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Old 01-31-2008, 10:59 AM   #1
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This discussion is instead of further hijacking the solor panal demise thread.

Sailors- Not sure what you mean by sealed box or cover (I know WRV had a formed battery cover in years past but thought it was discontinued B4 05 models). However, as to testing the solenoid:

1) locate charging solenoid on back wall of batt compartment. Your OEM solenoid was probably silver in color, and made by Cole-Hersee, with two large studs on either side, and two smaller studs facing forward at an angle; you might have a different one now. The two smalls are the activator connections; when 12V is present across these the solenoid activates to close large contacts inside & complete the circuit between the fat cables on each side, and thereby send charging current to the chassis batteries.
2) disconnect the right hand fat cable. Be careful not to touch any metal with it as it is directly connected to the chassis batts and will cause an invigorating short (sparks fly, stuff gets burned, etc.). I have a piece of heavy tape ready to wrap the cable end when I remove it, so if it bends in an unplanned way it is insulated & nothing bad happens. This allows you to test the solenoid's internal contacts w/out back-feed thru the rest of the charging system.
3) disconnect the left hand small cable on the front facing studs. This will deny the solenoid its activation current.
4) using an ohm meter set to ohms x 1000 (available @ Radio Shack for about $20 for a good one; I prefer one w/a needle dial instead of digital for this) touch one lead to each large stud on the solenoid (or better still- use meter leads w/alligator clips for a solid, uniform, no-hands grip; also available @ Radio Shack for their meters). The needle shouldn't move (reading infinity). If it does there may be internal leakage of current across these studs and solenoid is probably troublesome at least.
5) using a spare wire lead, run from one of the red cable studs on the house batts near the solenoid to the left small stud on solenoid. Alligator clips are good here to maintain a continuous contact w/no hands required. You should hear the solenoid thump when you connect 12V to the small stud. Now measure the ohms across the large studs again. write down the reading.
6) repeat #5 several times. If you always get identical readings, solenoid is probably good. If the readings vary, then the contacts inside are probably burned and make slightly different contact each time; time for a new solenoid.
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Old 01-31-2008, 10:59 AM   #2
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Join Date: May 2004
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This discussion is instead of further hijacking the solor panal demise thread.

Sailors- Not sure what you mean by sealed box or cover (I know WRV had a formed battery cover in years past but thought it was discontinued B4 05 models). However, as to testing the solenoid:

1) locate charging solenoid on back wall of batt compartment. Your OEM solenoid was probably silver in color, and made by Cole-Hersee, with two large studs on either side, and two smaller studs facing forward at an angle; you might have a different one now. The two smalls are the activator connections; when 12V is present across these the solenoid activates to close large contacts inside & complete the circuit between the fat cables on each side, and thereby send charging current to the chassis batteries.
2) disconnect the right hand fat cable. Be careful not to touch any metal with it as it is directly connected to the chassis batts and will cause an invigorating short (sparks fly, stuff gets burned, etc.). I have a piece of heavy tape ready to wrap the cable end when I remove it, so if it bends in an unplanned way it is insulated & nothing bad happens. This allows you to test the solenoid's internal contacts w/out back-feed thru the rest of the charging system.
3) disconnect the left hand small cable on the front facing studs. This will deny the solenoid its activation current.
4) using an ohm meter set to ohms x 1000 (available @ Radio Shack for about $20 for a good one; I prefer one w/a needle dial instead of digital for this) touch one lead to each large stud on the solenoid (or better still- use meter leads w/alligator clips for a solid, uniform, no-hands grip; also available @ Radio Shack for their meters). The needle shouldn't move (reading infinity). If it does there may be internal leakage of current across these studs and solenoid is probably troublesome at least.
5) using a spare wire lead, run from one of the red cable studs on the house batts near the solenoid to the left small stud on solenoid. Alligator clips are good here to maintain a continuous contact w/no hands required. You should hear the solenoid thump when you connect 12V to the small stud. Now measure the ohms across the large studs again. write down the reading.
6) repeat #5 several times. If you always get identical readings, solenoid is probably good. If the readings vary, then the contacts inside are probably burned and make slightly different contact each time; time for a new solenoid.
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Old 01-31-2008, 11:32 AM   #3
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Thank you Mike,
The solenoids are enclosed in a panel on the inboard wall of the battery compartment. One must be the chassi battery disconnect and the other for the house batteries. I didn't want to messing around with elect. stuff in such a complicated setup as these Coaches with out some idea what was going to happen. I know just enough to be dangerous and have gotten in trouble before.
Thanks again.
Brad
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Old 01-31-2008, 04:29 PM   #4
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As normal Mike's description of "how to" is excellent. I would like to mention one safety concern I have from my years in auto mechanics, a long time ago. If your wrench touches ground while loosening the nut on the hot wire or if you have any other type of short, it will not be a pleasant experience. The BEST way to work any 12 volt wiring and especially the battery cables, is to disconnect the ground at the battery first. This will only work if you don't need the system hot for testing. In Mikes test, if you are not adept at working with battery cables, you might disconnect the ground, disconnect the cable off of the solenoid, tape it up and then reconnect the ground. In an effort to make my mechanics aware of the dangers in wearing jewelry while working on a cars wiring I had a little demo I did for them. I would take a pair of jumper cables connected to a 12 volt car battery and connecting the other ends to a LARGE cotter pin (like about a 10 ga wire.) The cotter pin would glow red hot and melt like a fuse in a few seconds. You might imagine the amount of power (amps) available from our large battery banks. The other danger is sparks. Vented wet cell batteries produce oxygen and hydrogen which is very explosive. This is why when jumping batteries it is best to make the last connection the ground and connect it to the engine somewhere away from the battery.

Dale
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Old 02-03-2008, 07:02 PM   #5
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Dale,
Good advice, its very hard to work in such close spaces around battery cables without making sparks. I guess one could wrap the wrench handles with tape to prevent some contact.
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Old 02-04-2008, 05:03 AM   #6
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Thank you Mike!
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