Community Forums

S_Watkins · 10-14-2018, 06:58 PM

I was replacing all the batteries in the new to me 2014 Ventana 4369 this weekend. After getting the 8 house batteries in I started the generator and was watching the magnum control to see how they were charging.

I reached up and hit the select button on the Precision Circuits digi-level panel and it is semi blank now... There looks to be two rows of light black squares on the display but no back light or level information..

It was working when I did the walk through on Friday

I had all batteries out of the coach for about 24 hours and it was not plugged into shore power.

Any ideas on where I should looking for the problem?

ptw · 10-15-2018, 04:03 AM

Hope this helps.

I would unplug the power to the coach and turn off the salesman switch. If it doesn't come back up when the power is restored, follow trouble shooting described in the attached document.

redbaron73 · 10-15-2018, 04:19 AM

Did you pay attention to the warning about always remove the positive cable first, and replace it last? If you have the magnum inverter, and have a positive connection without a ground the inverter will use the ground from connected accessories and short them out.

S_Watkins · 10-15-2018, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptw

Hope this helps.

I would unplug the power to the coach and turn off the salesman switch. If it doesn't come back up when the power is restored, follow trouble shooting described in the attached document.

Thanks Paul... I found those last night and will pull the panel this morning for testing.

I have found that my salesman switch does not quite turn everything off. The clarion radio is still powered so i'm going to pull the dash to see what that is all about.

Also found the power for the tire pressure repeater was just ran to the engine batteries, wires just stuck under the lugs, without a fuse or switch... Need to clean that all up also..

S_Watkins · 10-15-2018, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redbaron73

Did you pay attention to the warning about always remove the positive cable first, and replace it last? If you have the magnum inverter, and have a positive connection without a ground the inverter will use the ground from connected accessories and short them out.

Thanks for reminding me about that. I had read it but it was the last thing on my mind when I replaced the batteries... I think making a warning label for that compartment is in order!

I did pull the accessible + leads off the batteries first and put the negative leads, on the left side of the bank, back on first... The connections in the middle ? I just removed them in the order I could. Hopefully the grounds on the left side of the batteries were enough..... The disconnect switch was off at least.

redbaron73 · 10-15-2018, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S_Watkins

Thanks for reminding me about that. I had read it but it was the last thing on my mind when I replaced the batteries... I think making a warning label for that compartment is in order!

I did pull the accessible + leads off the batteries first and put the negative leads, on the left side of the bank, back on first... The connections in the middle ? I just removed them in the order I could. Hopefully the grounds on the left side of the batteries were enough..... The disconnect switch was off at least.

Your process sounds right, really it is just 1 large positive cable going to the inverter that you care about. Once identified, you can label that one with a warning.

Now that you suggested that, I am going to label it too.

Ernie. · 10-15-2018, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S_Watkins

Thanks for reminding me about that. I had read it but it was the last thing on my mind when I replaced the batteries... I think making a warning label for that compartment is in order!

I did pull the accessible + leads off the batteries first and put the negative leads, on the left side of the bank, back on first... The connections in the middle ? I just removed them in the order I could. Hopefully the grounds on the left side of the batteries were enough..... The disconnect switch was off at least.

Adding to my to do list. Thanks

S_Watkins · 10-15-2018, 11:07 AM

And the hunt goes on

No Joy yet.

Weather turned wet and cold on us this morning, not much inclined to poke about in the basement. I did crawl inside and locate the inverter, not a very user friendly place to put it. The previous owner added a nice storage slide to that bay, making it even harder to get to.

Here are two pictures of the display, before and now... The screen does have a back light and it is displaying two lines of bars... When the rain stops I'm going to get out the meters and see if I can find the bus fuses that protect the house battery circuits, maybe one of those is blown and allowing the display to have power from one side of the house batteries and the other parts of the system to be dead..

Of more concern this morning is a generator that will not start. It started and ran for about 4 hours on Sunday, after I installed the chassis batteries. This morning all I get is a soft clicking sound when either the dash mounted button or the starter button on the generator is pressed. Sounds like a dead battery situation. The engine starts right up and I seem to have power to almost everything I tried.

I'm not ready to plug the coach into shore power just yet. I have a Huges Autoformer on the way and I will feel better using that to check our power first... Too many electronic boards going out on me lately :(

ptw · 10-15-2018, 11:51 AM

Need to take one problem at a time. Most important is to get the battery charging system checked out and get a charge on the batteries.

