All,I have a 2006 Sportcoach Encore and I'm having intermittent 12v power issues while plugged to shore power. Here is a little history.Let me start by saying that I don't understand the whole 12v power but I believe I have an OK understanding.While plugged up to shore power I intermittently lose 12v items in my RV after I activate the water pump or push or pull in a slide. Sometimes, I lose 12v in the middle of the night when nothing is going on. I also lose all indicator lights on my control panel. What is happening is something is causing by 12v battery disconnect switch to trip. I toggle the battery disconnect switch and everything comes back.I was thinking that my battery isolator is bad (?) because I have heard that thing cycle open and closed every 45 seconds. Or, maybe my house batteries aren't charging my batteries causing the 12v to just die when I activate something that is 12v or when it just dies in the middle of the night.Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Since you are able to reset things and since you did not say it was blowing any of the 12 volt fuses, I would guess that you have a ground cable problem. Either the cable is not making good contact or the cable has become frayed and cannot handle a very large current draw.

Or loose connections on converter

I checked the cables at the inverter, battery and the isolator and all are tight. I will check for a bad cable underneath. From what I can see of them now, they are all in a protective sleeve and are in good shape.

How old are the batteries? They usually will last only a couple of years. Have a load test done on them to rule out old/weak batteries

I would agree with the ground connections. I'd start at the batteries and check each ground with an Ohm meter. Since your problem is not congfined to one area, I'd look to supply lines like battery and converter grounds first. Wiggle the wires while the Ohm meter is connected.

12v power issue | Good Sam Community

softail1450
Explorer
May 31, 2014
I purchased the battery disconnect and waiting for it to be delivered. is there any special instructions I may need to be aware of before changing other than disconnecting power an ensuring the inverter is of?
softail1450
Explorer
May 29, 2014
Thanks for the clarifying. So, I'm going to guess, based on a previous post that the battery disconnect mentioned maybe located in with my inverter since the previous post mentioned a compartment behind the duels. The driver side has the batteries and the other as the inverter and propane.

Thanks
OnaQuest
Explorer
May 29, 2014
softail1450 wrote:
Interesting post about the battery switch. I assume you are referring to what is referred to as the isolator? I have a bad boy isolator and it's mounted on the driver side behind the duals in the Chassis battery compartment. And it's mounted on it's side.

I have a new bad boy isolator. Maybe I can install that and check wires with hopes one or the other or both will fix my issue...

Thanks
The Isolator solenoid and the disconnect solenoid are two different things. The isolator can be mounted in any position because it is electrically activated and held. The disconnect solenoid is mechanically latched and does need to be mounted pointing UP or DOWN.

By the way - your isolator is a "Big Boy" not a "Bad Boy".:)
softail1450
Explorer
May 29, 2014
Interesting post about the battery switch. I assume you are referring to what is referred to as the isolator? I have a bad boy isolator and it's mounted on the driver side behind the duals in the Chassis battery compartment. And it's mounted on it's side.

I have a new bad boy isolator. Maybe I can install that and check wires with hopes one or the other or both will fix my issue...

Thanks
vance
Explorer
May 28, 2014
Sorry, but I gave you a bad location. The switch is located on the "RIGHT" side behind the duals.
vance
Explorer
May 28, 2014
I have 2007 Encore and a couple of years ago had a similar problem. What I found that was causing the problem was the battery disconnect switch. On my unit this switch (solenoid)is located in a compartment behind the left side duals. If you can locate the switch, I would suggest bypassing it temporary to see if your problem goes away. One other thing that can be wrong with this switch, mine was mounted wrong. To operate properly, the solenoid has to be mounted up or down, it will not operate correctly mounted on it's side.

Hope this helps.
BTPO1
Explorer
May 28, 2014
Peg Leg wrote:
I would agree with the ground connections. I'd start at the batteries and check each ground with an Ohm meter. Since your problem is not congfined to one area, I'd look to supply lines like battery and converter grounds first. Wiggle the wires while the Ohm meter is connected.

I agree with this. Also a cable can look good on the outside and be deteriorated on the inside especially with cheap cables. You really need to wiggle and ohm the cables and look for signs of corrosion. JMO
softail1450
Explorer
May 28, 2014
House batteries were bought in 2012.
Peg_Leg
Explorer
May 28, 2014
I would agree with the ground connections. I'd start at the batteries and check each ground with an Ohm meter. Since your problem is not congfined to one area, I'd look to supply lines like battery and converter grounds first. Wiggle the wires while the Ohm meter is connected.
Roman_Duck
Explorer
May 28, 2014
How old are the batteries? They usually will last only a couple of years. Have a load test done on them to rule out old/weak batteries

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