50 amp hookup

[Teamroper]

Question on 50 amp hookup
I’m a new owner of a 2003 ultimate freedom. It needs some work but my question is this; When I plug into the 110 50 amp RV plug I get nothing. I have to turn the engine key on (to the right/clockwise position) and then the power board lights up and I get power.
Is this normal?
What am I doing wrong?

[Goodspike]

What do you mean you get power? I really doubt that turning on the ignition gives you 110 volt power at the outlets.

I would check your 110 volt breakers to make sure they are on. Also usually best to have a device to check the power on the pedestal before you plug in. Finally, often the breaker is turned off at the pedestal when nothing is connected to it.

[Teamroper]

When I am talking about the power I am trying to address power to the RV from the power cord connected to the 50 amp service. Inside the RV on the panel that shows the water levers and power and such, there are no lights on at all until I turn the engine key on. Then the lights come on the air conditioner comes on, the board shows the 50 amp hook up and everything is powered up. If I turn the key off…nothing. If I unplug the cord and turn the key on I get only the battery power

[Goodspike]

Still not clear. Can you run the AC without the key on? Can you plug something into a 110 outlet and have it function?

I'm trying to determine if it's just the display panel that is not being powered, or if you actually have no 110 volt power.

I do find it odd that you cannot check water levels without the key on, but that would be an entirely different issue than if you couldn't run 110 volt devices without the key on. That would be very bizarre.

[Morich]

One of the most common new owner complaints is the battery and whether they are fully charged. One of those things is that the start battery works to operate various solenoids as well as the engine alternator provides some power to things that relate to the RV/coach electrical, so I first recommend making sure all batteries are fully charged and holding a charge.
Just one of those simple early steps which can "cure" what appears to be a problem.
Then if things are still not looking right, give us which Freedom, as there are two, and there are drawings online here:
Wiring Diagrams
Using those drawings we can narrow it down much better than simple guesses as each RV does have different options making for different things to go wrong.

[creativepart]

Sounds like you have a power disconnect that turns on automatically when you start the motorhome. That's SUPER unusual - probably something wrong with the power disconnect solenoid.

You should have a switch to turn on and off all house power. On some early couches it was a switch on the dash board. On just about all current MHs it's switch in the stairwell. There is usually a coach power disconnect switch.

What does your operators manual say? Do you have one?

I found yours on the WBGO website. Here's a link to your Operator's Manual PDF

https://winnebagoind.com/resources/m...3Advantage.pdf

And I found that you have an AUX Battery Disconnect switch in your entry stepwell.

That switch disconnects all of your batteries and the 110v Power to the RV. When that's off everything is off for storage. When it's On, everything is ready to accept power. Keep in mind the switch controls a solenoid that could be malfunctioning.

Here's some screen shots from your manual that show you the location of the switch and the wording about how and when to use it.

[Teamroper]

Thank you so much! I found that! I also found out the the inverter is not charging the batteries and that is why the house only came on when I turned on the engine key. So much to learn and so little time

[Teamroper]

Thank you! I found out that the house batteries were very low and when I put a charger on them, the house worked. It seems the inverter is not charging the batteries

[creativepart]

I believe that you have a converter/charger and not an inverter/charger.

That's a very full featured and deluxe RV... but it's also 17 years old and so is all of the tech included with the RV. And you know about 17 year old tech... it's been replaced and revised twice, at least, in the past 17 years. Just look at phones from 2003.

[Morich]

Lots of things to learn and one small point is what does what on some of the new stuff. An inverter takes 12VDc power from the house batteries to make 110 AC for some of the appliances and some outlets. A converter is the other way and uses 110AC to make 12VDC to power some things and also charge the coach batteries, but unless they is some provision made to also charge the start battery, it may go down during storage even if the RV is plugged into power!
And that is just kind of the start of what can seem a real mess. One of the mind boggling things is that we can find no power on the coach batteries as they are run down but when we start the RV engine, power comes out of the alternator and just to help recharge the coach batteries as we drive, it also closes a solenoid that connects both battery strings together temporarily!
So we get a situation where we have no 12 volt power in the RV but when we start the engine suddenly we have power??? Almost makes a person think the lights inside are working off the engine, doesn't it?
Bottom line is there are lots of funny things in larger RV and they can be a mind bender until we figure what does what. Meanwhile, I make first stop to make sure both set of batteries are good before saying there is another problem. A real problem to be aware of at first is that there are drains on both coach and start batteries that WILL run either down and damage them if we store the RV and don't provide some method of charging each. So be aware that your coach batteries may be somewhat suspect if they were down too far and too long.
Best of luck and it does get easier to understand with practice.
First time on a horse is rough, even if it's a good horse?

[Teamroper]

Thanks, I agree and all good advice.