Maybe you'll get a needed laugh

[lwfox002]

Just took a trip from home to Pigeon Forge, TN. Day two and we lost power to our 12 volt system when not on shoreline power. Went several days without this lights or power to the water pump while traveling between stops. On the way home, my wife finds that, somehow, the coach battery switch had been bumped off. I swear, I checked EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, over and over, but I never thought to check that. Boy did I feel like a dumba$$. Lesson learned.

[creativepart]

Actually… that’s just one of dozens of RV lessons you will be forced to learn. Congrats on getting through that first one.

[lwfox002]

Oh I know. I have had 3 fifth wheels in the past. This is the first motorhome. So far we are happy. Just another learning curve moving from a trailer to a motorhome.

[Cake sniffer]

That’s a good one man, you just rode it out. Our kids constantly hit that switch on our adventurer as well as the compartment and awning lights. For your sake and mine I’m gonna blame it on Winnebago for poor placement.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by Cake sniffer

Our kids constantly hit that switch on our adventurer as well as the compartment and awning lights. For your sake and mine I’m gonna blame it on Winnebago for poor placement.

Well, it's all in how you look at it. It's perfectly placed for putting the RV into storage or taking it out of storage. Same with the other light switches for activating them when you are standing outside.

But it's horrible placement when kids are running in and out of the RV.

Why not fashion some kind of cover that you can put in place when camping and leave it off when storing.

I've hit the house power switch by accident twice in 5 years - always at night. It's always a shocker when everything goes dark. "Boom Boom... Out Go the Lights"

[Cake sniffer]

In our 29b there’s not much room for a cover. They could have sunken the switches in or moved em 5 inches up but that’s $$ and I get it. It doesn’t bother me that much at all just a minor inconvenience.

Think I might just grab the old trusty #2 hand planer I travel with and shave the kids feet down a little each time they flip em off and don’t flip em back on. It’s a win win cause they’re growing and going through shoes like a mule.

[OldSup]

That's great ! Actually I was almost sure that no one lived in Pigeon Forge. All they do is work there ! High on my list of favorite places to visit.

[MadMaxWinny]

That's the main reason I installed a spring clip with a flashlight above that bloody switch!

[Grapehound]

Recently I brought our 40 ft. motor home to our brick and mortar home for storage. The house batteries were on their last leg and showing only 9.5 volts. I plugged in the MH and it did not charge up the batteries at all. For a while I could charge the weaker batteries and they would charge up to 12 volts.

I thought, "Wow, not only do I have to spring for four new house batteries but also for a new charging system."

My RV tech installed the new batteries and the charging system kicked right into action for both sets of batteries.

I was shocked. What happened? Why did the charger not work when the batteries were low?

He said, "Yeah, for certain charging systems, if a battery is dead or below a certain voltage, it won't charge at all until you can connect it to another battery or somehow bring up the voltage so the charger thinks it's back to 12 volts and then it will start charging as normal again."

Who knew?

[MadMaxWinny]

Most chargers (especially small ones) have a threshold of internal resistance which cannot be overcome. This is why large "jump start" chargers can sometimes overcome this and bring a battery back to "full" charge. Keep in mind that anytime a flooded battery (deep cycle) is driven far below 50% of charge (<12.3 v), you have removed a considerable portion of the remaining life. Flatten out a deep cycle and you have killed ~ 30% of it's remaining life. Flatten out a starting battery, and it's upwards of 50%.

My mentor used to say: "Batteries don't die, they are MURDERED!"

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by lwfox002

Just took a trip from home to Pigeon Forge, TN. Day two and we lost power to our 12 volt system when not on shoreline power. Went several days without this lights or power to the water pump while traveling between stops. On the way home, my wife finds that, somehow, the coach battery switch had been bumped off. I swear, I checked EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, over and over, but I never thought to check that. Boy did I feel like a dumba$$. Lesson learned.

Before I finished the second sentence I knew what it was yup don't ask me how

[skitime]

Reminds me of a situation I ran into at a Flying J outside Denver CO. I was fueling up and started chatting to the RV owner beside me. He asked me if I would know why they had no water when driving. I asked if the water pump switch was turned on? He said what water switch?? I went inside his motorhome and quickly found the pump switch. He thought I was a miracle worker. 😊