LP problems, no furnace no water heater

[Undercover_Poe]

I picked up on 05 forest river last year, we have never RV'ed in it yet. I'm trying to get the heat to kick on and trying to get the water heater to fire but no luck. I have all the paper work, the heater is a SUBURBAN SW6D, SW6DE, SW6DM or a SW6DEM according to my owners manual. It's says this appliance does NOT have a pilot. It's equipped with an ignition device which automatically lights the burner. Same for my heater, it's a suburban NT125s, NT16s or NT20s according to my manual. I have filled both propane tanks, replaced the regulator with a new one and got two new whips from the tanks to the new reg. I can light the stove with a match but I can get no reaction from the water or the heat. I can't even get the fridge to come on. I'm charged with my battery and plugged into the house using only 20 amps. Any help with any of these would be appreciated. I'm trying to figure out where to start. Below is my water heater for reference taken last year when I drained it.

[John_Joey]

You can Google this and there are a bunch out there, but for future reference. That's why I hate to throw money at something until I know for sure what the problem is. Good job on finding the loose wire. Better at home then on the road.

[Undercover_Poe]

westend wrote:
Well done rookie, lol! 😉

This is a good example of how a meter can lead to a proper diagnosis. A meter should be in the toolbox of every RV owner, IMO. The problem is that folks that have never owned one are in fear of using one, the fear of the unknown. The reality is that learning the various functions of a meter is easy and it can lead to prompt diagnosis of failures in the two electrical systems of an RV. A meter is also useful to diagnose exterior light failures which are powered by the tow vehicle power.
There have been Forum member that have posted electrical problems and torn apart a whole furnace replacing parts as they go because they don't want to use a meter.

Glad to hear the fix was simple.

Op here. I've never been afraid of a volt meter. I have to have it to Maintain my 5 Hondas ranging from 1966-2001, my ski nautique and my garden tractor. Once someone suggested DC problem I had to rule the battery out thus my $89 "waste" even thought I knew the old battery was fine. And then I said it's just a matter of tracing out the path. Once I had confirmed 12.63 volts coming in from the primary battery load carrying conductors I said, ok. I'm good to here now where does it start to break down. A second later the disconnected wire was obvious!! The seller didn't even know why that wire would have been removed as he has been trying to coach me along with you all. So thank you RV FORUM very much for pointing me in the right direction. I will not be returning the battery, the old camper battery will now go in my ski boat as the old battery I took out failed last year at time of winterization. I was happy to see a date sticker of sept 2003 on it. 12 years on the old battery. I think I got my money's worth out of that one!! Happy camping and back to moto' s and fining a proper tow rig!!

[Almot]

Now you can take new battery back to the store. 12.42 of the old one, while indicating that it's far from being fully charged, should still be enough to run DC devices. After you've learned how to take care of battery, you'll be ready for a new one.

[westend]

Well done rookie, lol! 😉

This is a good example of how a meter can lead to a proper diagnosis. A meter should be in the toolbox of every RV owner, IMO. The problem is that folks that have never owned one are in fear of using one, the fear of the unknown. The reality is that learning the various functions of a meter is easy and it can lead to prompt diagnosis of failures in the two electrical systems of an RV. A meter is also useful to diagnose exterior light failures which are powered by the tow vehicle power.
There have been Forum member that have posted electrical problems and torn apart a whole furnace replacing parts as they go because they don't want to use a meter.

Glad to hear the fix was simple.

[Old-Biscuit]

Well that 15A Fuse Load wire was the one Identified as the REEFER/FURN. #4
Looks like the Water Heater is feed from that fuse also



Fuse #7 & #8 are 7.5A but label shows #6 & 7/8????

It would help you in future if you went thru those fuses and correctly ID them & relabel ALL 8 of them

[Undercover_Poe]

OP HERE!! Great success!!
I picked up a new battery today and it measured 12.64
Volts my lousy old one was only Measuring 12.42v so I changed the and and
Actually pulled the cover of the breaker panel. Once I sat down with my volt meter I found a wire that was loose. Wait it's not Even connected. Once I connected it. The heat fired. The water heater fired and I'm getting a reaction from the fridge. The one I'm pointing to with my screw driver

[John_Joey]

smkettner wrote:

Undercover Poe wrote:
OP here. I had a few problems with my replies. I leave the battery on a concrete floor in heated basement and use a piece of 2" rigid insulation under it. I also had the battery on charge while trouble shooting the camper. Wouldn't that simulate a perfect battery?

Sure as long as voltage gets to the actual item or appliance.
Need 10.5 to 15.0 volts for RV stuff to operate.

Back to just playing the odds here. The items that are not working all have computer boards that measure the voltage. For example if the voltage is too low to run the furnace fan fast enough to vent the propane gas out, the furnace will not fire.

How you stored the battery was good with the foam. I would still look to make sure the plates are covered with (distilled) water. If they are exposed then that's a problem (might not be the real cause, but still a problem.)

