Forum Discussion

lbaldwin's avatar
lbaldwin
Explorer
May 20, 2013

No electric in rig - although plugged in - bad batteries.

I was camping this weekend at a fairgrounds with only 15-20 amp svc. I have a 50 amp plug (2000w heart freedom inverter/convertor) which I ran to a 30 amp then to a 20 amp plug. My house batteries are possibly 'bad' and were not fully charged up - would not take/hold charge.

Should my inside electric work - if the batteries are shot? Or is it possible that I have transfer switch / convertor / invertor issues?

when I would 'go thru' the "setup" on the remote panel - it would not show AC coming in. I later had it running off the generator and still would not show AC coming in. The house AC did run for awhile with the generator running although I had no 'electric' elsewhere.

Thanks for any assistance.
Class A
  • Chuck_Gail's avatar
    Chuck_Gail
    Explorer
    May 20, 2013
    Battery provides 12 volts for lights, water pump, fridge control board, and usually water heater CONTROL board.

    Wall outlets, A/C, microwave, fridge (if not on gas), and water heater (if not on gas) use 120 VAC. Converter in RV also uses 120 VAC to charge 12 volt batteries.
  • Lobstah's avatar
    Lobstah
    Explorer
    May 20, 2013
    The 12VDC circuit usually powers things like control panels, etc. If you lost 12VDC, you wouldn't have power to the control panel.
    If you had NO 12VDC, I'd suspect the charging circuit. That will usually put out 13.5vdc even if the batts are bad.
    Put a meter on the batts while plugged in and see what you get. Many times, if the batts go bad, the converter/charger isn't far behind because it gets overworked trying to charge batts that can't be charged.

    Jim
  • Alan_Hepburn's avatar
    Alan_Hepburn
    Explorer
    May 21, 2013
    While you've got your meter out, switch it over to AC, set the scale to something above 120VAC and check the 15/20A plug at the pedestal. If it's powered up, plug in your 15-30A adapter and check its output; again, if its powered up, plug in your 30-50A adapter and check once more - if you've still got somewhere around 120VAC at the output of your 50A adapter, then you know you've got power at least up to your shore power cord. Then it's just a matter of following it in to your breaker panel.
  • Medico's avatar
    Medico
    Explorer II
    May 21, 2013
    My MH has a disconnect switch, does yours. Check it. My electrical system trips off if the coach voltage system gets too low. Once I get to a good charging system, I sometimes have to reset the tripped system. Perhaps yours does as well.

    This tends to indicate if the house batteries are bad, it will trip this system.

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