Occam's Razor

Well, Croft resolved my electrical issue for me through some of my own Googling.

Turns out I could have solved this problem myself on Thursday evening in about 10 seconds without even going outside.

The problem I was experiencing is that none of my 12V appliances--furnace blower, fridge, lights, or water pump--were working. The battery was good, but no power was going out. Everything had worked fine until late afternoon on Thursday. I couldn't fathom what had happened in that time to kill my electrical system.

The first thing I suspected was a loose connection. I thought that maybe I hadn't wrenched the main connector enough because I didn't have much room to work. So, I went out and bought a teeny wrench. It didn't help.

I then went and bought a battery terminal cleaning tool and some special gel. They didn't help.

We blamed the cables. We blamed the converter. I ran I don't know how many tests with my multimeter. I triple checked my fuses. I quadruple checked my breakers.

Then I did some Googling and found reference to a battery turn off switch.

Croft asked me if that switch could possibly be the great big yellow button on the dash board I've referred to a few times.

Indeed. When it's pulled out, the 12V system works fine. When it gets hit by someone's knee because it's at a silly height and location, it shuts off the 12V system.

WHO DESIGNS THESE THINGS?!

I'm choosing to laugh even though I am profoundly embarrassed.

But the upshot of this is that my battery job was good!