Help! No house power!

[Robert perryman]

Hello everyone. I have a 1998 Fleetwood Tioga. Short dirty version is, while connected to shore power, everything in the house works, however, when dry camping, Nothing works. Auxiliary battery was tested, and was holding 47% charge. Autozone stated good battery just needed charge. Bought battery charger, charged battery to 100%, 12.8 volts, verified with voltmeter. Hooked up charged battery, still no power to house. No generator, pump, lights, etc. . We checked all fuses, all good. Checked inteli power converter, it was good, putting out 13.6 volts. Called multiple rv shops, all are booked up for the next month. In California now, travelled from Michigan. With Family, including four teenagers whom are sweating their butts off in the back. Please help. Appreciate any advice or tips to help us get power restored.

 

[BGMAC]

IT sounds like the master fuse for the house batteries is popped. That would keep the batteries from charging and not supply power to the 12 volt stuff. When plugged in the inverter is supplying 12 volt power. I am not sure were your fuse is, but mine is close to the batteries. It looks like a junction box (kinda). Some have a button or lever you can reset. Some maybe the melting type and have to be replaced. If you have the button or leaver type you can reset it. If you have the melting type you would have to replace it.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Hello everyone. I have a 1998 Fleetwood Tioga. Short dirty version is, while connected to shore power, everything in the house works, however, when dry camping, Nothing works. Auxiliary battery was tested, and was holding 47% charge. Autozone stated good battery just needed charge. Bought battery charger, charged battery to 100%, 12.8 volts, verified with voltmeter. Hooked up charged battery, still no power to house. No generator, pump, lights, etc. . We checked all fuses, all good. Checked inteli power converter, it was good, putting out 13.6 volts. Called multiple rv shops, all are booked up for the next month. In California now, travelled from Michigan. With Family, including four teenagers whom are sweating their butts off in the back. Please help. Appreciate any advice or tips to help us get power restored.

I am very suspicious that your battery is actually bad. Was it "load tested?" Voltage under load is what is important. A bad battery can show acceptable voltage with a multimeter or other non-load tester. When under load, however, that same battery will drop to an unacceptable voltage. There is a specific load-testing protocol and not all auto parts stores either know how to do it or have the equipment to do so.

Also, check battery terminals for tightness and corrosion. Either will cause the problem you describe.

How old is the battery and has it been left in a discharged condition for any significant period of time? If so, that will result in damage to it. Just because it appeared to take a charge, a damaged battery won't actually hold much of a charge; it just appears to do so.

Welcome to RVF; sorry your first post had to be a call for help.

TJ

 

[Robert perryman]

Manufacture date of battery was 5/18. I just bought my RV last month so there is a good chance that the previous owner didn’t care for the battery correctly. I checked all fuses and they are all good. Thanks for the battery suggestion. I’ll pick another one up and see if that solves the problem!

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

If you can, have your existing battery load-tested first. No need to replace a good battery if something else is wrong. You might also check your inverter for an open breaker. Most inverters have a built-in breaker; usually a small, round button. You mentioned "four teenagers" and if any of them use a hair dryer when other electrical items are running off the inverter, it is possible to pop the breaker on the inverter. That could also interrupt the battery charging system.

TJ

 

[BGMAC]

Manufacture date of battery was 5/18. I just bought my RV last month so there is a good chance that the previous owner didn’t care for the battery correctly. I checked all fuses and they are all good. Thanks for the battery suggestion. I’ll pick another one up and see if that solves the problem!

The fuse I am talking about is not the you would find on the fuse box. This one is generally a pretty big on like a 60-100 amp fuse.
if your holding any charge your 12 volt lights should work, so the battery maybe good. I am thinking you may not have found the correct fuse.
it would look something like this:

HIGH AMP-60A MANUAL RESET SURFACE MOUNT TYPE 3 42V DC MAXIMUM

HIGH AMP-60A, MANUAL RESET, SURFACE MOUNT, TYPE 3, 12-30 VOLTS

www.elecdirect.com

or this

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7823105?cid=paidsearch_shopping_dcoe_google&gclid=CjwKCAjw34n5BRA9EiwA2u9k3x18H7kIKP-F9aefqyQgW1-08DXOWe4L0O9ai4zZ5psXjurdpwjULhoCARkQAvD_BwE

 

[Robert perryman]

OK the new battery was not the problem. Luckily I bought it from Costco so I quickly returned it. With that circuit breaker be in the battery box, or would it be where all the other breakers are? I have not located it yet, but I might just be missing it. Thanks for your help though, and I will keep looking With that circuit breaker be in the battery box, or would it be where all the other breakers are? I have not located it yet, but I might just be missing it. Thanks for your help though, and I will keep looking.

 

[BGMAC]

I would follow the battery leads and you should find them along the way.

 

[MapNerd]

It’s often (but not always) in or very close to the battery box. As @BGMAC says, just follow the leads coming off the batteries and you’ll find it. It may be concealed by a plastic cover that the leads appear to join up to or go inside of. Pop that cover off and you’ll find your big boy fuse. They can be difficult to discern if bad or good. Always a good idea to have a second one on hand so once you find it, locate another one and swap it out.

I had this happen to me a few months back and swore the fuse was good. Swapped it out just to see and voila.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

most RVs have a switch to disconnect the house batteries for storage of the RV. This switch may have been turned off by mistake.

 

[redbaron]

I just helped a fellow camper a few days ago. He had similar issues as yours. Turned out the converter/charger breaker had tripped. This is the 120v breaker in the panel. Looking at the breaker, it did not show as being tripped, but when he went to cycle it, there was no resistance turning it off, and then it had resistance going back on. The battery immediatly showed 13.5v, indicating it was taking a charge.

Check the converter / charger breaker, then check the output voltage of the charging circuit. It should exceed 13.0 volts.

 

[Robert perryman]

After tons of troubleshooting, my wife and I pretty much figured out it had to be the box near the battery (which ended up being the disconnect relays). Seeing we weren’t 100% sure we took it to a mechanic while passing thru Bakersfield. He basically bypassed the switch so we could continue our journey. Everything is working now so luckily the kids don’t have to sweat much while we trek through Arizona! If you ever need an RV mechanic near Bakersfield, contact RM’s RV shop. The owner and his brother fit us in and helped us, even when all the places around quoted appointments 4 weeks out. I really appreciate all the help y’all gave us in this forum. It’s greatly appreciated!! Hopefully we have minimal to zero problems until we get home ?. Thanks again