Open Roads Forum

Print  |  Close

Topic: 12 volt..no lights
Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/04/17 07:17pm

We have 2008 Beaver 45 ft MH that we are living in during a house remodel. It's very cold. We have lost the ability to get 12 volt into coach. This means no ability to flush toilets..no lights. My DH is at wits end he checked everything he can thing of. The batteries are good. Please can anyone help?

Posted By: ScottG on 01/04/17 07:22pm

If the batteries are indeed good (12V present?) then you need to trace the wiring back to where the voltage ends. Starting at those battery's, follow the wiring. You may have a loose ground, a failed DC breaker or something else but he'll have to follow the wiring.

Posted By: Germania on 01/04/17 07:23pm

Has he tried operating the house battery disconnect switch.Do you hesr anything clicking when operating switch

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/04/17 07:39pm

I'm going to ask. Thank you so much for quick replies. Everything was working fine until he started the dang engine this morning. Then everything went off when he turned engine off.

Posted By: Germania on 01/04/17 07:43pm

I would try starting engine again assuming you still have chassia 12v,could be an intermittent solenoid .

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/04/17 07:57pm

The house switch cannot operate cause it's 12 volt. The engine starts just fine. We just don't know what we are missing. Again I thank you for helping to sort this through. We have some space heaters. We have the coach plugged into 5o amp. [emoticon] At one point the auto start tried to start generator which said we had low voltage but we apparently arent getting juice back to batteries.

Posted By: Tinstar on 01/04/17 08:04pm

I'm guessing your battery disconnect switch got turned off. OR, if the generator won't start, your house batteries are dead.

If the genset won't start, I would start the engine, use the booster switch on the dash then start the genset. Let it run for an hour or so and then recheck the batteries.

">Never pass up a chance to go somewhere">

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/04/17 08:07pm

The generator does start. He did exactly what you said but still can't get 12 volt to kick in. We are baffled and can't get an RV help out here till Monday. Sigh

Posted By: gatorcq on 01/04/17 08:29pm

converter bad ?
Converter converts 115 AC voltage to 12 Vdc ?

Dale & Susan
DaGirls II Rv - Dakota & Tilly Traveling Companions.
2008 Alfa Gold, 2015 Ford F150 XLT
Roadmaster and Air Brake System
1600 Watts, Magnum Inv/Chg&Solar
800 Lithium Battery
DaGirslRV Blog

Posted By: bdpreece on 01/04/17 09:05pm

Is the salesman's switch by the exit door on? If so you need to find the relay that it controls and check the voltage on both sides to see if it is working. Or you could just jumper across it and see if the 12 volts is restored. These relays have a history of failing.

Brian, Loretta & Daisy (Golden Retriever)

2008 Holiday Rambler Endeavor PDQ40
2014 Ford Explorer toad


Posted By: Tinstar on 01/04/17 10:42pm

You need to address if the 12 volt disconnect switch is turned on and working. We're kinda stuck until that is answered.

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/05/17 12:48am

From what my husband says, the switches are working. As I said, everything was working just fine this morning. He started the coach up just to run the engine like he does every week...and suddenly we had no 12 volt. He has a battery charger on, trying to go around the 12 volt. I think he checked all fuses. But when daylight breaks we will try again. It's very cold and maybe the cold got to something. For now we have the 110 space heaters and flashlights. I can't thank you all enough for brain storming with us.

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/05/17 06:38am

Tinstar wrote:

You need to address if the 12 volt disconnect switch is turned on and working. We're kinda stuck until that is answered.
Husband doesn't see switch for 12 v. Could anyone tell us where that might be located, It's a 2008 Beaver Patriot Thunder.

Posted By: bullydogs1 on 01/05/17 07:39am

This is a very well known issue for the Monaco brands..the relay went bad for the 12 volts..This relay can be bypassed...it is located in the driver run bay compartment under driver..you will see red cable going into it from battery line and power coming out of it..BYPASS by connecting the two together...and all should come back on...the relay should be replaced eventually and no harm in bypassing it...very well known issue.

Stuart and Stella Denning
2016 Entegra Aspire 42RBQ
The 3 Bulldogs (Daisy, Sylvie and Stashie)
2018 Equinox Diesel (TOAD)


Posted By: enblethen on 01/05/17 07:54am

Are you plugged into shore power?
Does any of the 120 volt items work? Microwave?
The battery disconnect would/should have no effect if plugged in.
Starting and running genset should provide power to the converter or inverter charger. This would have same effect as shore power as the automatic transfer switch should change the 120/240 source.
You may have tripped a 120 volt system circuit breaker not allowing power to the converter or inverter charger. Try resetting all the 120 volt circuit breakers. Turn them all off, applying light pressure toward off, then turn on main breaker, followed by branch breakers one at a time.

