Electrical Issue

Took out the 3124KS on its maiden voyage last week. I have returned with an electrical issue that didn't turn up until the day we were pulling out to come back home.

I discovered the problem when attempting to run the electric tongue jack after everything was closed-up. It wouldn't work from the TM's battery, but it worked fine when we got to our destination three days earlier. Before I started hand cranking, I connected the TM to the TV. If the TV engin was not started no power, but when I started the TV the jack worked.

When I picked-up at the dealer we ensured we were getting a trickle charge from the TV to TM . After we got home, I had the TM battery tested and it was fine. Figured out today that nothing works off of the battery, unless it's pulling power from the started TV.

I'm calling the dealership tomorrow for advice, but they are four hours away!

Thoughts on what's going on?

KC
I think I am seeing that nothing is getting 12V power. That means no interior lights, no jack, no water pump, etc. You aren't giving us enough clues. Leon's idea is a good one for starters. The fuse is right at the battery in the positive wire.

we need to know if any part of the RV is getting power and if the battery is charging. Also, do you have 12V power when the RV is plugged into 120V?

[B_and_D]

I'd also check the main 12V fuse right by the battery. We had something almost exactly like this happen to us last year. I don't know how it blew, but it did. This had never happenend before, nor since. We were staying at an older RV park with hookups and I suspect that there may have been something wrong with their electrical system that caused this. I felt kind of "duh" for not checking the fuse, but it had never happened before.

Thanks! Correct, I am not getting ANY 12v power anywhere. I didn't realize, nor notice there is a fuse right at the battery.

Everything works fine when running off of shore power. And since the battery was fine when checked, I assume I'm still getting a good charge from the TV.

The TM is at a storage facility right now, so I can't run out an check the fuse. But when I put the battery back in this afternoon, I didn't notice a fuse in the positive lead. I remember the postive lead had a wire nut that spliced and extra lenght of wire to the positive pole, but saw nothing that looked like a fuse in the line.

Thanks, Leon. I'll run out at lunch today to double check, but based on the picture, I'm pretty sure my set-up doesn't have a fuse. Hopefully it's something I just haven't noticed and is the cause.

[dlajoie]

I had the same problem on my SL. I looked at the barrel fuse as shown in the picture and it looked fine. However, it wasn't. At the suggestion of others on this forum, I replaced the barrel fuse with the blade type and everything has been fine since.

Thanks guys. You were right. It's the fuse! And Leon, I sure didn't notice it. Thanks again for the pic.

I'll try to follow dlajoie's advice about substituting a blade/bus type for the barrel used today.

[Caver]

Originally Posted by KC Dave

I discovered the problem when attempting to run the electric tongue jack after everything was closed-up. It wouldn't work from the TM's battery, but it worked fine when we got to our destination three days earlier.

KC Dave, Glad you found the problem. The electric tongue jack I have recommends that you use a dedicated 30A slow blow fuse directly to the positive terminal on the battery. Is your electric jack a factory install? Mine will occasionally burn out a regular 30A fuse. I've replaced the original 3AG style fuse with the automotive style (ATC). I have a separate fuse just for the jack but the ATC style is not available in slow-blow. I'm considering a circuit breaker.

It's possible that your electric tongue jack burned out the battery fuse. I would recommend putting the jack on it's own fuse. I love my electric jack for a no sweat setup. Ray

Thanks, Caver. Yes my jack is factory installed and does have its own fuse. I did originally check that fuse and it appeared fine. Once I figured out all my 12V fixtures were dead too and Leon taught me about the fuse on the positive lead from the battery I was able to see the battery fuse was blown.

I guess that leads to another question, since all I did was run off of shore power, except for the jack, what would cause the battery fuse to blow?

We had both our battery fuse and the fuse in the thetford toilet (you have to remove the cover along the back of it to get to it) blow as a result of unreliable A/C power in a park on our way out to the Jubliee last year. Haven't had a problem since but it sure is good to have spare fused handy before you have a problem.

Bill