No battery power

[Poppasmurf77]

I thought I would pose this problem to the forum to see if anyone has any ideas.
I purchased a 29ft. 2006 Surfside last week from a dealership, and when we did the walkthrough, everything seemed to be working. I took it home and plugged into my house power to get the refrigerator cooled down so we could go camping on the weekend, and everything worked fine.
We usually dry camp, and when we set up at the campsite, I was showing off my new camper to my brother-in-law, when after a couple of minutes the ceiling lights went out. I checked the battery indicator, and it had gone out. Checked battery power and was reading 13.2 volts. Tried the disconnect switch, but it made no difference. Refrigerator was out also.
I ran the gen and got my lights & refigerator back on. Ran for about an hour and shut gen down, lights stayed on for couple of minutes then everything died again. Checked all fuses, breakers and connections .. all good.
I called the dealership, and they had no ideas, so finally I brought the unit in to have their RV mechanic take a look. Worked on it for over an hour, walked away stumped. They were supposed to have their top mechanic look at it today, but I have not heard anything yet.
The mechanic did say that initially is seemed that everything was running of the chassis battery, but the system is designed to only work for a few minutes until the coach batteries kick in.
I know there is some kind of relay switch that is supposed to sense when you are connected to shore power and then switch to battery when shore power is disconnected, but we could not find where that relay was located, and do not have a electrical or service manual to show where it is located.
Hopefully the mechanic can figure this out, but just in case... does anyone know here this relay is located and maybe know where to find a manual?

[onecb]

I own a Surf Side also. If you want drawings for the coach they are available here: http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/NationalRV/messages You will have to join but it is free. Then go look in the files area. Unless some one has added a transfer switch (relay) you do not have one. It sounds like you have a bad connection. It heats up and then separates. Good luck you will like the coach once your problem is solved. Bill

[Paul R. Haller]

It sounds to me as if the house battery is dead and the converter is not charging it. Check the battery voltage disconnected from coach. It should read about 12.8 volts fully charged. If not 12.8, charge battery. reconnect battery and check lights. Now, plug in the drop cord and read battery voltage again. It should read about 13.5 volts or so. If not, check wiring between converter and battery. Check converter output voltage at terminals of converter. It should read about 13.5 volts. if not, check fuses and or converter.
-Paul R. Haller-

[RJay]

The automatic transfer switch should be located at the end of the power cord. Make sure you have voltage at the main AC breaker which is usually fed from the transfer switch.

[Poppasmurf77]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poppasmurf77 I thought I would pose this problem to the forum to see if anyone has any ideas. I purchased a 29ft. 2006 Surfside last week from a dealership, and when we did the walkthrough, everything seemed to be working. I took it home and plugged into my house power to get the refrigerator cooled down so we could go camping on the weekend, and everything worked fine. We usually dry camp, and when we set up at the campsite, I was showing off my new camper to my brother-in-law, when after a couple of minutes the ceiling lights went out. I checked the battery indicator, and it had gone out. Checked battery power and was reading 13.2 volts. Tried the disconnect switch, but it made no difference. Refrigerator was out also. I ran the gen and got my lights & refigerator back on. Ran for about an hour and shut gen down, lights stayed on for couple of minutes then everything died again. Checked all fuses, breakers and connections .. all good. I called the dealership, and they had no ideas, so finally I brought the unit in to have their RV mechanic take a look. Worked on it for over an hour, walked away stumped. They were supposed to have their top mechanic look at it today, but I have not heard anything yet. The mechanic did say that initially is seemed that everything was running of the chassis battery, but the system is designed to only work for a few minutes until the coach batteries kick in. I know there is some kind of relay switch that is supposed to sense when you are connected to shore power and then switch to battery when shore power is disconnected, but we could not find where that relay was located, and do not have a electrical or service manual to show where it is located. Hopefully the mechanic can figure this out, but just in case... does anyone know here this relay is located and maybe know where to find a manual?

Just got back from RV dealer, and after spending a few hours the RV mechanic found 2 "circuit breakers" located on the wall in the storage bay right by the entrance door. The breakers have little red buttons sticking out into the storage bay, and it seems that if you push in on these buttons, it releases a mechanical switch that kills the power coming from the batteries, one is apparently for the chassis and the other for the coach batteries. All it took was for something in the storage bay to shift and push against the button, and no more power, and you have to physically reset the breaker. Poor design/location but now that I know about it, I'll have to build some kind of cover so this does not happen again.
Thanks for all the replies .. and happy RV'g

[m65york]

Mike i have an 2008 Surfside and had the identical problem. However the two breaker you are referring about are; 1 is to the batteries from the converter and the other is from the batteries to the BATTERY CONTROL BOARD BCB. This board was operating properly. Due to the house batties being disconected, the chassis battery automatically conneted to the house via the BCB. However after about a coup[le minutes the voltage drops below 12.4 volts and the BCC automatically disconnects all power. Once you crank up the engine the alternator increased the voltage aboved 12.4 and the BCC reconneted the power.