Bud
USAF Retired
Pace Arrow
2003 Chev Ice Road Tracker


Posted By: Sam Spade on 01/05/17 08:30am

YOU NEED A MULTIMETER.
EVERYONE who owns an RV needs one.
This is a necessity, not a luxury.

Where abouts in Fla. are you located ??

Posted By: CA Traveler on 01/05/17 09:14am

The salesman switch or battery disconnect switch should be located near the door. It operates a latching solenoid which if off would have your symptoms. This part has 2 larger wires and 2 smaller control wires. It looks like a "normal" solenoid with a cap on one end which is the latching part. This is a common failure part.

Use a voltmeter and if you have 12V on one side and not the other then you can bypass the solenoid and replace later or not at all.

My prior RV turned off all house power with this switch while the current RV does not turn off the refer.

2009 Holiday Rambler 42' Scepter with ISL 400 Cummins
750 Watts Solar Morningstar MPPT 60 Controller
2014 Grand Cherokee Overland

Bob


Posted By: CA Traveler on 01/05/17 09:16am

Here's an example: Click.

ie It turns off 12V house power. The charger remains connected to the batteries and continues to operate. Your inverter or charger/inverter is likely not be connected through this solenoid.

Posted By: tropical36 on 01/05/17 09:18am

RN Enigma wrote:

Tinstar wrote:

You need to address if the 12 volt disconnect switch is turned on and working. We're kinda stuck until that is answered.
Husband doesn't see switch for 12 v. Could anyone tell us where that might be located, It's a 2008 Beaver Patriot Thunder.

Most are located near the entrance door, so take a very good look there.
As said, this 12v house sw. is undoubtedly somewhere and has to be checked first, before proceeding any further.

"We are often so caught up in our destination that we forget to appreciate the journey."

07 Revolution LE 40E_Spartan MM_06 400HP C9 CAT_Allison 3000.

Dinghy_2010 Jeep Wrangler JKU ISLANDER.

1998 36ft. National Tropi-Cal Chevy Model 6350 (Sold)


Posted By: CA Traveler on 01/05/17 09:27am

In my prior rig the solenoid was located on the front electrical panel and in the current rig it's in the rear. If you see labeling like switched and unswitched you may be close.

Unswitched might power the gen or refer.

Buy a digital voltmeter for under $20 or sometimes free at HF and start checking voltages. Are you near anyone who can help? Otherwise you might want to buy more flashlight batteries.

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/05/17 09:49am

You guys are fantastic and very appreciated. We are so cold but he is off trying everything said here. Going to start with bypass. Will keep you posted. A million thanks.....

Posted By: btcruzer on 01/05/17 10:18am

Bring some lamps from the house.

The Good Times are Coming !

Posted By: bullydogs1 on 01/05/17 10:27am

There is another thing if the bypass doesn't help...Monaco had a manual turn switch in the battery compartment in addition to the relay.These normal turn switches could also go bad and you can try and connect the two 12 v points together there to see if there is a connection..or use a voltimeter to make sure 12v is going into and out of switch.

Posted By: Ivylog on 01/05/17 02:22pm

I would start by holding the battery boost switch down which is on the dash near the headlight switch. I would do this with the engine running and maybe the 12V lights will slowly come back on... may take a minute. Next with the boost switch held down, operate the the salesman/batter cutoff switch one time as explained next.

The 12V battery cutoff switch by the door should be 1"X 2" and labeled "Battery Cutoff" but it's hard to accidentally shut it off... takes two steps to make it operate. Did the lights come on? If not thentThe solenoid this switch activates is not working and on my 04 Dyunasty it's in the back/engine run box. It has large red wires going to it and while you operate the switch he should be able to hear it clicking. If he does not have 12V on each side of these large wires, connecting them together should solve your problem.

This post is my opinion (free advice). It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
Sold 04 Dynasty to our son after 14 great years.
Upgraded with a 08 HR Navigator 45’...
Posted By: enblethen on 01/05/17 04:32pm

I haven't seen any response to my question if they are connected to shore power?
Haven't seen response has to what happens when running genset.
Batteries are out of the loop for powering rig when on shore power or genset. The converter or inverter/charger would be supplying poweer and do not rely on the battery disconnects.

Posted By: Tinstar on 01/05/17 08:39pm

RN Enigma wrote:

Tinstar wrote:

You need to address if the 12 volt disconnect switch is turned on and working. We're kinda stuck until that is answered.
Husband doesn't see switch for 12 v. Could anyone tell us where that might be located, It's a 2008 Beaver Patriot Thunder.


