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Pam_Bill's avatar
Pam_Bill
Explorer
Jun 04, 2017

Ceiling fans only work when on shore power.

We have lived full time in a 2007 Itasca Latitude for 9 years. It is usually plugged in to some form of shore power. (20, 30 or 50 amp.) 2 days ago, we drove it from southern Wisconsin to the Chicago area. When we arrived I realized that neither of the 2 ceiling fans would respond to the remote controls. (Fantastic brand) They would not open, and would not turn on after opening them manually. I tried both remotes on both fans. They had worked fine the day before (while plugged in to shore power). When we arrived at an RV park and plugged in to their power, both fans worked fine. When I unplugged from the shore power, they both refused to respond to the remotes again. Other 12V items work fine without being plugged in to shore power.(refrigerator, water pump, lights, radio, etc). House and chassis batteries appear to be fine. Has anyone had that problem before?

8 Replies

  • Assuming everything else works fine, and the fans only don't work when you're on battery power, then it's your battery or a connection running to it. Might be multimeter time.
  • He has a very large RV. Some of them do have residential Ceiling fans. Those are 120V.
  • Whoa ceiling fans for 4'6" tall owners.

    "Every" other 12 volt accessory in the coach works except the ceiling fans when disconnected from shore power? Means 12 volt lights are bright? Water pump strong?

    Know all the symptoms - then arrive at possibilities.
  • Just for clarification....

    You are talking about 'vent fans' that open thru roof to outside when you say 'ceiling fans' VS what one would call a fan hung from ceiling that circulates inside air like used in a residential house.....correct???
    (some rigs do have Ceiling Fans like above)

    So if it is Vent Fans then when connected to shore power the 'converter' is supplying the DC System BUT when not on shore power your battery is suppose to be supplying the DC System.

    Are the Vent Fans only DC items NOT working when NOT connected to shore power (water pump, fridge, lights)????

    Battery good..fully charged?
    OEM battery (9 plus yrs old) or new battery???
  • Sounds like you need to trace some wiring. If all the other 12V items work fine when disconnected from shore power, then there has to be something strange with the wiring of those fans. Were they add-ons or were they original equipment? Do you perhaps have 2 converters where the second one only powers the 2 fans?
  • Given your specific symptoms. Work on shore power, not when disconnected. Sounds like your batteries are either dead or disconnected. The fans run on 12V DC. Any chance you hit the battery disconnect (salesman) switch?