Make sure all the batteries are wired correctly and the connections to the RV are correct. If you took a picture beforehand double check all your wiring.

Were the new batteries charging when you first put them in and ran the generator? What was the voltage of the batteries? What is the voltage on your house batteries now with the engine running?

S_Watkins · 10-15-2018, 01:00 PM

Batteries were fresh Trojan 105's from Continental Battery in Houston.. Monitor was 12.8 charging over 13.. I started the generator and the monitor report bulk, absorb and float over that 4 hour period. Stated the batteries were 100% charged.

Pretty sure on the connections... There was one connection that did not show up well in the 10 pictures I took, but it was about the only way I could put it back so .....

Not sure on your other questions headed back out as soon as the rain stops..

S_Watkins · 10-15-2018, 02:23 PM

The house batteries show 12.8 volts as tested with a meter at the bank. I see three positive leads and they are circled in red on the picture.

I also found this wiring tag in the cabinet. I marked the three circles with the functions shown by the diagram. There are some differences as to the actual wiring.
1. They are using only 2 ground cables off the bank. One is possibly the inverter ground located under the magnum sensor. The other is a cable that I can't see where it goes, and it is daisy chained to all the negative terminals. It is either the House Ground, I don't see any small wires, or the Frame Ground.

2. The Positive terminals are all daisy chained with 3 cables leading elsewhere. I labeled the picture with what the diagram called them, but they are probably not correct.

The cable attached to the inverter Position is connected to a large fuse on the bulkhead. I would suspect that this is the House Power cable.

The cable attached to the House Power position is also fastened to a plate above the large fuse but I think it is only some sort of bridge connection and not a fuse... It was raining and I was in a hurry but it does not look like the fuse below it and it is just covered with a thick tape and not a removable cover like the fuse.

The cable attached to the BIRD position just disappears behind the wall of the compartment.

So far everything in the house battery compartment checks out. I have found only the one fuse and it is not blown....

ptw · 10-15-2018, 02:48 PM

I'm guessing that the engine is off and you are not connected to shore power. If that is the case the batteries have good voltage.

You said there was a soft clicking on the generator when you tried to start it. My generator will make that noise when it is preheating. Are you holding the button long enough?

Sorry if I am asking dumb questions, I don't know how familiar you are with the coach.

S_Watkins · 10-15-2018, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptw

I'm guessing that the engine is off and you are not connected to shore power. If that is the case the batteries have good voltage.

You said there was a soft clicking on the generator when you tried to start it. My generator will make that noise when it is preheating. Are you holding the button long enough?

Sorry if I am asking dumb questions, I don't know how familiar you are with the coach.

This is my first Diesel and Newmar product.. Had other Class C's and fifth wheels over the years so not a total rookie

Engine was off and I have not connected to shore power, waiting on an auto former.

Seems there are a ton of different black boxes scattered all over the place on this rig

Slowly figuring them out but Newmar does a great job of hiding them!

I'm about to pull the display panel out of the overhead and check the pin outs to see if it's getting power from the chassis batteries. The troubleshooting PDF shows a positive lead from the house and chassis batteries and both are protected by fuses. I have no idea where they are located....

I'm guessing that the generator not turning over ( the clicking I'm hearing might be a fuel pump) is related to no power from the chassis batteries. They are also hot and turn the engine over smartly. Not sure where to find the beginning of the cables running to the starter .... Probably another hidden box

Right now my theory is this is all related to chassis battery power not making the trip up to the front of the coach. The engine, service lights and all driver controls are working.

Is there a relay on the generator power line anywhere?

ptw · 10-15-2018, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S_Watkins

This is my first Diesel and Newmar product.. Had other Class C's and fifth wheels over the years so not a total rookie

I'm guessing that the generator not turning over ( the clicking I'm hearing might be a fuel pump) is related to no power from the chassis batteries. They are also hot and turn the engine over smartly. Not sure where to find the beginning of the cables running to the starter .... Probably another hidden box

Right now my theory is this is all related to chassis battery power not making the trip up to the front of the coach. The engine, service lights and all driver controls are working.

This is from the Onan generator manual. Try holding the button a little longer.

1. Push and hold the switch at START until the genset starts. The status indicator light on the switch flashes during preheat and cranking. It will come on solid when the starter disconnects, indicating that the genset is running. (Depend- ing on how cold it is, preheat can take up to 15 seconds, extending the time that the light blinks.)