It is usually just a toggle switch located by the front door. On my Monaco it is on the panel just to the right of the passenger chair. The switch faces the front of the coach. It can easily get bumped by an elbow or your butt on the way into the m/h.

I'll go out and take a picture of mine. Yours will likely look similar. I'll post the picture here in just a bit.

Posted By: Tinstar on 01/05/17 09:03pm

Notice the two switches on the little panel. The one on the left is labeled "Step Lights" and the one on the right is "Battery Cutoff". Yours may be labeled differently (12 volt, Battery Disconnect, etc).
Like I said earlier, it's east to bump it accidently.

[image]

Posted By: Ivylog on 01/06/17 07:46am

If you read all of her posts, she says they are on 50A shore power.
If the battery disconnect switch/solenoid is off/not working there will not be any 12V in the coach reguardless of the 120V sources... shore or generator.
While a Knight has a cheap/simple rocker switch for the battery disconnect, I'll bet a 08 Beaver Thunder will have one more like mine which is near impossible to accidentally hit.
[image] width=500

Posted By: enblethen on 01/06/17 08:05am

If they are really plugged into shore power the converter or inverter/charger would power the 12 volt system. The batteries would only be charging.
You need to be looking for a 120 volt issue to the converter or inverter charger.

Posted By: rgatijnet1 on 01/06/17 08:23am

On my Monaco I have TWO high amp 120 AMP fuses that connect the house and chassis batteries to the rest of the coach. One is in the engine compartment and the other is near the inverter/charger. They are connected to the large red 12 volt power cables. I guess it is possible for one of these to blow and cut off the 12 volts.

Posted By: prstlk on 01/06/17 08:28am

You can call their customer help line at the number noted if you have a volt meter it will be helpful. They are very good and in the Pacific time zone.
Same thing happened to me. In the battery compartment just past the manual cut off switch is a black thingamabob about the size of a deck of cards. It's an in line breaker. If there is leg sticking out one side just push it back in. If it keeps popping you have a short somewhere.

Let us know

1877-466-6226

2007 Keystone Challenger 5th wheel, Ford F350 Super Duty 6.7L Diesel, Short Bed, 2 dogs and the cat and rolling down the road full time since May 2014


Posted By: tropical36 on 01/06/17 08:33am

enblethen wrote:

I haven't seen any response to my question if they are connected to shore power?
Haven't seen response has to what happens when running genset.
Batteries are out of the loop for powering rig when on shore power or genset. The converter or inverter/charger would be supplying power and do not rely on the battery disconnects.

We used to have an old 87 pace arrow that was wired like that, but most all nowadays that I know of, go through the battery switch.
Probably still being charged, but all 12vdc in the coach, will be off, so no lights, fridge, gas furnace or anything else that uses 12vdc control power will work, regardless of whether or not it's a 120vac unit or not. All 120vac, without 12vdc control power will work as always, such as the outlets. I carry a table lamp or two for this purpose and for a just in case.

Posted By: Tinstar on 01/06/17 10:16pm

Have you found the problem yet RN Enigma,,,,, or have you frozen? I am curious and I am sure as are others.

Posted By: Busskipper on 01/07/17 06:26am

Tinstar wrote:

Notice the two switches on the little panel. The one on the left is labeled "Step Lights" and the one on the right is "Battery Cutoff". Yours may be labeled differently (12 volt, Battery Disconnect, etc).
Like I said earlier, it's east to bump it accidentally.

[image]


FLip the SWITCH.

Or check the invertor - then battery connections.

Let everyone know how you did??????????????????

Busskipper
Maryland/Colorado
Travel Supreme 42DS04
GX470-FMCA - Travel less now - But still love to be on the Road
States traveled in this Coach
Posted By: Germania on 01/07/17 02:20pm

forgetaboutit!!!

Posted By: tropical36 on 01/08/17 09:59am

Germania wrote:

forgetaboutit!!!

I'm not the OP, but could you kindly tell me, what this statement means, so that I might derive some benefit from it?

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/08/17 12:32pm

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice. We finally got an RV tech out here. The inverter was bad and needs service. We apparently overloaded it. We now have a battery charger on batteries. What a major cold fiasco it was for days but we at least have things working now.

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/08/17 12:34pm

Thank you everyone for your helpful advice. We finally got an RV tech out here. The inverter was bad and needs service. We apparently overloaded it. We now have a battery charger on batteries. What a major cold fiasco it was for days but we at least have things working now.

Posted By: RN Enigma on 01/08/17 12:36pm

Tin star, I especially want to thank you so much for giving us all your kind advice!

Posted By: enblethen on 01/08/17 01:57pm

Glad you were able to get problem identified.

Print  |  Close