Fuse Box Location

[We'll Figure It Out]

I just purchased a used 1996 Fleetwood Southwind (ALSO I'M NEW TO CAMPER LIFE) and cannot locate the fuse box. We have no electricity on the inside and leveling jack control panel on dash is not working. Previous owner says he disconnected steps because they are broken and may have disconnected something else, but doesn't remember where he disconnected from. I'm thinking he may have disconnected the main because he was changing out lights and left some of them disconnected for ceiling modifications. I want to check fuses and wiring before finishing ceiling modifications. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated; also, if you have any diagrams you're able to provide would help tremendously!

 

[Kirk]

Do you have a volt/ohm meter that you can use to troubleshoot? Have you checked the coach battery condition and charge level? Is the coach connected to outside 120V power? Have you started the engine to se what power you have with it running? The power panel is probably inside of a cabinet or some other door to hide it. It will look similar to this one from a 92 Southwind.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

You have two kinds of "electricity", 120vac and 12vdc, so please be specific about what isn't working. Is it one of those or both? In your '96 Southwind, the DC circuits have fuses and the AC circuits have breakers. Wall outlets and roof a/c units are AC powered and lighting & water pump & furnace are DC powered. And since the fridge & water heater have a DC powered circuit board, they too require 12vdc even is using 120vac for main power.

The 12vdc can be sourced from the house (coach body) or the engine (chassis). I think that the power entry step used the chassis 12v for power. Not sure about the jacks in a '96, but later years used chassis power for that too. The chassis fuse box is under the hood (as I recall) but the house fuse panel is located with the AC circuit breakers as shown in Kirk's photo.

As I recall my '96 Southwind 36 had a Magnetek converter/charger but it looked similar to the PowerTek in Kirk's post. But yours may not be original - many have been replaced over the years. If you have the Magnetek unit, the manuals are available online at Archived Tech Docs – Parallax Power Supply

 

[John From Detroit]

Most of the things you cite are not run through the fuse box but off dedicated breakers or other protective devices.

Jacks can be a ton of fun the problem is to find the )(@#%$ Power wire I finally traced a wire form the motor to the controller using a cable tracer radio device (harbor freight about 25 bucks)
You can grace to what he disconnected.

Also there is a wire to your parking brake switch in some RVs.

Another device from harbor Freight you might find useful is an automotive test light
Looks a bit like an old fashion ice pick with a light in the handle and a wire coming out of the handle as well. I suggest an additional 25-50 feet spool of light (18-20-22) ga wire with at least one additional clip (extension cable for the clip lead) either put clips on both ends of the extension or on one end strip back form a loop for the test light clip to grip

Clip to any known good ground

On fuses touch the tip to the little window (There is a metal thing behind the window)
Bright-Bright = Good
Dark-Dark = no power to fuse
Dark=bright or bright-dark - blown fuse
You can test a dozen fuses in just a minute or two this way (one to set up one to test)

 

[We'll Figure It Out]

Do you have a volt/ohm meter that you can use to troubleshoot? Have you checked the coach battery condition and charge level? Is the coach connected to outside 120V power? Have you started the engine to se what power you have with it running? The power panel is probably inside of a cabinet or some other door to hide it. It will look similar to this one from a 92 Southwind.
View attachment 172591

I found the fuse box under the refrigerator! All of the fuses look good and wires properly connected. Not connected to outside power but when coach is running there’s still no power to outlets or lights.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

As we attempted to explain earlier, the lack of power to outlets and lights is two separate problems. Your lights are 12 volt DC and run from battery (coach or engine) or the 12v converter/charger. Outlets are 120v AC and powered directly from the shore cord. If you are not plugged into outside power or using the generator, the outlets cannot work. And with out outside power, the 12v converter/charger can't work either, so you are relying solely on battery power.

Your Southwind has separate batteries for the coach "house" and the engine, but either should be able to power the lighting. But if the battery is dead, then no lighting or other 12v power. If you start the engine, do the lights begin to work?
Also check the house battery to see if it is functional, i.e. providing at least 11.0v-11.5v (12.6 is better).

 

[Dusty Traveler]

I just purchased a used 1996 Fleetwood Southwind (ALSO I'M NEW TO CAMPER LIFE) and cannot locate the fuse box. We have no electricity on the inside and leveling jack control panel on dash is not working. Previous owner says he disconnected steps because they are broken and may have disconnected something else, but doesn't remember where he disconnected from. I'm thinking he may have disconnected the main because he was changing out lights and left some of them disconnected for ceiling modifications. I want to check fuses and wiring before finishing ceiling modifications. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated; also, if you have any diagrams you're able to provide would help tremendously!

Here is a link to the 1996 Fleetwood, "Southwind Owners Manuel" as I see that others are showing the FUSE Box location. and their sound be more than one. Owner's Manual Click Here

Now I do not know that this is your same issue. We owned a Winnebago Tour Class A. During the afternoon on a Saturday, as it was getting warmer, we had both Front and Back A/C set on the same setting. When the temperature got hotter, they both came on at the same time blowing the fuse. We were lucky and got an RV roving repair. He told us to offset the thermostat controls, so they would not come on, at the same time. Doing this they would pull more electrical power. I think AMPS as the RV was a 50AMP.

Hope, the Manual will be helpful as they seem to go back to the 1960s.

 

[JudyJB]

I found the fuse box under the refrigerator! All of the fuses look good and wires properly connected. Not connected to outside power but when coach is running there’s still no power to outlets or lights.

Congratulations!!! My main fuse box is easily visible because it is on the side of my rear bed, but Fleetwood put in a separate fuse box for the slides and hid them under my bed in a wooden boxed-in area that also contains my rear furnace and converter!! You have to lift the bed and then unscrew the top of the wooden box to find it. Took two mechanics a couple of hours to track the wires to find it!!!

And even with my 2012 Class C, there are no wiring diagrams available.

 

[Kirk]

I found the fuse box under the refrigerator!

Very likely the 120V to 12V converter is directly behind the fuse panel or is part of it. You should also have circuit breakers for the 120V side, that gets power from the shore power cord and if you have a built-in generator, it also. As Gary mentioned, there is a battery to supply 12V power to the lights and other 12V appliances when you do not have outside power but there should also be a solenoid that connects the coach 12V system to the supply from the chassis alternator, if it is working properly. If the coach battery is bad enough it could prevent any other 12V loads from working so locate that battery and get it tested and if bad, replace it.

All of the fuses look good and wires properly connected.

It is apparent that you are not familiar with RV electrical systems. I strongly suggest that spend some time reading The 12V Side of Life, parts 1 and 2 before you do much more in order to understand it. You might also find the video 30A RV power systems explained to be helpful.