88 power problem update

[mbulriss]

Wellll, I just got back in from moving ~300 cubic feet of mulch by
hand (I'll pay for that tomorrow, but I have 100s more to go!) and I
see that it was indeed batteries. DING, DING, DING - we have a
winner - score one for them Texas boys - actually Mike McMahn. Well
actually, even a blind hog gets lucky and finds a root or an acorn
sometimes.

I actually think the discussion was very well contained, but it did
point out the need to ask the right questions and to try to be
thorough in describing our problems. I think everyone rightly jumped
to the 120V conclusion based on the early statements of 0 amps and "no
power" in the front. It wasn't until after several exchanges and
ideas that we read that the volt meters read 110 and 120. That would
have been useful information or a question raised sooner by one of us
to restore power last night. Then when the Missus got involved with
the "OK, while he's out, let me tell y'all what's really happening.."
it became apparent it was 12V and probably battery related. Mike & I
had talked off line about the charger being weak or bad and the cold
weather up in MT eating the batteries in no time. That's also another
reason to sign your posts properly as the Rahns did. So we know where
you are in case someone is close and also to be able to take location
into account when diagnosing heating, cooling, starting, power
problems, etc.

I'm not picking on anyone here, just pointing out how we *all* jumped
to the same conclusion of 120V based on the early posts and never got
around to asking what exactly was going on. We all need to take this
lesson to heart the next time we start diagnosing.

Just my 2 centavos, and keeping with the Bird of the Week picture this
week, now it is time to go get a cold one and go watch the Busch Clash
or whatever they call it these days. Goooo #8!!

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Robert & Teri Rahn"
wrote:
>
> I went and bought a tester and tested the batteries. I went from neg of
> one to pos of another and it showed very low, like .03. I tested my
> little jump starter that was fully charged to make sure I had the
> tester on the right setting and it showed 12.5 v. So all the batteries
> are completely dead. I checked the water and they are all full. The
> charger which is original blue bird and located above the batteries in
> the same compartment and the fan is runningf in it, my tester
> showed .30 volts at the place where the two wires connect to a terminal
> below the charger under a cover. So it seems the charger is bad. I
> didnt see any reset on it. So it looks like I need to buy a new charger
> and batteries. Is there anything left to check befor I do this?
>
> Robert Rahn
> 88 pt 40
> Kalispell, Mt.
>