Expert RV Service
That Comes To You

A tripped breaker is your RV telling you a circuit is pulling more power than it's rated for — it's not usually a sign something's broken, just overloaded. The good news is most of the time you can figure out which circuit and why in a few minutes.

Start here

• Find your breaker panel — usually near the entry door, under a dinette seat, or in a cabinet near the fridge.
• Look for the breaker sitting in the middle position (not fully on or off) — that's the tripped one.
• Before resetting it, unplug or turn off anything running on that circuit. Air conditioners, microwaves, and hair dryers are the usual suspects.
• Flip the breaker fully off, then back on. If it holds, you likely just had too much running at once.

When it keeps tripping

If a breaker trips again within a few minutes — even with nothing plugged in — that points to a wiring fault or a failing breaker itself, not an overload. That's when it's time to stop resetting it and call a tech, since repeated tripping with no load is one of the more common early signs of a wiring issue that's worth catching early.

Most RVs actually run on two separate battery systems, and mixing them up is one of the most common sources of confusion for new owners.

Chassis vs. house batteries

The chassis battery starts your engine (motorhomes only — travel trailers and 5th wheels don't have one). The house battery bank runs everything else: lights, water pump, fans, and your fridge's control board. They're isolated from each other on purpose, so a dead house battery shouldn't leave you unable to start the engine.

What quietly drains a house battery overnight

• Propane detectors and CO alarms — small but constant draw, always on
• A fridge left in "auto" mode without shore power
• Slide-out and leveling system control boards in standby
• A phantom draw from an aftermarket accessory wired directly to the battery

If your battery is dead every morning even after a full charge the day before, that's usually a parasitic draw somewhere — worth testing with a multimeter before you assume the battery itself is bad.

Not every campground pedestal is wired correctly, and plugging into a bad one can damage your RV's electrical system fast. Testing it before you connect takes about five minutes and can save you a very expensive repair.

Quick pedestal test

• Use a polarity tester or plug-in surge protector with a light-based indicator — plug it straight into the pedestal outlet before connecting your RV.
• Check for the three big red flags: open ground, open neutral, and reverse polarity. Any of these means don't plug in — ask for a different site.
• Once it checks out, connect your RV, then turn on your AC or another big appliance and confirm the connection stays steady.

If you're getting partial power

Lights work but the AC won't start, or half your outlets are dead — that's often a single blown leg on a 50-amp connection rather than a problem with your RV at all. A good surge protector with a digital readout will show you voltage on both legs and make this obvious in seconds.

Solar gets marketed as the answer to everything, but it's not the right fit for every RV owner — here's an honest look before you spend $1,000–$5,000+ on a setup.

Solar is a great fit if you:

• Boondock or dry camp regularly, away from shore power
• Mostly run lights, fans, water pump, and small electronics — not AC
• Want to extend how long you can stay off-grid without running a generator

Solar won't solve this:

• Running rooftop AC off solar alone requires a large, expensive battery bank and panel array — most casual setups can't support it
• Cloudy or heavily shaded camping spots cut output dramatically, no matter how many panels you have
• Solar charges batteries — it doesn't replace them. You still need adequate battery capacity for it to matter

The right first question isn't "how much solar do I need" — it's "how am I actually using power when I'm not plugged in." That answer determines whether solar pays for itself or sits underused.

A basic multimeter costs less than a service call and can diagnose the majority of common RV electrical issues yourself, before you ever need to call a tech.

The three settings you'll actually use

• DC Voltage (V⎓): Test your house battery — a healthy 12V battery should read 12.4–12.7V at rest.
• AC Voltage (V~): Test outlets and shore power connections — should read close to 120V.
• Continuity/Ohms: Test fuses — a good fuse beeps or reads near zero; a blown one reads open/infinite.

A simple first test

Set your meter to DC voltage, touch the red lead to the battery's positive terminal and black to negative. Under 12.2V means your battery is getting low; under 12V means it needs a charge soon. This single test rules out "dead battery" as the cause of almost any electrical complaint in under a minute.

