1999 coachman 085sd

Not normal.

My suspicion would be that there is a ground issue somewhere and the charging (12V) current somehow finds its way through the brake lights since they are the bulbs with the highest wattage / lowest resistance.

I would check all ground terminals, especially of the power supply. With the generator off and camper unplugged from 110.

Not sure if you are still on here, but if you were a lot more specific as to exactly how you are "hooked up" to the generator, what battery set up you have in the camper, what converter system you have, and what you are using for a truck hookup to camper it would help.

Are you using the 110 volt output from the generator into your converter, or the 12 volt output?

I just plugged the 110 cord from the tc into the generator plug. I was wanting to see if the A/C worked because when I purchased in March the temps were in the 30s and could not get it to do anything but blow air. Good news was the owner was right and the A/C works. I currently have the entire passenger side siding off and took a couple of the marker lights off in the process so that may be the issue. I am rebuilding all 4 rotted corners and the bottom of the cab over right now with hopes to be done before our trip in July. I pulled the fridge out so I still don't know if it works so hoping it works like the owners said also.

Forgot to mention that I don't have a battery installed yet either so I just made sure the wires were separated and not touched anything.

The brake lights definitely shouldn't be on when you connect to 120V. The external running lights, turn signals, backup lights, and break lights all pull their power from the tow vehicle. Sounds like you may have tied the brake lights into the camper 12V system.

I drew diagrams/schematics for all my wiring. It takes a little time but once you put it on paper it usually makes better sense. They have helped me troubleshoot issues several times. I listed color and size of the wire going to each circuit so I can tell, in most cases, where a particular wire goes.

Until you are sure what connects to what you may want to take a picture with the cell phone so you can keep it straight.

Also, if you post pictures with your question everyone can see what you are seeing.

Sound like you have a fun project started.

Another thought, you may already know this, on the fridge, most newer units require 12V control voltage no matter what system you are running it on. So the TC has to be plugged in or on battery for it to operate on gas or 120V.

If you are familiar with 120V electrical, you can bypass the control circuit to test it with 120V only by making a 120V cord that will plug onto the 120V heating element. It should be below freeze when left overnight. You would still have to test it with the control circuit and gas which requires 12V.

Be careful, it is 120V power.

I haven't hooked anything back up yet and when I bought it we pluged it in to their house but don't remember the outside lights being on but it was daylight so may not have noticed. I just finished the front passenger side corner today and set the fridge back in its hole. It is a dometic rm2551 made in sweden. When you turn it on the auto light just flashes and I don't have any gas so I think that is what it needs right now, not sure if 120v will let it run or not. It just has a auto button I think, cant remember now that I am back in the house. This camper looked new on the inside and the toilet has never been used but sitting for so long has me worried about the fridge and the hot water tank but will be a week or so before I get to that. I will try to get and photo account somewhere tonight so I can add some pictures to the thread. I have a 2017 F250 long bed srw so the cab height was 4" to high and I had to put the camper on pallets to bring it home but the rebuild of the cab over has let me take out the 4" to fix that.

Why wouldn't you just raise the camper by attaching something like 4x8 sheets of rigid insulation foam to the bottom of it to get the overhead clearance rather than making your cabover headroom lower?

burningman wrote:
Why wouldn't you just raise the camper by attaching something like 4x8 sheets of rigid insulation foam to the bottom of it to get the overhead clearance rather than making your cabover headroom lower?

Because in the truck on the pallets that made it barely clear the cab I was at 12'11" and it would not fit in my barn opening of 12'9" so now I can put it in there with out taking it off the truck, loading on trailer, and then back that in the barn and offload again so I can use my trailer. Real PITA!!! Plus that makes the load that much higher and not as stable.

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