Now that you have the meter out, I would check the voltage coming into the computer board of the furnace. Should be the red wire. This will tell you if you got power, and if you do how much. My memory was wrong with the 12.5, it is 10.5 for the furnace to work. Less then that and the fan does not spin fast enough to vent the gas.

spent two days in freezing weather (the town/park lost all power) before my furnace hit the 10.5 magical threshold. You think I would remember that number after that little adventure. :S

[Old-Biscuit]

Remove the cover panel on test for DC on those terminal lugs.......

Even if you reversed the battery cables and blew the Two 40A Reverse Polarity Fuses the converter would still provide your RV with the necessary DC Voltage.

Blown Reverse Polarity fuses protect converter/charger from incorrect battery install. They do NOT prevent converter from supplying the DC Dist Individual Fuses

So check those 40A fuses just so you know battery can be recharged from converter and that Battery can supply DC Dist w/o converter.

But you need to test that converter DC output right at those terminals and the lead/load sides of those fuse clips. No DC on lead side of those fuse clips.......bad board

DC Voltage requirements for propane appliances to operate is 10.5V to 15V (fridge panel lights will illuminate down to 4.5V....IF there is DC)

[time2roll]

Undercover Poe wrote:
OP here. I had a few problems with my replies. I leave the battery on a concrete floor in heated basement and use a piece of 2" rigid insulation under it. I also had the battery on charge while trouble shooting the camper. Wouldn't that simulate a perfect battery?

Sure as long as voltage gets to the actual item or appliance.
Need 10.5 to 15.0 volts for RV stuff to operate.

[Undercover_Poe]

OP here. I had a few problems with my replies. I leave the battery on a concrete floor in heated basement and use a piece of 2" rigid insulation under it. I also had the battery on charge while trouble shooting the camper. Wouldn't that simulate a perfect battery?

[Undercover_Poe]

Undercover Poe wrote:

John&Joey wrote:

Undercover Poe wrote:
... I assumed the battery isn't really full of life. It's probably old. Should I unplug from shore and try a new battery?

I always hate throwing money at something trying to fix an unknown problem. First I would take a look at the water level in the battery. I once had a rig where it boiled mostly away over the winter while I was plugged in. When I went to pull in the slides they did not work. I guess 13.2 off the converter wasn't enough after all without a good battery in the system.

So check the battery, top off if it's needed (Google it if you don't know the correct procedure,) then leave it plugged in to shore power overnight. Disconnect your battery and check it with the meter. Google volts for a battery and the charts will come up for state of charge. Wouldn't putting a charger on it simulate a prefect battery?

Your gas appliances have 12v gas safety features. If you have less then a certain voltage (I think it's 12.5v) the safety features will not allow them to run. So odd that all of your appliances won't work, your gas stove (that doesn't have 12v safety on it) does. So playing the odds, you need to figure out what they all have in common which is the battery.i did put a charger on the battery to simulate a perfect battery

Might not be it, but why make mountains out of mole hills in the beginning of troubleshooting.

[Undercover_Poe]

John&Joey wrote:

Undercover Poe wrote:
... I assumed the battery isn't really full of life. It's probably old. Should I unplug from shore and try a new battery?

I always hate throwing money at something trying to fix an unknown problem. First I would take a look at the water level in the battery. I once had a rig where it boiled mostly away over the winter while I was plugged in. When I went to pull in the slides they did not work. I guess 13.2 off the converter wasn't enough after all without a good battery in the system.

So check the battery, top off if it's needed (Google it if you don't know the correct procedure,) then leave it plugged in to shore power overnight. Disconnect your battery and check it with the meter. Google volts for a battery and the charts will come up for state of charge. Wouldn't putting a charger on it simulate a prefect battery?

Your gas appliances have 12v gas safety features. If you have less then a certain voltage (I think it's 12.5v) the safety features will not allow them to run. So odd that all of your appliances won't work, your gas stove (that doesn't have 12v safety on it) does. So playing the odds, you need to figure out what they all have in common which is the battery.

Might not be it, but why make mountains out of mole hills in the beginning of troubleshooting.

[John_Joey]

Undercover Poe wrote:
... I assumed the battery isn't really full of life. It's probably old. Should I unplug from shore and try a new battery?

I always hate throwing money at something trying to fix an unknown problem. First I would take a look at the water level in the battery. I once had a rig where it boiled mostly away over the winter while I was plugged in. When I went to pull in the slides they did not work. I guess 13.2 off the converter wasn't enough after all without a good battery in the system.

So check the battery, top off if it's needed (Google it if you don't know the correct procedure,) then leave it plugged in to shore power overnight. Disconnect your battery and check it with the meter. Google volts for a battery and the charts will come up for state of charge.

Your gas appliances have 12v gas safety features. If you have less then a certain voltage (I think it's 12.5v) the safety features will not allow them to run. So odd that all of your appliances won't work, your gas stove (that doesn't have 12v safety on it) does. So playing the odds, you need to figure out what they all have in common which is the battery.

Might not be it, but why make mountains out of mole hills in the beginning of troubleshooting.

On edit:

BTW, when you stored the battery inside was it on a concrete floor?

[Undercover_Poe]

After work today in going to pop the cover off and start Voltage metering everything I can touch. Starting with the main pos and neg leads. Found this in the manual.