no 12 volt power from batteries.

I had the same problem with a 2005 southwind turned out to be a bad ground from the battery to the chassis. My cable was bolted to the chassis and had come loose
Good luck

joebedford wrote:
I still wonder why the inverter is giving 12V

He probably means CONverter.

Someone who doesn't know the difference can easily use the terms interchangeably by mistake.

An INverter is used to generate 120V AC power using 12V DC battery power. It would be unusual for a 1985 RV to have an inverter on board unless it was custom installed by the owner.

A CONverter is what plugs into shore power, takes 120V AC and turns it into 12V DC to power all the 12V goodies in your RV.

MEXICOWANDERER wrote:
TWO SEPARATE WIRES COMING FROM THE BATTERIES.

Another quote for the Mexi ??? file.

TWO SEPARATE WIRES COMING FROM THE BATTERIES.

OP:
Do you have an inverter or are do you have a converter?
1985 model I would say it is a converter. The 12 volts you see would be coming from the converter.

I still wonder why the inverter is giving 12V

Fuses usually ATO or ATC plug-in. 3-30 amps plastic, different colors. does your test LIGHT light up when you ground the test light clip to ground/negative then touch the test light tip to fuses and connections? You have a BAD CONNECTION someplace.

START where the ground CABLE runs from the batteries to the frame. Take IMAGES WITH YOUR PHONE. Then disconnect and wire brush and sandpaper till bright then reconnect. DO THE CONNECTION AT THE RIG'S FRAME!

THEN do the positives. One at a time. Shiny clean. This is at the batteries.

How's your lights now?

The inverter is not the only place that battery power goes to. You apparently have a separate connection to the 12V distribution panel, which is not at all unusual. This connection very often has some sort of a disconnect solenoid switch in it to shut off the power to the RV for storage. This is sometimes called a "salesman's switch" for reasons that I'm not entirely certain of.

On my motorhome, there's a little toggle switch to control this solenoid near the entry door, with one side labeled "use" and the other "store", and a red light that illuminates when in the "use" mode. This is a momentary switch; it springs back to the middle, and only activates the solenoid to turn the power on or off. Most have something very similar, though of course the location of the switch could be most anywhere.

There is probably also a fuse or a self-resetting circuit breaker near the battery for the wire that leads to the 12V distribution panel. This would be separate from/in addition to the fuse for the inverter wire.

It's possible that you have a wire that is just plain not connected to the battery but should be. I'd take a careful look for one hanging around loosely in the battery area.

Do you have power on both sides of that battery isolator??

daytrader wrote:
I have done that, that's why I'm stumped. have continuity through all wires and fuses. I'm missing something, but don't know what

Don't check for continuity- check for power, using the battery as a ground. If power is getting to the panel.....