side of the engine cmpartment and a house battery on the other side. There was a solid state device that distributed engine alternator power to charge the starting and house batteries while driving. There was a typical 110vac shore power cable to power the RV roof AC, microwave and fridge when in 110vac mode and a converter to make 12vdc power to charge the house battery and power the interior lights, etc. The fridge also had a propane operated mode and the water heater was propane operated. There was also a generator to power the roof AC and other 110vac items when not connected to camp power. Back then, RV generators were sometimes considered optional. If you didn't have one, and no 110vac hookup available, you had no power for the roof AC or microwave. Maybe your extra battery terminals were used to connect a spare 12 volt battery to your house battery to extend power for off grid camping.

Midnightsadie, yes shore power would be needed to run the house a/c. But how did previous owners when it was still new run the house a/c with no generator when on the road? Thank You

I was wondering how the house a/c was run OTR when this motorhome has no place to store a generator.

So, did is the 79 dodge sportsman actually a NO generator type motorhome?


I do not think the cab a/c is strong enough to cool the house house when driving.

So in order to place a generator, I will have to build a cage and weld it to the rear bumper.

I actually bought this rv for have at my deer lease. There we did have a borrowed generator to use. But since my hip injury things changed and am selling it but now realize how a generator is a big part of the motorhome.

Thank you all for the information. Very helpful.

Are you talking about house or chassis batteries? For the house circuits it is benificial to have multiple batteries to give you increased capacity. If you have one 12 volt chassis battery any additional will have to be commected parallel and if you run 6 volts the batteries have to be connected in a way so you have a total of 12 volts. I don't want to just say connected in series because it can be a little tricky if you are running more than 2-6 volt batteries.

no gen ? you,d have to be on shore power to run the ac .. two batteries last longer than one.