learning the hard way

Welcome to the forum. A battery should power the entire 12V system - the lights, the fans, the igniters on your propane appliances, etc.

I just bought a 1999 American Cruiser that I knew had issues. It has been the the auto shop and in now in the RV shop - I don't have time, talent, or tools to fix the water damaged floor, etc. Between what I paid for it and what I am "investing" in it, I am shooting for 50% of NADA.

So, for you I would ask whether you have a pickup truck that will be safe and dependable to tow your 5th wheel and if you have any idea of the extent of the damage. You may be able to tell if the hot water heater is busted or not ($400 - $500 for a new one) and you can count on a couple of hundred dollars for every few square feet of floor to be pulled up and replaced by someone else.

You are in a position of either cutting your losses or "investing" some unknown amount of money.

Best of luck to you! So far, the work on my chassis came in above budget at there was a lot of brake work that needed to be done. I am hoping the RV side comes in under budget!

Thank you for the info so far I have been doing all the repairs with a little help from my husband. He does not like to camp so I am on my own but have friends that I go with . as far as the battery without a schematic on the wiring I am not sure how anything can be run off the battery I did get a 1990 GMC 2500 with the hitch all set up for towing it came as a pair. My husband and I paid way to much for what I found after the fact but I will fix it all up the best I can spouse is older and disabled also. But I am stubborn and will succeed

Sounds like you have the truck part covered. With your battery hooked up if you have no inside 12v lights or power check your fuses in your circuit panel. Most have breakers for the 110V and auto type fuses for the 12V.

Thank you to both of the responses I have received I will go out when I have a break in the storms to check my fuses. Does any one have any ideas how I might find a booklet on this model all ideas are greatly appreciated.

Do not stress too much over this. Wood is cheap and with some basic hand too,s you can probably do an acceptable job patching the old girl up, here are some steps to help you along.

1) find the leak....don't guess, find the leak and stop it.
2) figure on replacing your plastic roof fixtures, like your fridge vent etc etc etc... These are cheap'ish and can be a leak source when they start to fail
3) if your hot water tank is bad you can get a new one from PPL Motorhomes for about $300 ish shipped to your house.
4) use eternabond to seal your roof seams....after you peal 25 years of old caulk off
5) take each window out and replace butle tape... This is pretty easy but you will need 2 people.

Some TLC and you will be back in shape... I'll try to find you some YouTube videos that may be of some help and post them here.

Thanks!

Jeremiah

thank you will look forward to the u tubes

Water leaks.........RV KILLER

Find that leak and fix it.

Rotten flooring UNDER cabinets.........only way to fix that issue is to remove cabinets, rip rotten flooring up, replace/repair rotten floor joists AND then you can rebuild with new subfloor and install cabinets. Might even have to get new cabinets due to damage from water and/or removal to fix water damage.

HERE is a little article to help you understand.


Another useful article.....RV Basic Electrical

Here is one of them

Prowler Repair

Thanks!

Jeremiah

My first suggestion is to figure out if the water leak is from plumbing or from roof leaks. Easy way to check the plumbing is put some water in the tank and turn on the water pump. If it shuts off in a few seconds and does not come back on, your plumbing is good. If it does not shut off in a few seconds, turn it off and start looking for water. This is assuming that your water pump does work. If the pump does not run hook up a hose to the supply and find an assistant to turn it on and off for you while you look for leaks. Stop all leaks before doing anything else. Replacing wood just to have it get wet again is not the way to go.

Thought this through overnight. The pump would only stop after a few seconds if the water heater is bypassed. If the water heater is not bypassed the pump could run for several minutes before the system gets pressurized enough to make the pump stop.

My water leak issue was attributed to QC at Heartland. They left a water hose lose at the sink. It flooded the basement.

Fixed now (I hope).