Lights not working on shore power

[bearnval]

This might be a totally amateur question, but that’s because I’m a total amateur. I just got this old 89 Ford Chinook and I have been trying to use the warm days (which are few and far between around here) to get things figured out. The other day I plugged in the shore power to check that out. The frig, the air and the microwave worked fine. Also, there’s a couple ac outlets that work but none of the interior lights work. They work off 12 volt when the house battery is switched on. Is that the way it’s supposed to work or is there something I need to be doing differently? I checked the fuses and they look fine. Thanks for any advice. I realize mine is a little older than most of them I read about on here, but then it was only thirty eight hundred not thirty eight thousand.

[chin_k]

If you look at the manual, the lights (as well as the fridge in DC mode) works off the 110 AC- 12 DC converter while on shore power. I suspect that maybe you should check the breaker for the converter again, or maybe the unit (part of the brown panel) itself is broken? I think your water pump is not working either if the converter is not on.

[Blue~Go]

Hmm, well, the things you listed that DO work, are all things that run off the AC breaker panel (the fridge can run off either, but will run off AC when you are plugged in. The lights are supposed to work when plugged in (at least on my era, slightly newer but it's what I can speak to), but they run from the DC panel (at least all the Chinook house lights on my Concourse are DC lights). On my rig as wired originally, the AC panel and DC panel were right next to each other in what I call "The Brown Box" -- sort of an electrical center often in RV's.

I *think* the way the brown box works is that something inside it powers your DC circuits from shore power, but that said, I have never tried to run the DC circuits (even plugged in) without a house battery. Do you have a DC house battery hooked up?

So anyway, to me that's the big clue: What you have working are AC things (110 volt power/shore power/generator power if you have one). What is not working (lights) are DC powered. You may need to have a house battery (may be under hood, but not the starting battery) in order for those things to work, even plugged in, but I'm not positive about that. Especially since yours is a tad older.

You could also check your DC fuses (the Chinook "house" ones, not the Ford ones). Also (but this should only apply to outlets, not lights), there may be a GFI outlet first in line of all the outlets. Mine has that right by the rear door, and when I first got the Chinook they didn't work when I plugged in until I thought to re-set the GFI outlet (but then they worked fine ever since, so it doesn't have to be a sign of some big issue if you have to re-set it).

There are likely some variations in your era rig from some of the newer ones, but if you are comfortable doing a bit of sleuthing, we can probably help you figure it out. (Of course don't work on AC "guts" when plugged in, make sure you are comfortable with any electrical work you do, etc.)

BG

[kdarling]

Do you mean the house lights, water pump, furnace, water heater don't work unless the house battery switch on the dashboard is turned on?

If so, that's normal. They all use 12VDC enabled by that switch.

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I assume you have a separate 120VAC to 12VDC converter / charger. Its output is connected only to the house battery circuit, not directly to the DC fuses.

The house battery circuit is then only connected back to the DC fuse box when enabled by the dash switch.

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So, whether or not you're plugged into shore power, the DC circuits are only powered if the dash house switch is turned on. But note that the 120VAC powered charger is probably always connected to the house battery.

120v shore/gen -> Converter/charger -> 12v House battery -> Switch -> 12v Fuse Box -> 12v house circuits

120v shore/gen -> 120v Breakers -> 120v house circuits

Kev

[chin_k]

Ah! Sorry that I missed that the converter is not connected to the DC line directly. In my rig, when you plug in shore power with the front overhead switch is in the "Storage" position, the buzzer will sound. This is why I always turn the on the overhead switch when I plug into shore power. So if everything works when you turn on the battery, that is the way it should work, and there is nothing wrong with your Chinook.

[kdarling]

PS. You might also have another dash switch which connects house and starter batteries in case the starter battery needs a boost. On some models this allows the alternator to charge the house batteries as well. Later this was all automatic and the start boost switch became momentary, but Chinook's designs were less sophisticated back then.

Does your switch set look anything like this 1991 version?

1991 dash switch

1991-dash-switch.jpg (22.23 KiB) Viewed 7483 times

PPS. Owner's manual for 1989 can be found at: http://chinookrvclub.com/chinookmanuals.html although it doesn't detail everything. Thing with Chinook is, they were constantly fiddlling with the electrics.

Manual says there's a battery switch is by the driver's seat (I know some were). Is yours?

It also claims the converter will run the 12V lights no matter if the battery switch is on or not. But we already know that's not true. Unless you have both a house switch and a battery switch??

Do you have a second battery under the hood?

[Scott]

I just plugged in and checked mine. It's a little different.

120v -> charger -> 12V+ in brown box -> switch -> bank

DC loads are hot if the charger is on; battery is not required.

No dash switch here. Just a 300 amp 1/4 turn switch under the driver seat separating the house battery from everything else. That's how it was originally, anyway.

I think this is the 4th time I've plugged in, and I forgot how loud and annoying that charger is. I want that real estate for other things .

[kdarling]

Scott, thanks. Very interesting.

The description of how your 94 Premier worked, is just like the description in the 1989 manual. And even in some 1994-5 manuals.

Yet my 94 Concourse and that of others, does not have the floor battery switch. Instead, we have a lower dash mounted switch to the left of the steering wheel.

As someone once noted here, the Chinook wiring diagrams seem more of a general guide to possibilities, than to absolute correctness

[Blue~Go]

They seem particularly "creative" around the early 90's. Not that they never changed after that, but I can look at a 1997 or 2003 electrical scheme in a Chinook manual, and it's pretty much just like my '99. Still though, electrical is something I DO want them to change as systems generally get better as time goes on (they'd probably have a cracking system if they still made "our" type of Chinooks now).

Scott: I hear you on the space. I make great use of the GIANT hole where the "brown box" used to be on my rig (my components tuck into various places, but are not all together in one big box in prime space).

[kdarling]

I just read a 1995 manual which noted both the battery disconnect on the driver's seat floor, AND a lone boost switch on the dash... a combination of old and new designs.

I'm starting to think that Premiers originally got the old style floor battery disconnect, and their version of the combined Concourse/Premier manual had some page substitutions which noted that knob instead of a dash switch.