No Electric in Cabin

[Eamonn McG]

Hello all,
I have a problem...no lighting or anything in the cabin will turn on. Even while the engine is running the lights or fan or anything wont go on. The trouble started the other day when I came home from work at around 3 am and noticed the left blinker was blinking although the van was locked and the turn signal was in the center position. I tried to start the engine and turn off the blinker but nothing would work. I let the battery drain and jump started it the following morning. To my surprise everything was fine, the blinker turned off and no problems have happend with the directionals. Yesterday when i went out to do some cleaning I started the motor i noticed when i started the engine the main overhead light in the cabin was turned on. I switched it off and continued cleaning. When I got a little warm I tried to turn the fan on and nothing happend. Then i tried to turn any of the lights on and noticed they were also not working. I checked the Breaker box and everything was in the on position. I called the original owner ( who is a friend of mine) and he said it sounds like i ran the coach battery dead. I plugged the airstream into my house and everything worked fine. Every light turned on as well as all of the fans...so I left it plugged in because the original owner said that it would charge the battery over night. This morning however when I went outside to check if the battery had charged I unplugged the van and nothing turned on. I have 2 questions....is it possible i ran the coach battery so low that it wont re-charge? And also, regardless of the coach battery being dead, shouldnt the electricity in the coach run while the engine is running? I know the alternator charges both batteries but probaly doesnt provide enough power to turn the lights on....Anyone have any experience with this area? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Planck]

Interesting problem. The year of your 190 might be useful, as the coach battery is in different locations depending on year. I would remove the coach battery and put it on a good deep cycle charger, then have it tested to see what kind of shape it is in. As I recall, the charger in the 190 is about 3 amp, so would take a while to charge up the coach battery. Sounds like either the battery is shot, or did not get a good charge. Or, possibly the built in charger is not working.

Good luck

[Eamonn McG]

its a 92. its only got 42K miles on it and its been garage kept. The batteries are a little over 3 years old and it sat in a garage mostly fot the past 2 years. Aside from that I've already run the coach battery completely dead 2 weeks ago when I left the heater on for about 6 hours. That alone makes me think that the coach battery already was low on life.

[URStruly]

it takes up to two full days for a deep cycle battery to reach full charge will have what we call a surface charge not a true full one if drained completely also if you ran the motor and the charge is not coming in the house for lights you have a 12volt mini breaker under the hood around the house battery area can also check the solenoid at the inner fender to see if it powers up on both sides other than that the battery needs water added every so often it will boil out over time when plugged into shore power check the water each month until you figure out how often it needs it low water will allow the battery to drain faster than normal and will not take a full charge hope this helps been a rv tech 15years so good luck

[Eamonn McG]

Excellent that helps a lot. a friend of mine is a mechanic ( I'm relatively handy but not as knowledgable with the electric side of things as he is) We are planning on working on it saturday afternoon so i hope everything will go well. Like i said the batteries were both over 3 years old and I havent checked the water level on the house battery since i bought it. Knowing the prior owner i doubt he did either. I'm replacing both batteries this weekend keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for all the help

[Eamonn McG]

HELP!!! I went outside today and noticed my left blinker was on althoug the engine was not running, and the blinker position was centered....i started the engine, moved the blinker into the left position and then back to center and the blinker stopped, but then i went into the cabin and turned on the overhead light which turned on, but then once i turned it off nothing else in the cabin would turn on again. anyone have any ideas what this could be?

[funtwodrv]

This makes the second time you have found the left light on? Try this, turn the ignition "on", or start the engine, turn the left signal light on. It should now be blinking. While it is blinking, turn the ignition off. Is the left trun signal light stuck on? If so, this may account for the light being on for no apparent reason.
Beyond this, I would follow the suggestions noted by URStruly.

Good Luck,
Gary