Coach lighting

[dolphinguy]

i have a 1979 dolphin. the 12v lights and pump do not work.when i hook up to 120v every thing works fine.any information i find doesnt talk about the dolphin that i have. i have checked all fuses under dash and most wires i can find. is there a fuse that controls the 12v system when running on the battery? thanks larry

[waiter]

Sounds like the coach battery isn't supplying power to the 12 volt circuit.

I'm not sure about the 79 model, but there should be a fuse in the coach battery line somewhere, this could be blown

ALSO - if the coach battery is dead and won't accept a charge, this can happen.

Do the lights work when the truck is running?

Attached is a simple block diagram of how the 110Vac and 12Vdc circuits interact. yours may be slightly different.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[90toydolphin]

i had a tent trailer once and the converter had a switch that changed from converter use to battery use. if it was turned to 120 converter but not plugged in the 12 volt didn't come one, had to be switched to DC. someone on a post here mentioned that's the setup they had on their toy, maybe that's why. look around for such a switch, maybe choice of ac or dc and or off. of course if the battery is dead all bets are off )

[dolphinguy]

i have posted about this before. 1979 dolphin. the lights in the cabin all work when plugged using the convertor. when i switch over to 12v they dont work.i looked at the wiring diagram from this site and this is what i have.i have 2 brand new batteries.but i ran the motor home on one and all the lights worked and cigarette lighter.i didnt have the cables hooked up at all.are the lights supossed to work like this.the diag. shows cigarette lighter is run off aux. battery?maybe previous owner has rigged up something.i am checking the wiring but want to know what you folks think about it. thanks

[90toydolphin]

when it comes to 12v i've usually found problems to be ground related. make sure when you are switched to battery you have a good ground. basic continuity test should clear that up. you seem to have an older converter if it has a switch. your switch might be bad too. good luck and keep a flashlight handy. )

[Maineah]

I'm a little confused about the lighter not sure where it fits into you question lights,lighter,heater,water pump all run off the coach battery. Your converter/charger has a relay inside of it and what happens when you plug it in it turns off the battery and runs the lights from the converter and at the same time it charges the battery in other words when you are plugged in the coach battery is out of the picture. So if the relay contacts stick (some what common) when you unplug it it can not switch back to battery power.

[dolphinguy]

I'm a little confused about the lighter not sure where it fits into you question lights,lighter,heater,water pump all run off the coach battery. Your converter/charger has a relay inside of it and what happens when you plug it in it turns off the battery and runs the lights from the converter and at the same time it charges the battery in other words when you are plugged in the coach battery is out of the picture. So if the relay contacts stick (some what common) when you unplug it it can not switch back to battery power.

i mentioned the lighter because in the wiring diagram it looks like lighter runs off the aux. battery.wthe relay. thank youhy would it work with the aux battery removed as well as lights.the answer you gave sounds good i will check out the relay. thank you

[waiter]

I'm not sure about the 1979 as to how it works. Somewhere in that area (1980??) things started to become standardized for the MH manufactures. Well, "Standardized" might be a little strong, "Similar" might be better. i.e. they started using similar appliances and they were basically wired in a similar fashion.

If your looking at the simplified diagram the I posted, this is how my 88 Dolphin "was" wired. Keep in mind that it is "simplified" and doesn't show detail, i.e. circuit breakers, fuses, splices, wire routing, where wires are connected, etc.

Referring to the simplified diagram:

Lights, furnace, stove hood, should run off the converter (or truck) , even if the coach battery is physically disconnected . The Cigarette lighter plug should also run, BUT, this depends on how the Cigarette Plug is physically wired into the circuit.

On my original MH wiring, there were THREE separate ring terminals that needed to be attached to the Battery PLUS terminal (two for the Minus) . A #10 wire terminal that went to the Converter, a wire terminal from a stereo that the previous owner installed, AND, a wire terminal that went to the Cigarette lighter (through a circuit breaker)

Here's my point (and I think your question) - When I disconnected the coach battery and just left the terminals laying in the battery compartment, my Cigarette plug or radio wouldn't work, because they aren't getting power. However, when I disconnected the battery and then attached these three wire terminals together with a small bolt, then everything, including my Cigarette plug and radio worked fine off the converter OR truck power.

On some Toys, the Cigarette plug may be wired a little different, and may work without doing anything special to the battery terminals if they're disconnected.

