Learning RV Electrical Systems from a Corgi’s Perspective

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Barooo! That’s Corgi-ese for Hello from Lindsey with my Weekly Bark Report. I want to bark at about Learning RV Electrical Systems. I’m really really excited cuz I got to go to a neato RV Main-ten-ence Course that The Texas RV Professor teaches all over the country. (You think he’d get me a big ole cowboy hat? I think I’d look mitey sty-lish. I may be Welsh but I could pull it off.)

Acorse just gotta let ya know, I’m probably gonna bark about this for awhile cuz Mr. Cooper has soooo much to teach about our movin’ home and I got really excited learnin’ all this stuff. Just makes me want to wag a tail over it, IF I had one.

But alotta the stuff was over my head, and as a low rider like me, that’s not too hard to do. If ya know what I mean. BOL! (bark out loud)  And Mom helped me out puttin’ it in a way I can know, so you can know too. K-I-S-S she calls it. Hmmm….

Lessee, I think I want to start with some a the harderd stuff.  Somethin’ called the electrical systems in our movin’ house. Wow, dudes, did you know there are 3 different ways that make our house work?! I thought mom and dad just flipped a switch and it all worked.

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Here I am checking out the 120 & 12-volt panel

I found out when we want to use stuff like the TV, mom wants coffee, dinner in the microwavey thing, roof air on to keep me cool, that it won’t work unless that big plug outside is put into that steel pole.  Kinda like you guys have in your stick built house ‘cept you don’t need to plug in outside to gets your stuff to work.

It’s called 120 volt system. Lotsa campers call it Shore Power. The Professor said it’s called that cuz it runs 120 volts of electricalcity thru the wires. That kinda stuff needs the 120 volts in order to run. This is the stuff the electrical company will charge ya for so they can make money.

RV Battery Issues

Then there’s something called the Chassis System. It has thingys called battrees that run that system. Dad calls it SLI (Starter, Lites, Ignition) System. Ours has these thingys, one under the hood and two others by my entry door. They could also be in a bin like on those big buses.

When we had our towing home, Dad used the battree thingys from our truck to run this stuff.  So so when dad puts the key in, it makes our house start up, turns on the lites so Mom and Dad can drive in the dark and it makes that click, click, click sound when we turn a corner.

Which brings me to the 3rd system. This one is called the Coach System or House battrees. Some of your moving homes may have 4, some may have only 1. Whatever you have it has to total 12 volts or stuff like the RV frigerators, potty fans, lites on walls and cee-ling, and furnace won’t work.  Then you get cold, can’t see, and your food can get smelly.  Eeeew!  

Mr. Cooper said the piggy bank needs to be full and all hooked together to make enough juice to use that stuff in your RV.  Made perfect scents to me. (Get it? Smelly food? Ha! Sometimes I crack myself up!)

Phew! Barkin’ about all this electricalcity stuff can make my doggy brain get fried. Bark, do I hear you ask, is that 120 or 12 volt brain fry and what’s the difference?  Stay tuned. Subject for another time. Right now I need a good “snap” (a short nap). 

Lindsey out.. 

PS – You can leave a comment, or ask a question, and I will bark back at you!

10 comments

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    • Joe on January 21, 2020 at 2:01 AM
    • Reply

    Three fuses in breaker box not getting power but everything else is.water heater isnt,cargo lights,power to lp .breakers good fuses good checked wires good tight no burning.just no power could it be relay.

    1. Hi Joe!

      It sounds like you are going to have to start at the batteries and check the wiring from that point with a voltmeter to see where you lose your 12-volt power to the fuse panel if it is not coming into those circuits.

    • Michael McKee on October 18, 2018 at 4:35 PM
    • Reply

    something is draining the house batteries on my class c…..removing all of the fuses from the panel does not alleviate the issue….any help??

    1. Hi Michael!

      Thanks for stopping by our website!

      I am assuming you are discussing a situation that occurs when you are not plugged into shore power. How old are your house batteries/battery?

    • Roberto on October 20, 2017 at 7:19 PM
    • Reply

    Hi Howard, I don’t know how to post here. If you have an answer please let me know at my email.
    I have a 2007 Mini Vista Cruiser. All the 12 V power on the curbside went out (Fan, ceiling lights, electric step, Outdoor over the door lights. Roadside 12 V power OK. Found 1 bulb 12 V burned. Replaced. Did not work. All fuses checked. Reset all the breakers. No luck. Please Help. Thank you so much!

    1. Hi Roberto!

      Even though fuses may appear to be good, don’t assume so. Use a continuity tester to be sure. Also, you may have a loose wire behind the fuse panel that could be a problem. Remember, RV’s are rolling earthquakes and things do loosen up due to travel. If that is okay I would start tracing the wiring from the fuse box to the affected systems. Give that a look and see what you find. Best wishes!

    • Corinne on September 15, 2016 at 4:29 PM
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    Help- have been plugged into house 50amps for 2 wks now & all of sudden can’t start the RV? Brand new batteries (4) so why dead? Microwave/lights work & we “think” everything is ok with water, converter, so If we just charge them, is there a possibility it could harm something if there is another problem? Don’t understand cause just got this RV, selling house and now can’t go anywhere cause won’t start. Thanks for your advice

    1. Hi, Corinne!

      Sorry to hear that! Your RV has a chassis battery system and a house battery system. Which batteries did you replace, the house batteries of the chassis batteries? Being plugged into 50 amp service for most RV’s will not charge the chassis batteries which allow you to start the RV.

      Can you provide a little more information?

    • Francis on June 11, 2016 at 10:26 AM
    • Reply

    Will the microwave work if the inverter is bad

    1. Hi, Francis!

      If the microwave is plugged into an inverted circuit, and the inverter is not working properly, I would not use it as you could damage the unit by feeding it low voltage and/or high or low-frequency AC voltage.

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