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Old 09-26-2020, 10:28 AM   #1
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12volt not working

I have a 2006 Lexington 283.
The 12volt works fine when plugged in to 120v. My batteries are at 13.45v.
When I unplug I lose all 12volt. Any ideas. There has been talk of a 12v breaker but I can't find it.
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Old 09-26-2020, 02:10 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by Gigejdsquire View Post
I have a 2006 Lexington 283.
The 12volt works fine when plugged in to 120v. My batteries are at 13.45v.
When I unplug I lose all 12volt. Any ideas. There has been talk of a 12v breaker but I can't find it.
Your batteries are not at 13.45v because you're plugged into shore power. That 13.45 is the charge from the converter and not a true reading of the batteries condition.
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Old 09-26-2020, 02:34 PM   #3
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Check the battery voltage at the battery when NOT plugged in. If you have 12.6V or so your battery is OK. How old is the battery? The breaker is near the hitch and looks like the photo below.
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Old 09-26-2020, 02:35 PM   #4
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Suggestions for 12 v not working on batteries

Gigejdsquire, I can think of several possibilities.
1. Batteries are actually dead so your 13v is coming from the charger.
2. The battery disconnect switch is off.
3. There is a corroded or loose terminal on the battery switch or the battery terminals.

There is NOT usually a separate breaker for the batteries themselves.

I suggest measuring the battery voltage not connected to shore power. Voltage will be less than 13v without the charger turned on.

Check the disconnect switch for corrosion and tighten all terminals.
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Old 09-26-2020, 02:48 PM   #5
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Check the battery voltage at the battery when NOT plugged in. If you have 12.6V or so your battery is OK. How old is the battery? The breaker is near the hitch and looks like the photo below.
The original poster has a Lexington 283, which is a class C motorhome. What hitch are you referring to, the one on the rear of the motorhome?
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Old 09-26-2020, 08:18 PM   #6
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Sorry I meant to say my batteries are at 13.45 with the camper unplugged.
No 12volt back to my system
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Old 09-26-2020, 08:48 PM   #7
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Sorry I meant to say my batteries are at 13.45 with the camper unplugged.
No 12volt back to my system
That is pretty much impossible since a fully charged battery is 12.6V to 12.8V. It might measure that right after you remove a charger but it won't last long until it settles to the battery voltage range I just mentioned.
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Old 09-26-2020, 10:37 PM   #8
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The problem is I have no 12volt to my system when unplugged. Batteries are new.
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Old 09-29-2020, 11:05 AM   #9
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The problem is I have no 12volt to my system when unplugged. Batteries are new.
Only one way to diagnose.

Disconnect batteries.

Start with a Multimeter at the converter and check for voltage to ground at every connection along the line. You should be able to find the point where you have 12 volt power on one side of a connection and not on the other.

Do not try to diagnose with both converter and battery both connected at the same time.

Most common causes:

Battery disconnect not On, or defective;

Inline Circuit Breaker tripped and needs to be reset;

Broken wire between circuit breaker and Converter;

Blown Reverse Polarity fuses.


There's no magic bullet, you have to methodically trace the circuit, checking for voltage along the way but ONLY FROM ONE SOURCE at a time.
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Old 09-30-2020, 08:04 AM   #10
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Battery disconnect not On, or defective;
I was informed by a member via PM that motorhomes do not have battery disconnect switches, which I suspect may be incorrect, but not positive.

I made a bad assumption that this was a trailer, but since there's so many types and models of RV and this is a general electrical section, it would greatly help if the word "motorhome" was somewhere in the original post.

If there is a battery disconnect switch, this is where I'd look for a problem once the batteries are ruled out.

Use a multimeter set on DC volts and work your way from the batteries back with the shore power off, find where the voltage drops off. This applies regardless if it's a travel trailer, motorhome, boat, car, space shuttle,.....
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Old 09-30-2020, 08:15 AM   #11
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I was informed by a member via PM that motorhomes do not have battery disconnect switches.

Since there's so many types and models of RV and this is a general electrical section, it would greatly help if the word "motorhome" was somewhere in the original post.
And you believe that?
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Old 09-30-2020, 09:00 AM   #12
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And you believe that?
No not particularly, I imagine some have them from the factory, some don't have them from the factory, some people add them after the fact, some don't.

I also believe that regardless of whether it's a switch or breaker or inline fuse or damaged wire or travel trailer or motorhome, they all apply to this discussion.

I also believe that people who find it necessary to send complete strangers snide PM's regarding a topic that they are not even participating in are both arrogant and misguided, especially when a lot of us are very knowledgeable on here regarding mechanical and electrical RV systems. I wonder if Flybob or TitanMike received the same snide PM for mentioning disconnect switches, or if I was the only lucky recipient?

But anyhow, I will now digress and await the next PM from my overly concerned friend, as well as continue to attempt to assist the OP with the issue that they are experiencing.....
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Old 09-30-2020, 10:28 AM   #13
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No not particularly, I imagine some have them from the factory, some don't have them from the factory, some people add them after the fact, some don't.

I also believe that regardless of whether it's a switch or breaker or inline fuse or damaged wire or travel trailer or motorhome, they all apply to this discussion.

I also believe that people who find it necessary to send complete strangers snide PM's regarding a topic that they are not even participating in are both arrogant and misguided, especially when a lot of us are very knowledgeable on here regarding mechanical and electrical RV systems. I wonder if Flybob or TitanMike received the same snide PM for mentioning disconnect switches, or if I was the only lucky recipient?

But anyhow, I will now digress and await the next PM from my overly concerned friend, as well as continue to attempt to assist the OP with the issue that they are experiencing.....
I didn't get the same PM. You must have a "special" friend

If you think about it, a disconnect switch can also take the form of a relay that isolates the the house batteries from chassis batteries, or for that matter even totally disconnect them from the system.
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Old 09-30-2020, 01:55 PM   #14
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Thanks everyone I finally found the problem. Silly me I assumed the battery connections were good because they had put new batteries in before I bought it. When I disconnected the battery cables the positive was corroded inside. I just can't believe they didn't clean them when they put in the batteries.
Thanks again.
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Old 09-30-2020, 01:59 PM   #15
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Thanks everyone I finally found the problem. Silly me I assumed the battery connections were good because they had put new batteries in before I bought it. When I disconnected the battery cables the positive was corroded inside. I just can't believe they didn't clean them when they put in the batteries.
Thanks again.
Glad you got figured it out, chasing electrical gremlins can sometimes be a daunting task.
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Old 09-30-2020, 02:09 PM   #16
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Glad you got figured it out, chasing electrical gremlins can sometimes be a daunting task.
That's an understatement.
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Old 09-30-2020, 02:30 PM   #17
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Thanks everyone I finally found the problem. Silly me I assumed the battery connections were good because they had put new batteries in before I bought it. When I disconnected the battery cables the positive was corroded inside. I just can't believe they didn't clean them when they put in the batteries.
Thanks again.

Just a suggestion, it would be a good idea to clean the battery terminals at the beginning of every season. Perhaps even at the end before winterizing unless they are removed and stored elsewhere.

Lead Acid batteries are noted for causing terminal corrosion and the best way to avoid is regular attention.

Everyone has their preferred method but when I still had Lead Acid batteries in my TT I used the old "scrape/wire brush to shiny metal method".

Some use spray coatings (Krylon Clear was popular for years) and others use various greases. Once you have bare metal to bare metal, and tight connections, the rest is just to seal out the elements and any battery acid that seems to show up on the terminals all the time.

Like I said, everyone has their own method, the real point is REGULAR cleaning.
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