Your AC turns on, the fan runs, but the air coming out isn't cold — this is one of the most common calls we get, and it's usually one of a handful of causes.

The usual suspects

• Dirty coil or filter — restricted airflow means the unit can't pull enough heat out of the air. Cleanest, cheapest fix.
• Low voltage — running on a weak generator or an overloaded campground pedestal can prevent the compressor from running properly.
• Frozen coil — often caused by low airflow or running the AC in very high humidity with the fan on low. Turn it off and let it thaw before restarting.
• Failing capacitor — the compressor may hum but not actually kick on. This one needs a multimeter to confirm.

DIY vs. call a tech

Cleaning the coil and filter is safe and easy to do yourself. If you've ruled those out and it's still not cooling, especially if you hear humming without the compressor engaging, that's a capacitor or compressor issue — worth having a tech check before you run it further and risk more damage.

RV furnaces run on propane but need a 12V DC electrical connection to ignite — so a "furnace" problem is often actually a battery or fuse problem. Work through these in order:

• 1. Check your house battery. Furnaces need solid 12V power to ignite — a low battery is the #1 cause of a no-start.
• 2. Check your propane level. Sounds obvious, but a nearly-empty tank can prevent proper ignition even if the gauge shows a sliver left.
• 3. Check the furnace fuse. Usually in your DC fuse panel, labeled "furnace" or "heat."
• 4. Make sure the exterior exhaust vent is clear. Wasp nests and debris are a surprisingly common blocker.
• 5. Listen for the igniter clicking. If you hear clicking but no ignition, that points to a gas supply issue, not electrical.
• 6. If there's no clicking at all, that's usually the circuit board or thermostat — time to call a tech.

Not all RV AC systems cool the same way, and knowing which type you have changes how you maintain it and troubleshoot problems.

Ducted systems

Air travels through ceiling ductwork to vents throughout the RV. These give more even cooling but airflow can be reduced by dirty ducts or a clogged central filter — worth checking if some rooms feel cooler than others.

Non-ducted (ceiling assembly) systems

Air blows directly down from the unit itself, right below the roof AC. Simpler, fewer failure points, but cooling is more concentrated near the unit and weaker further away.

You can usually tell which you have by looking at your ceiling: visible vents running through the RV mean ducted; one central grille under the AC unit itself means non-ducted. This matters most when something's not cooling evenly — ducted systems have more places for a blockage to hide.

Mississippi and Gulf Coast summers push RV AC systems harder than almost anywhere else in the country — high heat and high humidity together mean your AC is fighting two battles at once.

What actually helps

• Clean your coil before summer starts, not after it's already struggling. Coastal humidity builds grime faster than drier climates.
• Use reflective window covers during peak sun hours — cuts down how hard the AC has to work to begin with.
• Run the fan on high, not just "cool." Higher airflow moves more heat out per cycle, especially in humid air.
• If you have two AC units, run them together rather than one at a time — cycling one hard in extreme heat shortens its lifespan faster than sharing the load.

If your AC seems to run constantly without ever quite catching up on a 95°F, high-humidity day, that's often normal for the climate — but if it was fine last summer and struggling now, that's usually a maintenance issue, not just the weather.

Every RV AC has a normal operating hum — but certain sounds are your unit telling you something's wrong before it fails completely.

• Rattling: Usually loose shroud screws or debris in the fan blade — safe to check yourself once the unit's off.
• Loud humming with no cool air: Often a failing start capacitor — the compressor is trying to start but can't.
• Grinding or squealing: Typically a fan motor bearing wearing out — don't ignore this one, it tends to get worse fast.
• Clicking on and off repeatedly: Can mean the unit is overheating and its safety switch is cycling it off — check for a dirty coil or blocked airflow first.

When to stop running it

Grinding, squealing, or a burning smell means turn it off and don't run it again until it's inspected — continuing to run a unit with a failing motor or electrical fault risks turning a simple repair into a full unit replacement.