New Heartland MPG Owner's Electical Woes

[artz]

So I just bought an MPG 182 2011 off Craigslist, and wasn't really given a rundown on how things work.

My first question - is there anything I need to do to get it to draw off battery power?

I drove it home, and went to turn on the lights and nothing is on. I plugged it into an extension cord to my house for a few hours (everything worked inside, microwave on, etc.), unplugged it, and still no power.

I checked the breaker / fuse box and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It's a 2011 so I wouldn't think the battery is bad.

Any ideas?

The porch light also doesn't work, no obvious way to change it... I'm guessing I need to pop out the light but again wouldn't expect the light not to be working so early in its life.

Thanks!

 

[jimtoo]

Hi artz,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum and Family. We have a great bunch of people here with lots of information and all willing to share their knowledge if needed.

If nothing is working off the 12v, then you need to start at the battery. Do you actually have 12v at the battery terminals? Are the cables hooked up? Is there a disconnect switch for the battery? Just start tracing to find where the 12v stops.

Enjoy the forum and let us know what you find.

Jim M

 

[JohnDar]

Are you SURE there even is a battery in it? Good probably it was disconnected to prevent running it down and ruining it. Or it did get ruined and won't hold a charge.

 

[Yellowreef]

They could have installed a disconnect somewhere to kee it from draining. Get under it and see wht you see.

 

[Rodney_M]

Best way to troubleshooting 12v is to start at power source and trace it back seeing where you are getting power to along the way. A simple light tester that can be picked up at any automotive store would be highly beneficial.

Check battery for a strong charge first
Then check and clean the terminals. Both on battery and cable ends.
I would then check and make sure wire just past battery light up your tester.
If so move a little farther down the wires and check again.
Rinse & repeat until you get no power. Then you should be able to trace wire back to last hot point to track down the break ,flipped switch or blown fuse etc that is preventing your power to reach all devices.

Hope this helps.

 

[wdk450]

Artz:
I was wondering if you have located the battery and tracked down your problems. I was also wondering if you got the blue pouch of manuals from the previous owner. I went looking for a comprehensive manual for your brand of trailer, but found instead a COMPREHENSIVE 92 page manual for all Heartland products on the Heartland Inc. website here:

http://www.heartlandrvs.com/index.php?p=21

Having been a Heartland owner for several years, I found this new overall manual in many ways far better than the one I got with the new trailer when I bought it.
There are also manuals on the individual appliances, brakes, slides etc. on this website. Click on the "Tools" tab above, then "Heartland Owners Manuals", then select the type and specific manual you need from sub menus.

I hope this helps you and all new Heartlanders. Happy RVing!!

 

[artz]

Thanks everybody. My multimeter wasn't working when I finally had a need for it, so I had the battery tested and it was in 100% health.

Luckily I had a neighbor who had one, and he helped trace it back to where the battery cables connected to the trailer and found that current wasn't flowing.

After cleaning the connector, I went inside, flipped the switch and we had light!

Thanks for all your help, the advice was right on.

 

[jimtoo]

Hi Artz,

Thanks for letting us know what or where the problem was. Your answer may help someone else.

Enjoy the forum and your new toy.

Jim M