When I drew the diagram, I thought the way the Cigarette plug was wired was significant. When I installed my TV antenna, I had to change the Cigarette Plug (that's where the TV antenna amplifier is). I spent a couple hours trying to figure out why mine continued to get power, even though I had every 12 volt fuse in the converter removed. That's when I found out it had its own separate wire, and it connected directly to the battery (doesn't go through the converter like everything else) with its own circuit breaker.

High power Inverter install

Here's what I did when I installed my high power inverter to clean this up and simplify the cables that get attached to the coach battery. I also made the cables a little longer to make servicing the coach battery a little easier.

Inside the battery box compartment, I now have one #4 red cable that attaches to the battery PLUS, and one #4 black cable that attaches to the battery MINUS, thats it, no other cables or wires connect to the coach battery.

These two battery cables are about 3 ft long, and go inside the coach where they attach to the bottom side of 150 amp fuses (you can see this in the link photos. There are two separate fuses, one for the PLUS side, one for the MINUS side. My high power inverter attaches to the top of these two fuses. with 1 ft long cables.

I then took the three cables that originally attached at the battery plus, and the two white cables that attached to the battery minus, and moved them into the coach. They're now attach permanently to the bottom of the fuses, along with the #4 cables that go directly to the battery.

When I remove my coach battery for the winter, I have two small pieces of rubber hose that I slip over the #4 battery wire terminals so they won't short out while their flopping around inside the battery box compartment, and everything, including the cigarette plug, runs fine off the converter when I plug into shore power, or start the truck.

Hope this helps and answers your question.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[dolphinguy]

I'm not sure about the 1979 as to how it works. Somewhere in that area (1980??) things started to become standardized for the MH manufactures. Well, "Standardized" might be a little strong, "Similar" might be better. i.e. they started using similar appliances and they were basically wired in a similar fashion.

If your looking at the simplified diagram the I posted, this is how my 88 Dolphin "was" wired. Keep in mind that it is "simplified" and doesn't show detail, i.e. circuit breakers, fuses, splices, wire routing, where wires are connected, etc.

Referring to the simplified diagram:

Lights, furnace, stove hood, should run off the converter (or truck) , even if the coach battery is physically disconnected . The Cigarette lighter plug should also run, BUT, this depends on how the Cigarette Plug is physically wired into the circuit.

On my original MH wiring, there were THREE separate ring terminals that needed to be attached to the Battery PLUS terminal (two for the Minus) . A #10 wire terminal that went to the Converter, a wire terminal from a stereo that the previous owner installed, AND, a wire terminal that went to the Cigarette lighter (through a circuit breaker)

Here's my point (and I think your question) - When I disconnected the coach battery and just left the terminals laying in the battery compartment, my Cigarette plug or radio wouldn't work, because they aren't getting power. However, when I disconnected the battery and then attached these three wire terminals together with a small bolt, then everything, including my Cigarette plug and radio worked fine off the converter OR truck power.

On some Toys, the Cigarette plug may be wired a little different, and may work without doing anything special to the battery terminals if they're disconnected.

When I drew the diagram, I thought the way the Cigarette plug was wired was significant. When I installed my TV antenna, I had to change the Cigarette Plug (that's where the TV antenna amplifier is). I spent a couple hours trying to figure out why mine continued to get power, even though I had every 12 volt fuse in the converter removed. That's when I found out it had its own separate wire, and it connected directly to the battery (doesn't go through the converter like everything else) with its own circuit breaker.

High power Inverter install

Here's what I did when I installed my high power inverter to clean this up and simplify the cables that get attached to the coach battery. I also made the cables a little longer to make servicing the coach battery a little easier.

Inside the battery box compartment, I now have one #4 red cable that attaches to the battery PLUS, and one #4 black cable that attaches to the battery MINUS, thats it, no other cables or wires connect to the coach battery.

These two battery cables are about 3 ft long, and go inside the coach where they attach to the bottom side of 150 amp fuses (you can see this in the link photos. There are two separate fuses, one for the PLUS side, one for the MINUS side. My high power inverter attaches to the top of these two fuses. with 1 ft long cables.

I then took the three cables that originally attached at the battery plus, and the two white cables that attached to the battery minus, and moved them into the coach. They're now attach permanently to the bottom of the fuses, along with the #4 cables that go directly to the battery.

When I remove my coach battery for the winter, I have two small pieces of rubber hose that I slip over the #4 battery wire terminals so they won't short out while their flopping around inside the battery box compartment, and everything, including the cigarette plug, runs fine off the converter when I plug into shore power, or start the truck.

Hope this helps and answers your question.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

thank you this explains alot