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rexmitchell's avatar
rexmitchell
Explorer
Sep 30, 2023

Intermittent 12v electrical issue

Running the camper on generator power this weekend and cut the generator off to find I had no 12v power anywhere in the camper. Checked all fuses and pulled the fuse panel with zero 12v power coming in. Went outside and battery tested fine, replaced the 30 amp blade fuse just for fun and it tested fine. Got to the junction box and had power there as well. Finally gave up after an hour of taking things apart and figured I’d bring the camper home to mess with it more. Fired the generator up again for some coffee, then cut it off and what do you know…..12v power everywhere. Well problem solved I guess….no. Turn off the generator and go to unhook the battery since I won’t be out for a couple weeks. Just for fun hooked it back up. Nothing again. Shook the wires and it came on. Did it again and lights are back on. My first thought was the connectors but that doesn’t make sense from the original problem where I had power 4 feet away at the junction. Any ideas on what to check or replace?

One other thing I forgot to mention. I don’t recall the green light on my fuse board ever being on this weekend. Not sure if that is related but worth mentioning.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Grit dog wrote:
    Shook the wires and it worked again is about 95% chance an intermittent dead short in the wires you shook.


    Not a short but a screw loose. or in this case a nut on a bolt.

    Loose connections act like that.. GM had that problem on the starters of their cars long long long time ago. (like 50 years)
  • Wanted to close this out. Replaced the connector from the battery wire to the battery and haven’t had any issues since then. Thanks for the suggestions.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Not a short in the wires. An open. if you had a short you would either pop a fuse or ... Start a fire (Most likely pop a fuse)

    But a loose connection... Well I'm fond of saying many RVers have a few screws loose (That's the kind I'm talking about)

    OH in the original post you said you had no 12 volts anywhere with the Generator running.. if the Genny is an ONAN.. You had 12 volts somewhere.. the fuel pump is electric. 12 volt house battery powered.

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