New to Winnie owners...no outlet, AC/Heat, fridge, microwave power

[kbltmlaur]

I'm new here. Just bought a 1996 Winnebago Adventurer. I have power to lights and ceiling fan, but can't figure out how to get power to outlets, AC/Heat, Refrigerator, Microwave. I'm guessing I'm missing some switch somewhere. Hoping for help! Thank you.

[bigb]

Originally Posted by kbltmlaur

I'm new here. Just bought a 1996 Winnebago Adventurer. I have power to lights and ceiling fan, but can't figure out how to get power to outlets, AC/Heat, Refrigerator, Microwave. I'm guessing I'm missing some switch somewhere. Hoping for help! Thank you.

The lights and fans work off the battery but for outlets, AC & appliances you'll need to be plugged into working shore power and have all the circuit breakers switched on.

The furnace should work on battery though, and the fridge should work on propane/battery or shore power, and possibly on battery alone when driving if it's a 3 way.

[kbltmlaur]

i found the small switch on the generator...problem solved!

[bigb]

Originally Posted by kbltmlaur

i found the small switch on the generator...problem solved!

Manual transfer switch? Or are you running on generator?

[kbltmlaur]

Generator.

[Morich]

When new, it is tough to get it all figured. So maybe a rundown on the electrical will make it a bit easier?
You have three different systems but they are connected at times and disconnected at other times, so it is really confusing to figure.

I think of them like this.
One is the 12VDC that most trucks would have. Headlights, horn, starter, etc.
Two is the 12VDC stuff added to build an RV on top of a stripped down truck chassis. Inside lights, fans, water pump and things that don't take very much power.
Three might be the 110AC items that need far more power. Air conditioner, microwave and outlets where we plug things like hair driers?

That last one is an important one as it also powers the converter (charger?) that does two things. It powers the converter which turns the AC into DC to charge the batteries or as we use the power for lights, etc.
I think of the batteries as kind of a "pantry" for the DC power to store the extra we get but don't need right then? Then when we want lights but are not plugged in, we get the power from the "pantry"!

But it does get tricky to figure out when things are not working right and that part is just getting some experience as these three systems do connect/disconnect at different times for different reasons.
Lots of weird little tricks to learn so I recommend watching the batteries carefully the first time you store the RV like during the winter as it can sneak up on us and kill a set of batteries if we are not keeping them charged.