Where is the inverter?

[benhamliz]

I am the 3rd owner of my 1983 Winnebago Motorhome.The original purchase document list an inverter.I have read thru all the manuals and cannot find where it is placed in the motorhome. Where is it normally placed. Thanks for any advise on this.

[Morich]

First warning is that lots of small things get changed on RV, so it may/may not still be there and the drawings are not online for that far back but in 90, there was a small 100 watt inverter located in a compartment above the passenger side, so perhaps look there?

[benhamliz]

Thanks so much Richard, I will do the search...

[creativepart]

In a 1983 RV any inverter has to be a tiny one. Perhaps to run a TV and nothing else. I would not think of it like any current inverter in a current RV.

1983 is just before the first IBM PC was introduced for $5000 and 2-floppy discs. And these really were floppy 5 1/2” discs. It was 12-years before the internet started to use graphical browsers.

It is likely a totally worthless piece of ancient electronics.

[Morich]

Confusion!!
Did you mean 1983 or 1993, as the info in your personal info gives 1993 and I based info in the other post on that?
Winnebago changes slowly but ten years may made major changes happen. The info does say it was only a 100 watt inverter and that really isn't too mcu use but finding it might give a good place to plug in a better, bigger one?
One like this may be what you have:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart...4786/102391592

But one like this with heavier wiring will let you use it a lot more for not much more money:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Modified-...7?athbdg=L1700

Lots of details to work out before changing but something to think about----if you can find what you have now!

From 1990 we get online drawingsa, older we do not!

[Morich]

Three places to get info:
https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm for where and what you may have on the RV

For plumbing:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...m/Plumbing.htm

And wiring:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ram/Wiring.htm

Lots of info there with lots of questions, so come back soon if confused as that is what makes a great forum, lots of questions!

[benhamliz]

Hi Richard, Sorry for the confusion ...My MH is 1993 Winnebago Vectra. I will correct my profile. Thanks for catching it. Many thanks also for all this great info...I do have all the original manuals (a huge pile) and will go thru to see if I can find the printed schematic.
I will be tackling each of these important issues...engine, propane, generator.water.

I paid $12,000 for this MH so am going to spend some money on all the parts that need upgrading.
I already put on 7 new tires and engine was serviced ($4600)but have now found an issue with leaky coolant in the transmission so it is back in the shop. Apparently the labor to repair this is intense with removal of many parts to get to the faulty part. Cost estimate $2000.

[Morich]

Okay, no problem with the date. My fingers are often on the wrong keys!!
But with the new info, there is a bit of better info on where you might expect to find an inverter. There is a wiring installation diagram showing it in a compartment over the passenger side. In that compartment, you may also find an electrical cover with a coax fitting and a small button. If you find it, it may be that the plan was for you to add something electrical like a dvd payer, plug it into the small inverter and connect to the TV using the coax connection!

Part of the reason you may also need to find ths connection is that the small button is used to connect power to a rooftop antenna if using it for over the air Tv, or turn that opwer off and then the coax may lead to a place to connect cable TV and that connection may be someplace in something like the wetbay where you connect city water???/

Bingo! I just stumbled into finding more info when looking at how the coax might run. This is a link to the coax drawings and there are 7 pages of different layouts for different versions of your RV, so I migh let you look it over and see if one fits what you have and it may then let you look at how the wiring to VCR/DVR, etc and the box with lots of buttons may connect:

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...993/108285.pdf

Sometimes I need to look at the actual equipment to understand what the drawings mean to tell me!Not always as clear as we might like.

[NeilV]

Which model Vectra are we talking about? In the mid 90's they could be gas or diesel on a Chevy, Ford or Spartan Chassis.

On the gas chassis you would want to check out the rear cross member visible from inside the rearmost basement compartment when looking toward the front especially if the coach came from or was driven in a Northern Salt Belt State in the Winter as that corrugated member tends to develop stress cracks where it passes over the chassis frame rails as the other basement frame components start to rust. You may notice a slight hump or buckling in the floor as you walk by the bathroom toward the rear bed or see some compression of the head liner where the wall that goes across the back of the coach.

On the gas chassis you may also have JetAir rear suspension which was also used for leveling the coach. The compressor should be in the rearmost compartment on the drivers side and it should be checked for its condition since when they get weak it will take the coach longer to react to things like cross winds, etc. JetAir is still in business and will be able to assist with getting parts such as airbags, ride height valves, etc.

On the Chevy it will be a P30 with the infamous manually inflated front air bags. The front sway bar bushings on those will need to be checked since with the narrow wheel track on the P30 it will already be more prone to sway. I ended up putting a heavier RoadMaster swaybar on my 1995 Vectra 33RQ to help with this.

Be cautious of the brake systems an ensure that the calipers are all free and well lubricated with a good quality brake grease. I trusted the mechanics at a service center to do this and ended up loosing my Vectra to a right front wheel fire while driving on the highway.

The inverters on those most often would be just for the TV and Entertainment Center and upgrading that one can be difficult since you would have the run heavier 12 volt wiring from the battery or perhaps which will be a difficult run up inside the passenger side window frames. There should be a rocker switch for the inverter near the antenna power switch in the compartment next to the TV on the passenger side near the TV input selection panel.