Shore power at home

Japerico · 02-10-2016, 12:49 AM

Hi guys I am getting my brand new 3011 ready for our first trip. I plugged the RV into my shore power at home and nothing is working other than to clock on the microwave. No interior lights nothing any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Creativepart · 02-10-2016, 01:06 AM

Check the battery disconnect switch. It's probably in the off position.

Briorick · 02-10-2016, 01:08 AM

You are getting power to the Microwave, have you checked your Converter to make sure all the breakers are switched in the "ON" position. This would be a good start. It's possible they were switched off without your knowledge.

Japerico · 02-10-2016, 01:12 AM

When I turn the battery switch to the on position everything works. But isn't that draining the batteries and not working off of power from the house? With my old RV I would just plug it into the house power and leave the battery switch in the off position and everything would work.

HopHed · 02-10-2016, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japerico

When I turn the battery switch to the on position everything works. But isn't that draining the batteries and not working off of power from the house? With my old RV I would just plug it into the house power and leave the battery switch in the off position and everything would work.

It will not drain the batteries as they are being charged while plugged in by the converter/charger which runs your 12v system such as lights etc.

Briorick · 02-10-2016, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japerico

With my old RV I would just plug it into the house power and leave the battery switch in the off position and everything would work.

Sorry, can't help on this one. I have never dealt with a Battery Cut Off switch. Like you, I have always just plugged them in to Shore Power and Presto..... Have POWER.

I'm going to watch this post, and hopefully learn something NEW myself.

Briorick · 02-10-2016, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HopHed

It will not drain the batteries as they are being charged while plugged in by the converter/charger which runs your 12v system such as lights etc.

Hophed, I have a question for you. If a person has these battery cut-offs and were to remove the battery from the unit, say when storing, will the Shore Power still not work when plugged into it?

I have no clue when it comes to Battery Cut-offs. Now is the time to learn.

Japerico · 02-10-2016, 01:29 AM

Just to make sure I am understanding this. Whenever I am using the RV on any sort of shore power house/camp ground I need to have the battery cut off switch in the on position for things to work frig, lights,microwave and this will not drain my batteries?

HopHed · 02-10-2016, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Briorick

Hophed, I have a question for you. If a person has these battery cut-offs and were to remove the battery from the unit, say when storing, will the Shore Power still not work when plugged into it?

I have no clue when it comes to Battery Cut-offs. Now is the time to learn.

Not 100% sure but I believe you need the batteries to run the 12v system and the converter/charger lowers the voltage from 110v to charge the batteries. Once fully charged the charger will change to a trickle charge.

HopHed · 02-10-2016, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japerico

Just to make sure I am understanding this. Whenever I am using the RV on any sort of shore power house/camp ground I need to have the battery cut off switch in the on position for things to work frig, lights,microwave and this will not drain my batteries?

The frig and microwave is 110v and should run with the switch off. Lights and anything 12v will need the switch on.

Japerico · 02-10-2016, 01:46 AM

Ok I am totally confused, because nothing at all is working other than the microwave when the battery switch is in the off position and plugged into the garage. The minute I turn the switch to the on position everything works great.

benagi · 02-10-2016, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HopHed

The frig and microwave is 110v and should run with the switch off. Lights and anything 12v will need the switch on.

The only thing in our unit that is 110 is the microwave and A/C. Everything else needs to have the battery switch in the on position to run including the fridg. When on shore power our batteries charge in the on or off position. I checked this the first week we had it with a volt meter. Just an FYI

ScottBrownstein · 02-10-2016, 04:54 AM

This is perhaps a "who's on first" discussion. The disconnect switch is actually a 12 volt power switch, just like your "main" breaker is a 120 volt power switch! When it is "off"...nothing in the RV that uses 12 volt will run. When it is "on" everything that uses 12 volt will have power (as long as there is any 12 volt power source)...i.e. if there is shore power or if there is a charge on the batteries and they are physically connected or both. We would all be better off if we stopped calling the switch a disconnect switch and referred to it as the 12 volt POWER switch.

