This past weekend was mostly filled with eating until we were full and drinking a little too much with Emily’s cousins that came to visit from New Orleans. Not only did we go to a Pirates game, we also went to some awesome restaurants. However, with them being in town, I was only able to focus on trying to fix the Sunrader’s coach electrical issue.
Testing a Fuse With A Multimeter
Which, to recap – nothing in the coach turned on when I tried to test out a size 24 deep cycle battery the weekend prior.
Over the course of the week leading up to Saturday, I became well acquainted with my new friend – Mr. Multimeter – which should be in every RV Owner or Amateur Mechanic’s toolkit.
The last time I had to use this tool was to test the two batteries under the hood. Which, it led me to realize that both of the batteries under there were shot.
Using the multimeter, I was able to quickly deduce that the issue was a blown fuse. Which I also verified by removing all the fuses and looking at them (below). For some reason or another, the previous owner had incorrect fuses in the holders. So, for about $10 USD, I replaced all of them and have some spares.
In order to properly test a fuse with a multimeter, set it to the Ohms (Omega) setting. When you place both leads onto the opposite ends of the fuse (as pictured above), the multimeter should level out to Zero. If it stays at anything else, the fuse is most likely blown.
Oh yea! I forgot that I also added a battery hold down strap for the 2nd battery under the hood since the previous one was completely missing. Luckily, this kit from Advanced Auto Parts made it super straightforward. The only tool I needed was a hacksaw to cut the J-Hook by ~2″ so it wouldn’t dent the hood.
Looking ahead into this week and this coming weekend, I’m hoping to accomplish the following:
- Gain an understanding as to whether or not the battery isolator works and how it should work
- Attempt to splice wires and put an LED panel into the oven hood/vent
- Clean out the bathroom – vacuum and scrub all the walls & floor
- Assess the crack(s) in the bathroom floor
- Assess the exhaust system and see how/if I can fashion a new tailpipe myself
- It is currently spewing charcoal directly underneath the driver’s side rear rather than venting it to the side of the vehicle
