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coopspat's avatar
coopspat
Explorer
Jun 18, 2015

1989 Southwind auxilary battery problem

When I first got my RV the lights were working fine, and now when I try to turn on any interior light or plug anything in it doesn't work. I looked in the manual and it says the auxilary battery powers that kind of stuff. Just have no idea what went wrong.
  • The Aux switch (salesmans switch) is located above the door in a cabinet. One is marked main and one is marked for coach or aux.
  • Look for Aux batt switch, mine is on the dash. If it is off no interior 12v. Does not affect 110 V outlets, Must be plugged in or running genset to power those unless you have an invertor that is turned on.
  • My response is in addition to MrWizard. As a rule, the lights are DC and the electrical plugs are AC. More info is needed. Are the house batteries charged? Do you have an inverter? Is the battery cutoff switch on? Present situation of use(park power or not, on the road disconnected, in storage or even parked at home) would be good extra info.
  • I also have a 1989 Bounder that I have more or less restored. On your electrical issue. Check your inside breaker panel, make sure they are all on. Then if you feel confident, take a circuit breaker to check your fuses in that panel to make sure they are all functioning. You might want to also first check your house batteries condition and the cable connections for cleanliness (ie no corrosion etc.) and that they are tight and snug. If none of that works I suggest you take it to your local trusted RV repair shop. Hope my ideas work for you. Good luck.
  • How long have you had it?
    Are you driving it
    Or
    Plugged into power
    The aux battery better know as the house battery/batteries are charged by the alternator thru an isolator/separator when the engine is running
    And from the converter/charger when 120v is available that's generator or shore power cord
    Unless you do something that cause charging, you now have a dead battery
    Are you plugged into shore power,
    Look for tripped circuit breakers then loose battery cables
  • Do you have a switch for storing the coach, if so it may be on. The switch will separate the coach from the battery so that there will be no drain on the battery