Now, as far as the converter is concerned, all RVs run the converter independent of the position of the 12 volt power switch but you can't tell if the converter charges the batteries with the 12 volt in the off position and you can't confirm this without a voltmeter. If the 12 volt power switch is off and there is shore power connected and the voltage on the batteries is more that 13 volts, then your converter charges the batteries when the 12 volt power switch is off! The only real use for this feature is when your are plugged in and in storage.

However, if you are plugged in to shore power and the 12 volt switch is ON, your 12 volt things will work and...since you are plugged in, your batteries are being charged by the converter (and therefore you are not running the batteries down but rather are keeping them charged.)

In any case, if your batteries have been removed for the winter or for some other reason, you are plugged in and your 12 volt switch is on...your 12V stuff will work since the converter is powered by 120 volt and really could care less if it also needs to charge batteries.

**Bama Rambler** · 02-10-2016, 08:22 AM

The best way to tell if the batteries are being charged when on shore power is to check the voltage at the batteries when plugged in. You should read above 12.7 volts if the converter is charging the batteries.

Whether the converter supplies 12 volts to the unit when the disconnect switch is off all depends on how it wired into the circuit. It could be wired so that it's like Scott said, a power switch that kills all 12 volt power to the unit, or it could be wired so that it just disconnects the batteries from the circuit and allows the converter to still supply power to the unit.

GL1800Rider · 02-10-2016, 09:16 AM

Just leave the cutoff switch on all the time unless you are going to be someplace where you are not plugged in to 110 or the generator running. The only time I turn mine off is if I have to leave it overnight at the dealer for repair so the parasites don't run the batteries down.

Even though your fridge is elec/gas it requires 12 volts to operate as do most of the thermostats for the A/C. To check the thermostat on your Forester turn the on/off mode switch to off so nothing is showing in the display, disconnect your shore power and turn off the switch....next push either the + or the - button and if it still has power the current temperature will display. I have not tried this yet in mine yet because it is always on shore power at home unless I am exercising the generator.

**wmtire** · 02-10-2016, 09:39 AM

As others have correctly pointed out already, it depends on how it is wired. The generic Forest Rivers online owners manual for their Class C's (located below)......

Forest River Manuals

...... state the battery cutoff is for "storage" use only.

TURBS · 02-10-2016, 09:43 AM

Op
With the unit plugged in and the disconnect on it will not drain your batteries, it will in fact charge them.

2015 Columbus 320RS
2008 2500HD Duramax
2015 nights camped "34"

ScottBrownstein · 02-10-2016, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TURBS

Op
With the unit plugged in and the disconnect on it will not drain your batteries.

2015 Columbus 320RS
2008 2500HD Duramax
2015 nights camped "34"

X2! Absolutely correct...but when turned off will the converter charge them? Guess, without any specific information from FR, we will all have to find out for ourselves. To make matters worse, we all tend to refer to them as FR, but in fact there are multiple divisions making multiple products and we really don't know if wiring standards apply in a cross division manner.

TURBS · 02-10-2016, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottBrownstein

X2! Absolutely correct...but when turned off will the converter charge them? Guess, without any specific information from FR, we will all have to find out for ourselves. To make matters worse, we all tend to refer to them as FR, but in fact there are multiple divisions making multiple products and we really don't know if wiring standards apply in a cross division manner.

Only way to know is try it and check voltage at batteries..

2015 Columbus 320RS
2008 2500HD Duramax
2015 nights camped "34"

Creativepart · 02-10-2016, 10:20 AM

Wow, all this info.

It's as simple as this. When the RV is in use the RV Battery Cutoff should be ON and when the RV is in storage it should OFF.

That is all.

Your RV has a Converter - it converts 110v to 12v and powers all the 12v items on your RV. So when plugged in to shore power or running the genset the converter is powering all the many 12-v appliances, outlets and power sources.

When you are not supplying 110v to the RV your house batteries power all of the 12v items on the RV.

Your Converter is also a charger - and as a separate function it charges your house batteries.

So, all you need is to keep the battery switch in the ON position any time you want to use the RV and keep it off anytime you want to store the RV to keep parasitic losses from running down the house batteries. (Storage assumes you are not plugged in to show power)

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