Question about 12v system on my United Specialties t/c

[Bob86ZZ4]

Hello again. I just picked up my rig yesterday. Drove it home 270 miles. Loved it. Man does this thing have power. I smoked by a guy with an F350 dually pulling a 5ver up a medium grade hill. I set the cruise at 67 and the most it lost was 2 mph on the hardest climb. Never downshifted of course.

Okay, now to my first (maybe second tho) question. When the generator is running all the 12v lights, water pump, fantastic vent fans, furnace, etc... work. If I shut off the generator everything is dead. There are two 12v house batteries in the left rear compartment. They show about 13.4 volts. There is a large round switch to disconnect them. The switch is labeled with 1=engine, 2=rv. There is a "both" position listed on the switch. There is a Iota ITS-50R auto transfer switch. Also an Iota DLS55 converter. I'm guessing the converter is to charge the batteries and run the 12v items when plugged in to shore power or running the generator. I wonder why the 12v system isn't working without the generator running? It also doesn't work with the truck engine running. I haven't plugged it into shore power yet. I have a 50amp to 30amp adapter. But I don't have a 30amp to 120volt adapter here. I'm going to run over to Walmart today and pick one of those up so I can plug into a regular house outlet when there are no 30/50 amp plugs available. Anybody have any idea why the 12v doesn't work just on the batteries? I'm thinking that Iota auto transfer switch might have something to do with it? My Allegro gas class A has a switch just inside the side door to shut off all house 12v. I can't seem to locate anything like that on this rig. And like I said, when I fire up the generator everything works peechie. I'll call the dealer after they open and ask him too but just in case he has no idea I thought I better get this post going. The whole time I was dealing with him we had the generator on and I didn't know the 12volt stuff wouldn't work without that on. Thanks for any ideas and help. I couldn't hardly sleep last night after being soo keyed up to have this thing parked in front of my house.

[Bob86ZZ4]

Figured it out. I called the salesman and he knew. On the dash of the truck next to the ignition key is a switch, says something like "option" I think. I flipped that on and then 12v stuff came on. Cool. I guess that way if you park and want to shut everything off you just flip that.

[geofkaye]

...did you check under the bed yet for anything electric?.....smoke and fume detectors working? have you tested them?...check all fluids before you go out any where.....and make sure the batteries are new and the terminals clean-with the studs tightened properly....just from my experience with new and used unites and working with some "boat mechanics" in a past life.....I used to swear that the devil was working on boats in my haul out yard....turned out the be "boat mechanics" with drug problems-wife/girlfriend problems-money problems-and a host of other things that took their mind off what they were doing at the time.....so I started deducting come backs on labor for repairs and it quit! and also the took other jobs instead of fixing other peoples stuff instead of fixing their own stuff so to speak........geofkaye

[Bob86ZZ4]

Ha, good advice geofkaye. I'm going over this thing a bit at a time. It is like brand new tho. The dealer I bought it from, www.wrightwaytrailers.com really impressed me as a good shop. Their guys were going over it one last time when I showed up. I found a couple flourescent tubes out (one in each of two fixtures that have two tubes anyhow) and they quickly swapped in new tubes. I haven't lifted the bed yet. The first "big" project is swapping out the regular microwave for a convection unit. I pulled the micro out yesterday and went to Sears. They have a convection unit that's the exact same size. I bought that one. Today I'm going to pop it in place. The only thing I'm somewhat worried about is the old one had a vent plate screwed to the top that directed the venting heat out the front of the cabinet. The new one vents on the back. I'm going to see if I can fabricate some tin to direct that heat out the front. Either that or put in a venting grate along the back side of the cabinet to let the heat out. I'll see how much heat comes out of the new one and see where that leads me.