Maintance

[Raymond G Pelletier]

I have an '85 Monaco class a motorhome. I bought it used. I am having issues with 12 volt system but cant find converter anywhere. Anybody have an idea where to look?

[Lakota Wolf]

To start,, look in the general area where your shore power cord comes into the RV,, The converter is usually within a foot or so from where the cord enters the RV, Look under the sink area or stove/oven area.

[Raymond G Pelletier]

I have looked in/ under cabinets. I have a breaker/fuse panel in bedroom high up on wall.Is it possible that its behind breaker panel?

[Lakota Wolf]

I would doubt its Behind the breaker panel,,, a converter has to have *cooling as to not overheat. Did the previous owner tell you that it had 12 volt service,,as in lights? I have done restorations where the previous owners have removed the converter and relied only on 110/120 volt service. One other place you can check is under dinette booths, or under matress box area.. They are usually easily accessable so fuses and breakers can be serviced,

[Raymond G Pelletier]

I have looked in all typical areas. all I have found is the transfer switch for the on board generator. I did find that at some point a after market 6 amp trickle charger had been wired in line. It was plugged into a 110 outlet with a timer. I am wondering if it was done in order to replace the charging capabilities of a removed inverter.

[Lakota Wolf]

Thats sounds probable, With your rig being an 85,, The inverter/converter probably went bad, and the previous owner didnt want to foot the cost of a new inverter/converter.

This is very common for campers who only use their rigs for a couple vacations a year,, They go to a camp ground and just plug in to shore utilities.

This is only my opinion,. And from what you have described and the info youve given, I would assume that this is the case, that the inverter/converter was removed.

(just an idea), Have you plugged into shore power and taken a volt meter to any of the 12 volt light fixtures? black being hot and white being your common ground, or red hot and black ground..

F.Y.I.  RV manufactures usually mount the inverter/converter in a central location to save on cost of running long runs of wire to 12 volt lighting.

[Rich Thomas]

On my 78 Travelcraft the converter is accessed through a little door at the rear of my camper where the cable inters the camper. it is actually a compartment under the tub area of the rear bathroom. there is a 30 amp breaker in there as well as all the DC connections. Then there is a second set of breakers under the oven redundant system as they are for individual circuits. My other pull behind has the converter under the the seats opposite the water tank. If you follow the lead in for shore power it should be located close to where that cable terminates. I'm of the opinion that Lakota mentioned and you alluded to of the converter may have been removed. Hope this helps some good luck

  

[david darrow]

try looking around the inside by where the gen. box is mine is there under one of the beds 

[Dave Houg]

Ray- Would you happen to have the manual? It should show where it is. You maybe able to google search a PDF copy online. I know this is a  little basic, but lets start there and work our way in. As you probably know, the 120v AC needs to come in to the coach somewhere and be stepped down thru a Transformer and then get converted to DC voltage( someone please correct me where I get off track as we are about midway thru electricity in RV technician school.) My suggestion would be to trace the power wire from the main source and inch by inch work towards the converter. I spent a year pointing at my inverter saying it was my converter then found my actual converter under my kitchen cabinets. The long story short is that it can be anywhere and I wish I had a better answer.