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When on House batteries, some outlets don't work

KeepMoovin
Explorer
Explorer
2003 Fleetwood tioga 29V. When I'm on Shore power or generator, all outlets work. When I am on the aux batteries (with inverter on) only a couple outlets have power. I've checked the gfi's and they're all good. Fuses good and no thrown breakers. My limited electrical knowledge leads me to believe the dead outlets somehow get switched off when power switches from shore to house. How can I check for this and how can i get all outlets to work on house power? Thanks in advance!
12 REPLIES 12

KeepMoovin
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks Tom.

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
KeepMoovin wrote:
One more question..well two...Is there a reasonable way to "switch" circuits so I could choose which circuit was used? Or can one outlet be added to the existing circuit?


anything can be rewired. the question is how easy, how appropriate, etc.
make yourself a suicide cord and light up the world. within amp limits.
bumpy

tatest
Explorer II
Explorer II
KeepMoovin wrote:
One more question..well two...Is there a reasonable way to "switch" circuits so I could choose which circuit was used? Or can one outlet be added to the existing circuit?


That depends on the location of the inverter. If near the batteries and AC panel, some rewiring may be reasonable. It the inverter is near the outlet, fed by a long 12 volt run (common on small entertainment inverters) rewiring can be a lot more difficult. Once you move away from the electrical panel, much of the wiring would be run in channels cut in the foam core of your wall panels, not very accessible after the panels are skinned. Sometimes wiring runs go through cabinets, and can be easier to get to.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B

Sam_Spade
Explorer
Explorer
KeepMoovin wrote:
2003 Fleetwood tioga 29V. When I'm on Shore power or generator, all outlets work. When I am on the aux batteries (with inverter on) only a couple outlets have power.


Highly likely that it was done that way on purpose.

Best not to mess with it and just use ONLY the outlets that are hot when running on the inverter. It has a very limited current output, probably, and can't run many things at the same time.

And no probably not an "easy" or "reasonable" way to add an outlet to the inverter. A heavy duty extension cord might work.

What exactly IS it that you want to use that you can't plug into one of the outlets that DOES work off the inverter ??

P.S. And sometime soon you should find out what the capacity of the inverter IS so that you will know what things you can and can't use in those outlets......because they probably are fed by the inverter ALL the time, shore power or no.
'07 Damon Outlaw 3611
CanAm Spyder in the "trunk"

KeepMoovin
Explorer
Explorer
One more question..well two...Is there a reasonable way to "switch" circuits so I could choose which circuit was used? Or can one outlet be added to the existing circuit?

KeepMoovin
Explorer
Explorer
Tom, VERY helpful!!! Thank you SO MUCH!

KeepMoovin
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks a million for the very helpful responses!!!!

tatest
Explorer II
Explorer II
At the level of a Tioga, you do not have a whole house inverter. Most likely the inverter powers a single circuit for entertainment items that may be used going down the road. Note that the circuit on the inverter will always use the inverter, even when plugged in.

Whole-house inverter/chargers (often 2000 to 4000 watts) and high amperage alternators to power them, with high capacity battery packs to back them up, appear on diesel pushers and sometimes large high-end gas motorhomes, rather than on entry-level C's. There are a few models of small motorhomes built as all-electric (Roadtrek's ETrek for example) but for a Tioga to have a whole house system someone would have had to install it aftermarket.

If you are considering a use that needs whole house power from batteries, this will involve replacing the existing AC/DC converter with a high output inverter-charger, rewiring the AC panel to feed most circuits from the inverter (maybe everything except air conditioning), and finding a place to put at least four large golf-cart batteries. You might also check whether your chassis has an option for a second alternator, or a higher output full duty cycle alternator; an option like this is usually available for the emergency vehicle package on van cutaway chassis, but does not come as part of the RV package used for C motorhomes.

Whatever you do to beef up the 12 volt side, it is still likely that you will need to be plugged in, or running your generator, to use air conditioning. There is just not enough power available from a 12 volt system readily carried on a C to run A/C; the ETrek does it by using an eletric-vehicle size battery pack and falling back on an engine-powered auto-start generator.
Tom Test
Itasca Spirit 29B

kerrlakeRoo
Explorer
Explorer
You will have to invest some time tracing runs if you just want to be sure, but most likely they selected only to feed a couple of outlets from the inverter. I know for us one for coffee (dinette table) and bedroom.

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
on my chieftain it was only the front outlet for the tV that was powered by my invertor.
bumpy

jerseyjim
Explorer
Explorer
INverters only power a few (2-4?) outlets. Mainly for Mr. Coffee or something like that. maybe even the front TV. But be careful...it can drain your coach batteries in just a few hours...if that long.

g'luck!

pconroy328
Explorer
Explorer
I can only share that I've heard it's common for inverter fed circuits to be few. For example, our '16 Greyhawk only has a 1000 watt inverter. Thus it feeds just one outlet.

Find your inverter and see how many circuits are coming out.