Thanks Mike some really great common since advice!
The unknown dead tester battery! Not too long ago I was checking my Jeep battery as it had sat for about 3 weeks since it ran. I actually have 3 digital meters, (lucky me} One in the RV one in the shop & one in my desk drawer. So while checking the Jeep with the garage meter, it read 12.2 VDC, as I was viewing the voltage it started to increase, slowly till it got to 15.5 VDC. Checked the setting & was set @20VDC. Got the motor home one & now i get a constant 12.2 VDC. Hmmm, my shop meter must have checked too many circuits. Then the light bulb went on, maybe the 9V battery in the meter was depleted! Took out the battery & checked with MH meter & yup it showed 8.8 VDC. New (tested) battery fixed the problem. So if your digital meter is doing weird stuff, might just test its battery!
Thought this experience might help others. We have a Winnebago Travato and recently a number of the 110 volt plugs died. No circuit breaker blown, what the ....After numerous dead ends, turned out that somehow water from the fresh water tank had splashed onto an adjacent 110 plug which was a GFI recepticle. The kicker was that 2 other receptacles were on the same circuit and wired to be protected by the GFI that had tripped. I really thought I had lost my mind, or at least my electrical understanding mind.
Great article Mike! Another valuable diagnostic I use a lot are the little LEDs that are molded into the ends of my shore power cable. With a quick glance, I can see that I have power at the twist lock connector on the side of my RV. Also, my surge protector has a digital display that reads out the voltage, and frequency of the pedestal power and the current I am drawing (very handy to know). You mentioned a “road kit” How about an article on what you recommend we carry in our road kits?
Thanks Mike some really great common since advice!
The unknown dead tester battery! Not too long ago I was checking my Jeep battery as it had sat for about 3 weeks since it ran. I actually have 3 digital meters, (lucky me} One in the RV one in the shop & one in my desk drawer. So while checking the Jeep with the garage meter, it read 12.2 VDC, as I was viewing the voltage it started to increase, slowly till it got to 15.5 VDC. Checked the setting & was set @20VDC. Got the motor home one & now i get a constant 12.2 VDC. Hmmm, my shop meter must have checked too many circuits. Then the light bulb went on, maybe the 9V battery in the meter was depleted! Took out the battery & checked with MH meter & yup it showed 8.8 VDC. New (tested) battery fixed the problem. So if your digital meter is doing weird stuff, might just test its battery!
Snoopy
Thought this experience might help others. We have a Winnebago Travato and recently a number of the 110 volt plugs died. No circuit breaker blown, what the ....After numerous dead ends, turned out that somehow water from the fresh water tank had splashed onto an adjacent 110 plug which was a GFI recepticle. The kicker was that 2 other receptacles were on the same circuit and wired to be protected by the GFI that had tripped. I really thought I had lost my mind, or at least my electrical understanding mind.
Great article Mike! Another valuable diagnostic I use a lot are the little LEDs that are molded into the ends of my shore power cable. With a quick glance, I can see that I have power at the twist lock connector on the side of my RV. Also, my surge protector has a digital display that reads out the voltage, and frequency of the pedestal power and the current I am drawing (very handy to know). You mentioned a “road kit” How about an article on what you recommend we carry in our road kits?