Friday, October 10, 2014

Wondering Why I Have RV Problems?

Dang, nothing is going to plan.  This morning I planned on getting my RV inspected since the Texas state vehicle inspection sticker had run out.  I know, if I don't drive it anywhere it doesn't need one, right?  Well, my registration runs out this month, also, and you need an updated inspection sticker to get a license, or at least I heard that was going to be the way it will work in the future.  Well, the dang thing wouldn't start.  I turned the key and nothing happened, nothing at all.  No click or anything.  Dead, dead, dead!!  The control panel says everything is OK, but nothing else works, that is, nothing that pertains to driving down the road.

I guess I need to go check some fuses.  We had a "brown out" yesterday and it took me awhile to get to the breaker boxes and turn off the main switches.  Maybe that blew some fuses in the RV.  You know voltage fluctuations can cause damage to sensitive equipment.  The steps still go up and down when you open and close the door.  I plugged it back into the grid after the brown out was over.  I will have to unplug it, and see what else does not work or what does.  That will tell me if the house batteries are OK.  They are way older than the engine batteries and still are working well.

Now, the weather man says that there are a lot of scattered rain storms around our area.  My son called from only few miles away and he said he was driving through some heavy rains.  Being that it is Friday and Friday traffic is always bad and that it may rain, it may not be the best day to take my RV into town.  Now, you all have a great day, you hear?

8 comments:

  1. First thing I would do is check the voltage of the chassis batteries. Engine don't work off the house batteries. A brown out would not effect the battery systems or any of the 12 volt systems.
    There's a possibility that you have a "battery boost" button on the dash. It parallels house an' chassis batteries. Just a thought. Good luck.

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    1. Thanks BB, I will do that tomorrow. If the brown out did cause the trouble, it could be real bad and thus, expensive.

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  2. When that happens on a car or pickup and the batt's ok, it's usually the neutral switch, don't know if you got any similar such device on a diesel pusher that prevents startup unless the shifter is in the proper position. Heck, I'm just fishing, I've never been in one of those RV's. Good luck on finding the problem and may the sun shine on plan B.

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    1. I will look at that as a possibility. I am afraid it is much worse.

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  3. I took our car in for the annual inspection a couple of days ago. It didn't expire until November but since we'll be leaving in October and not coming back until December I thought I'd better get it done. The rig isn't due until December so it should be fine. Ohio doesn't require inspections and this is our first time to renew in Texas... all kind of new to me. Hope you get the rig figured out soon... time y'all got on the road ;-)

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    1. Every state seems to have different rules about inspections. Some don't have any at all. Glad you got yours taken care of.

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  4. You do not mention a surge protector. I have one that also protects against high and low voltage and other issues. I will not plug in without it. I needed it just this last weekend when I lugged into a state park with poor power. Good luck:)

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    1. I don't have one, but I guess I should. This incident happened while my RV was parked in my own driveway plugged into my 50 amp plug on its own 50 amp circuit breaker. Never thought that a brown out would harm it. I had it unplugged from the power source before the electric came back on. I also turned off the main circuit breaker for the house during the brown out and didn't turn it on until it was over. Nothing was damaged in the house.

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