No cabin battery power

[dogdog1]

2000 Class C Ford Conquest

I'm researching this for a friend who's off the Internet right now. A few days ago his wife started out from CT to VA. Everything was working the day before but on the day she left there was no battery power in the cabin. She spent a couple cold, dark nights before reaching VA last night. Everything seems to be working on Shore Power but still no battery. So, a couple of questions:

They replaced the two primary batteries late last year but forgot the one under the stairs - what is the function of this third battery?

In reading these topics I see the batteries referred to as Chassis, House, Coach etc - can I assume everybody is talking about the same batteries or is there some difference between them?

It appears there are NO wiring schematics to be had for these RV's? Is this correct and most everybody just traces out their own peculiarities?

Thanks for any info.

[Jpcoll01]

I know this is a very old thread but I have the same issue on my 06 BT Cruiser. I have 13.6 at the battery and on both sides of the 3 breakers down by the battery until I try to start the gen, at that point everything goes out ans I get 3.2 at the breakers even though none of them are kicked (does anyone know of an automatic circuit breaker somewhere on the coach? The circuit will reset itself after an unknown amount of time (or sometime after unhooking the battery ans re-hooking it).

[Frutza]

Take your batteries and get them load tested, your seeing a surface charge, the batteries show good voltage until loaded, check the voltage and turn the headlights on, you should see the same thing,
Pull the batteries out, charge them, then most auto parts stores will do a free load test.
Surface charge, a battery will build a charge just sitting there not being used, but has no amps to it

[Jpcoll01]

This makes sense. The 13.4 could be coming from my solar charger which would have been coming into the batteries the whole time I was checking them and then completely discharged when load applied? They are less than a year old but anything is possible. .

Edit: was worth a shot, I unhooked the solar ans batter was showing 12.9 which makes sense. Applied load and something kicked underneath and everything went out. It battery showing 12.9. Another thing is that my inverter which is wired directly to battery is showing the same voltage while the panel is showing less. I have been tripping, waiting (auto reset) trip again for the past couple days ans think there is an auto reset breaker that is completely useless at this point. (Just like any breaker or GFCI will go bad after being repeatedly tripped). Any ideas where that might be?
Also, I heard a click when I pushed the gen start, I assume that was the relay clicking.

[Jpcoll01]

After the breaker (assuming at this point) kicks then everything downstream of the battery goes to 3.2v on that circuit so the panel won’t come on at all as it is expecting 12v. Is anyone aware of anything behind the electrical panel.

[DougH57]

2002 Conquest Lite TT (19’). Bought used put new converter and battery in and the camper sat unused 18 months while repairing. Plugged into shore power All the AC and DC work. Output at converter 13.75v but at the battery it’s battery voltage (12.48v). Unplug from shore power no DC. Voltage at converter 0.45 v. I’ve traced the red wire from converter to battery and all good. All fuses good. The DC system works when plugged into tow vehicle. I took the camper for a short ride to test the WDH. When I returned and plugged into shore power AC power worked but none of the DC/interior lights. The outside DC light works. Unplug from shore power plug into tow vehicle the interior lights work but the outside light does not. Also when on shore power the carbon monoxide alarm does not glow green and I get a low beep (from the alarm?). I’m completely at a loss.. Any direction/help is appreciated. Oh, The DC panel was not changed when I bought a new converter.

[THenne1713]

DougH57, Sounds like disconnect at either: 1) REVERSE POLARITY FUSES at converter (cause= battery installed backwards?); 2) BATTERY SWITCH OFF; 3) 12vdc CIRCUIT BREAKER TRIPPED (located within 18" of battery, mine under step w/ battery); 4) Wire at battery dropped/ hidden and NOT connected? LUCK (TIP: Start NEW thread next time, you tapped into one from 2011, LOL)

[Bravehrt87]

I’ve spent the last three days trying to figure out why my coach couldn’t work on dc alone. I looked for a tripped breaker, especially the “manual breaker” mentioned in some posts but couldn’t find any on my 2010 Yellowstone class c. Fortunately I didn’t destroy my dc fuse panel, under the foot of the master bed, I found 3.7 v there. My batteries were reading fully charged (I have installed solar panels) and am plugged into shorepower most of the time. Eventually I decided I had to check the batteries instead of just reading the monitor. Each battery read 6.5 or so, but did not equal 12 across outside terminals. The jumper wire connecting the positive and negative terminals between my two 6v deep cycle batteries looked good and tested good for continuity. I used a temporary connection to replace the jumper and lo and behold I now have 13.7 volts and everything works including starting the generator. I could only start it for the last couple of weeks if I had the motorhome engine running. I didn’t know I didn’t have battery power because I was plugged Into shorepower so everything worked off the converter until I unplugged the cord and everything went dark! I also connected my charger to the batteries to test if they were good or needed charging. They were both fully charged so that narrowed it down for me. I cut the insulation off the old jumper, one end had a crush type blue plastic o ring connector, the other end had a plain o ring connector that had electricians tape wrapped around it. The wire was good, the issue was corrosion on the end with the plastic cover the wire inside the connector was all greenish copper corrosion, killing the continuity. I had expected the taped end to be bad but it was fine. Anyway, I have correct voltage and everything works again! Hope this helps somebody, especially if you’re using two 6v batteries. Another place to check!