House Batteries not working?

lthrneck689 wrote:
Thanks for replying. Could you explain coach vs. chassis? Sorry. 2011 Holiday Augusta 25' Class C. When I disable the house batteries(coach?), the red light by the switch goes off, and the step doesn't work. I assume the step is powered by the coach (house) batteries? I understand that that shore power and generator will light up the coach, but without either, shouldn't I be able to "light up" the coach? The DC circuit (fuse) panel is located adjacent to the AC circuit panel. When connected to shore power, or when the gen is on and the AC circuit breaker for the Main and Converter circuits are on, a green light flashes on the DC fuse panel. As I would expect, if I shut off the converter circuit breaker, the green light goes out as well as the coach lights.

"Coach" batteries are the ones under the hood that start the engine. As someone said, likely they power the steps.

"House" batteries are the ones located somewhere under your motor home. They power all the 12V stuff in the RV--water pump, lights, fans, etc. If they are disconnected, and you have no shore or generator power, none of the 12V stuff will work.

The 12V Side of Life is a great resource to help understand all this.

Thanks for replying. Could you explain coach vs. chassis? Sorry. 2011 Holiday Augusta 25' Class C. When I disable the house batteries(coach?), the red light by the switch goes off, and the step doesn't work. I assume the step is powered by the coach (house) batteries? I understand that that shore power and generator will light up the coach, but without either, shouldn't I be able to "light up" the coach? The DC circuit (fuse) panel is located adjacent to the AC circuit panel. When connected to shore power, or when the gen is on and the AC circuit breaker for the Main and Converter circuits are on, a green light flashes on the DC fuse panel. As I would expect, if I shut off the converter circuit breaker, the green light goes out as well as the coach lights.

try to follow the wire from the positive post and see where it goes, our battery disconnect switch is on the power supply / converter fuse box combo

The battery switch(es) are usually next to the door but not always. Depending on the manufacturer they can be in an over cabinet, side wall, etc. There might not be a switch at all but a rotary dial battery disconnect located next to the door or, in the case of the Winnebago Intent, in an outdoor cabinet.

As mentioned check the switch and push "connect" to get house-batteries on the circuit for using DC and also needed for charging batteries while plugged into AC power.

If your batteries are "connected" the panel will work for showing: battery levels, fresh water, and black water holding tank levels.

It should be noted that you need to have the house-batteries "connected" for charging while camping on shore-power, and "disconnected" when stored and not able to plug in. If left connected they go dead in 2 weeks or less depending on how well they were charged when you got home from the last trip.

When you post up a question about your rig, it's a good idea to post the year/make/model as well. Helps the troubleshooters.

In most class C/A motorhomes, the power step runs off the chassis battery.
Also, in most motorhomes, the shore power and generator will "light up" the coach without the batteries, so that's why it works when either of those two conditions are met.
Try this. There's a switch to enable/disable your coach batteries, sometimes located just inside the side entry door beside the inside step well. Check to see if that's in the "enabled" position. There may be a little green light on when it's in the enabled position.
Have a look, and post up your results.