FIXED! - No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

[Maverick]

I have a fairly new 2012 Landmark San Antonio. A Mystery for RV Detectives. On Shore Power everything works. All lights working. When Shore power is disconnected and battery power takes over no lights will work. Batteries are fully charged and battery disconnect switch is on. Slideouts and jacks all work on battery power but no lights. Checked circuit breakers and fuses. All seem to be okay but fuses are hard to check unless the red lights are working. No red lights on but I dont know how that works. All seem to be okay. Lights were previously working on battery as I was dry camping a few weeks ago. Is there a circuit breaker or reset somewhere that I am missing? Convertor seems to be working as it is making a humming noise. I saw a similiar post but doesnt seem to apply to my San Antonio.

 

[branson4020]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Your 12V fuse panel is protected by a 12V DC manual-reset circuit breaker. The breakers should be near you battery under red rubber covers. Reset the breaker and all will be well.

View attachment 16527

 

[danemayer]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Check something else that runs on 12V, like the furnace. If lights AND other 12V systems fail, that would suggest an interruption between the battery and fuse box. As Bob suggested, it might be a resettable breaker above the battery. I've attached the wiring diagram for the buss bar and resettable circuit breakers, located over the battery. I'm guessing the line to the Converter might branch to the fuse box and as Bob said is probably the one that's tripped.

If the furnace also fails when not plugged in, that would confirm an interruption between battery and fuse box affecting multiple 12V systems. The slides and jacks use the circuit breakers on the buss bar, as marked.

 

[wdk450]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Maverick:
Troubleshooting most anything is a detective job. You take the clues you have along with your knowlege of how the device works to find the culprit (problem). I would strongly recommend you get a voltmeter to help provide clues in chasing down your occasional electrical problems. Even a very cheap one will get you some clues you can analyze. Google "how to troubleshoot with a multimeter" for some training.
My first guess since we have a clue of 12 devices working O.K. on shore power, is that battery power is not getting to the 12 volt distribution system. I suspect the disconnect switch or wiring or battery grounding has a problem. An easy way to check this is to put a voltmeter on the battery with the disconnect switch ON and the AC power to the trailer unplugged. Take a voltage reading of the battery. Now plug in the trailer and take another voltage reading at the battery. If the voltage is higher on the 2nd reading then the convertor/charger is working, the positive side disconnect switch and wiring to the battery is working. Also check that any ground points you come across either cause a 12 volt reading from the battery positive, or read 0 ohms resistance to a known good ground. Otherwise you have a disconnected ground (black wiring).
You should be able to take voltage readings from point to point along the path from the battery to the fusepanel to find the break in the circuit.

Good Luck!!!

 

[Maverick]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Thanks for your reply and attachment. Unfortunately I guess the configuration on my 2012 San Antonio is different from your rig. You show seven terminals at the battery. I have only five and there is no obvious reset button. I studied it very well to no avail. I have looked high and low along the wire path but cannot find any reset. Incidentally, the convertor does not seem to be working. It was a large relay box nearby that I heard humming. I checked the fuses on the convertor and looked for some reset but again could not find any. The only things that seem to be working on battery are the slideouts and jacks. Could it be that the convertor has gone bad? Apparently all the different models have different setups. Need further advice from someone with a similiar rig as mine. Thanks

 

[Maverick]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Thanks for your reply. I have a voltmeter but since I dont really know what I am doing it is just a shot in the dark. I checked the battery as you suggested. With the disconnect switch on and shore power off the reading at the battery is 12.6 Volts. With shore power on and the disconnect switch also on I get the same reading of 12.6 volts. At the convertor I get a reading of 13.6 volts with shore power on. There are five terminal connections near the battery. I randomly checked them with the voltmeter. At some I get the voltage of 12.6 volts and at a couple of others I get 0. There is very limited access to any other connections to check voltage. Almost sounds like a bad disconnect switch. I cant find any resets anywhere that is accessible.

 

[danemayer]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Could it be that the convertor has gone bad? Apparently all the different models have different setups. Need further advice from someone with a similiar rig as mine. Thanks

Even though you have 13.6V at the converter with shore power, doublecheck that the Converter is plugged in. Sometimes the plugs vibrate out of the outlet and need to be replugged and tied.

Also, I think the reset buttons on each terminal are very small. Feel around the terminals, especially the ones reading 0 volts.

 

[TedS]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Suspect that the converter is working, that would explain higher voltage there with shore power on than at the battery with shore power off. The black box that hums is the ac power changeover relay that switches ac from ahore power to generator when a generator is installed and running.
Check voltage from battery neg to output terminal of the dc disconnect switch to verify switch is on and working. If switch is on and working you should measure same as battery voltage.

 

[branson4020]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Each of those "terminals" is a DC circuit breaker. Some are auto-reset, others are manual. The reset button is no larger that the point of a ball point pen. You will need to remove the red rubber covers and feel for it.

Here is a simple block diagram of the 12V electrical layout of your rig (minus the disconnect switch) that may help.

View attachment 16534

 

[Maverick]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Okay, thanks Dan and everyone. I finally found a very small reset button in the battery compartment under one of the terminals. Reset it and we are good to go. Such a simple solution when you know what to look for. Only had the rig for a couple of months so am still learning. Still dont know why that reset tripped but now I know how to fix it.

 

[hoefler]

Re: No Lights in Battery Power in San Antonio

Make sure your battery connections are clean and wrench tight, not finger tight. If you can grab the cable and pull on it and it rotates under the nut, it is not tight. Loose or corroded connections cause increased resistance which means more heat. Heat trips a breaker.