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kcolivier · 10-12-2015, 04:54 PM

I have a 2005 Dutch Star DP with a Cummins 370 ISL engine. After returning from a 4 month trip, I had a letter waiting from our storage lot that asks us to not to leave the coach connected to AC power, excepted for a couple of days before we leave on a trip to get the batteries up to charge. Evidently some dunderheads have tried to run air conditioning on 20A circuits, which of course, shuts down power for everyone on that circuit. These are not dedicated circuits.

So being a respectful and agreeable person, I disconnected the coach from storage lot power. I turned off house power (STORE) on the Intellitec Battery Disconnect Switch (BD1). Then I realized I needed lights back on do do something. When I tried to turn house power back on (USE), as soon as I released the USE switch, house power went off. After several cycles of trying this, I plugged the coach back into storage lot power. As soon as the coach had AC power again, the Battery Disconnect Switch allowed me to go back to the USE mode.

I have printed out the Intellitec Battery Disconnect Service Manual and plan to start troubleshooting in the next few days. While it would give me great satisfaction to solve this myself, I have reached the age where there are only so many challenges that I want to handle at one time. So if anyone has any good ideas or has experienced a similar problem, feel free to let me know what to look for first. My first thoughts are to (1) find the darn thing, likely in the electrical compartment, (2) check signal 12V and ground, (3) check switched 12V and ground. Then find out what is different when plugged into power vs. disconnected from AC power.

Yes, it has worked in the past, but for the last year, I don't think I ever shut off house power, since I was leaving the coach plugged in. Batteries may be on their last legs, since they were new almost 4 years ago when I bought the coach. However, I was able to boondock at Quartzsite last January and only had to run the genset in the AM and PM for a few hours.

Other ideas?

Ken

"007" · 10-13-2015, 01:46 AM

You do not have a problem other than week house batteries because they have lost their charge.
I have some ones MADP sitting in my yard now for storage and was in a camp ground over the winter and all batteries went flat.
I could not get it started and had to jumper off a car to get coach started and home.
When I operated the BCO it would not function as you described after I got house batteries charged no problem with BCO.
I have not kept batteries charged this summer and I now have the chassis batteries on charge to get MH moved to a driveway for winter next to house and will leave coach plugged in next to house so all batteries will be charge if coach goes up for sale in spring, and keep batteries charged so will not freeze this winter.
The BCO relay must need a good 12v to operate is what I have found out.
When you plug in coach your getting the good 12v from your converter until house batteries are fully charged.

kcolivier · 10-13-2015, 02:52 PM

Thanks for the reply 007 (I love that handle!)

I went to the coach today to check the battery voltages and specific gravity, and to generally trouble shoot the problem. I fully expected the battery voltage to be below normal, either at the control panel, at the battery or at the relay itself. I pulled the BD1 control out of the overhead panel to measure voltages. I found 12.73 V on the "control" line supply voltage (Red/Green wires), that is, the voltage which is sent positive or negative to the actual battery disconnect relay when the USE/STORE button is depressed. Then, I tried to measure the voltage actually sent to the relay (Brown/White wires), but either my probes were on the wrong traces of the circuit board or it is a pulsed voltage, only long enough to activate the latching relay and not a constant voltage from the switch.

Before I checked the battery or electrical compartments, I just happened to notice that the power light on the BD1 control panel would go on when the USE side of the switch was depressed, which it did not do yesterday. Hmmm. I'm speculating that since I had left the house power on continuously for the past year, it might be possible that the plunger had retained some magnetism from the rod magnet and that the current sent to the coil was insufficient to activate the the relay yesterday. Perhaps by today, after overnight in the STORE mode, the magnetism had leaked out of the plunger and there was now sufficient energy to activate the latching relay coil. Or possibly there was a loose connection in the connector and it automagically started working after I man-handled the switch assembly. However, at this moment, the battery disconnect is operating properly and everything is put back together.

Yet another marvel of intermittent ghosts in the coach!

Ken

garbonz · 10-13-2015, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcolivier

Thanks for the reply 007 (I love that handle!)

I went to the coach today to check the battery voltages and specific gravity, and to generally trouble shoot the problem. I fully expected the battery voltage to be below normal, either at the control panel, at the battery or at the relay itself. I pulled the BD1 control out of the overhead panel to measure voltages. I found 12.73 V on the "control" line supply voltage (Red/Green wires), that is, the voltage which is sent positive or negative to the actual battery disconnect relay when the USE/STORE button is depressed. Then, I tried to measure the voltage actually sent to the relay (Brown/White wires), but either my probes were on the wrong traces of the circuit board or it is a pulsed voltage, only long enough to activate the latching relay and not a constant voltage from the switch.

Before I checked the battery or electrical compartments, I just happened to notice that the power light on the BD1 control panel would go on when the USE side of the switch was depressed, which it did not do yesterday. Hmmm. I'm speculating that since I had left the house power on continuously for the past year, it might be possible that the plunger had retained some magnetism from the rod magnet and that the current sent to the coil was insufficient to activate the the relay yesterday. Perhaps by today, after overnight in the STORE mode, the magnetism had leaked out of the plunger and there was now sufficient energy to activate the latching relay coil. Or possibly there was a loose connection in the connector and it automagically started working after I man-handled the switch assembly. However, at this moment, the battery disconnect is operating properly and everything is put back together.

Yet another marvel of intermittent ghosts in the coach!

Ken

Well, I kinda drowned my latching relay in a torrent of water from a leaking water line (water pump and latching relay are in the same area, and it quit turning off.. I was about to order a new relay when it started working again and has ever since. I live in a dry climate so things so seem to dry before they corrode, pretty much.

Go figure. In general I think the Intellitec switches are pretty cool, BUT sometimes a circuit or two is wired to the hot side of the relay (like the smoke alarms or stereo which defeats the purpose of the disconnect. I had to make a couple changes for that reason.

kcolivier · 10-13-2015, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garbonz

Go figure. In general I think the Intellitec switches are pretty cool, BUT sometimes a circuit or two is wired to the hot side of the relay (like the smoke alarms or stereo which defeats the purpose of the disconnect. I had to make a couple changes for that reason.

Garbonz,

Thanks. I think I'll try to chase down what is wired to the hot side of the relay as well and see if I can get rid of some parasitic draws. Good idea!

Ken

dutchstr3884 · 10-13-2015, 10:18 PM

On my 2004 Dutch Star the light on the BD1 would not go completely out when placed in the "store" position. Turned out that there were two circuits connected to the hot side of the relay. The two circuits were each labeled as "40 amp house panel". Coach batteries were always being drained. After rewiring the two circuits to the outlet connection of the relay the light on the BD1 panel goes out completely when placed in the "store" position and coach batteries stay up when the coach is in storage.