2 relays, good DC, no charging house or chassis

[Rick_NH]

02 fleetwood fiesta 32s ford f53 chassis. Does anyone have a schematic of the bulkhead relays? I've 13.7 DC on shore power while across the house batteries it's 3.23 and starting bat about 8. There are two momentary contact switches, main and aux above the door. Pressing either switch produces a click but no change in voltage. Same for aux. I'd say the relay but two of them? The basic manual is no help. There must be something upstream the two have in common the manual doesn't show.
The disconnect switch has two momentary contacts, up or down, which is disconnect?
Thanks

[dpinvidic]

Those switches above the door are the disconnect relays so you can disconnect the chas d is an house batteries for storage.

There is also a third relay (aux start) which ties both sets of batteries together for emergency starting and charging.

You either have very bad batteries, or a very poor connection if you read that low of a voltage.
13.7 is a float charge voltage, where are you measuring that voltage?

you should also measure the voltage on both relay terminals to ground (both relays).
if the relay terminals are the same voltage, the relay is closed ( check big stud terminals).

Dan

[Rick_NH]

That was measured on the battery. The house DC is at 13.7.
I've found information on the bcc, that will help identify the relays.
Thanks

[Old Bounder]

Originally Posted by Rick_NH

That was measured on the battery. The house DC is at 13.7.
I've found information on the bcc, that will help identify the relays.
Thanks

Rick, the relay (solenoid) that connects the batteries together for charging is the shiny one in the BCC. The other two are the disconnect relays.

The disconnect switches by the entry should be pressed on the TOP to connect the batteries to their respective loads. The switches must be ON for charging from shore power, activating house functions and starting the generator. They do not connect the batteries together. That is a function of the interconnect relay (also known as the Aux Start relay or the Isolator relay.)

Try pressing and holding the aux start button (I use a tooth pick to jam it closed) ans check for battery charging of all batteries.

If you have trouble understanding the test procedures in the document, just yell.
lou

[Rick_NH]

Lou, thanks
Time will tell but it appears to be my unfamiliarity with the system. Twenty years with trailers that weren't nearly as complex. The doc helped immensely. Had just taken it out of storage. The chassis bat was 0 but started using the aux start proving that relay worked. Next day aux bats were 3 volts, chassis 8. Don't know how it ever started. On shore power neither would charge. Charged house and chassis bats fully on external charger. System operates normally now. If the chassis bat drops below 12.6 the relay drops out and can't be charged with shore power, only the engine. Apparently it's to preserve the chassis battery, what if it will not start due to low bats and all you have is shore power? Suffice to say the volt meter, battery charger and those test instructions have a home onboard. Thanks for your help.

[Old Bounder]

Rick, I'm not sure I'm following all you are saying about the status of your BCC, but if you look inside the BCC box where the solenoids are, you will see two DC circuit breakers along the side or bottom. They should have a little black plastic reset button on them, Press those buttons to see if they are tripped.

The breakers will look like this

[Rick_NH]

Good to know, thanks.
The aux start relay worked as you said. The chassis bat voltage was too low to hold the relay. Once the chassis bat was charged above 12.6 the relay held.
I know the relay is staying closed, paralleling batteries. Voltage on all is 13.2, not sure if they are connected to the house charger, would think they would have been 13. 7 or .9. If not could be the relay you mentioned. Will check tomorrow. Thanks
PS. When I first checked the coach at the dealer last year before buying it, all batteries were dead. Dealer said they replaced the batteries. Might this have been the original problem?

[Rick_NH]

Damn, the chassis battery is down to 12.13, relay is dropped out house bat is 13. 14.
The silver relays you mentioned are closed. 13.14 on both sides.
13.4 on both breakers and relays, same as house bat. How does the shore power charger voltage get there? Note the new chassis relay, someone has tried this before.

[Old Bounder]

Originally Posted by Rick_NH

Damn, the chassis battery is down to 12.13, relay is dropped out house bat is 13. 14.
The silver relays you mentioned are closed. 13.14 on both sides.
13.4 on both breakers and relays, same as house bat. How does the shore power charger voltage get there? Note the new chassis relay, someone has tried this before.
Attachment 93906

We need to level set our understanding here a little bit.
First - let me apologize for some confusion. While your system is electrically equivalent to the BCC, it appears from the photo that it is packaged somewhat differently.

The aux start/cross charge/isolator relay is the one in the center with the two large red cables attached. (And I see it's not shiny )

With the shore power converter/charger active, the output to the house batteries should be at about 13.4 or 13.6 (or higher). It must be at least 13.2V to close that center relay.

Th charger/converter voltage arrives at the house disconnect, on the large terminal on the left hand side, through those two red wires from those circuit breakers that I mentioned in my last post.

I am confused concerning the voltages you stated in the above quote. If the shore power is connected, and the house and chassis disconnects ON (in the connected state), the relay should be closed. The 13.2+ voltage should pass through that center relay to the chassis battery. I can't tell just where you are reading the 13.14, 13.4, etc.

A simple test, at this point, is:
If the converter is putting out 13.2+ volts, and this 13.X volts is on both red cables in your photo, the chassis battery has to measure 13.X also, or else the cable connection to it is bad.

If the same 13.X voltage is NOT measured on both red cables, (on the left, but not the right) with the above conditions, then the relay is dropped out or is defective.

Just as a recap, if the engine is not running, and the converter (shore power or generator driven) is not charging, the center relay will drop out. Neither the house battery or the chassis battery will keep it closed. It requires charging voltage from one direction or the other to close, and stay closed.

[Rick_NH]

There are two shiny relays on the lower right, rust colored now. Pushed the reset buttons to be sure, they were not tripped. Big aux relay with the two red cables stays closed until the chassis bat drops below 12.6.
The relay closes also when the aux start button is pressed. With that pressed The voltage of the house batteries appears on all the closed relays, circuit breakers, two red cables, shiny relays. It varies with the house bats. Never seen voltage from the shore charger, anywhere, ever. Hope that makes sense. Missing a piece to this puzzle.
Just as you said, find the pump and there's the valve. Unfortunately when turned to city fill it goes on the ground. Will just use gravity fill. This camper and I are having getting to know you pains😩

[Old Bounder]

Originally Posted by Rick_NH

Big aux relay with the two red cables stays closed until the chassis bat drops below 12.6.

This is as it is designed.

The relay closes also when the aux start button is pressed. With that pressed The voltage of the house batteries appears on all the closed relays, circuit breakers, two red cables, shiny relays. It varies with the house bats.

This is as it is designed. What is the house battery voltage when plugged to shore power? When NOT on shore power?

Never seen voltage from the shore charger, anywhere, ever. Hope that makes sense.

How did you get the 13.4V that you mentioned in an earlier post? Did you use an external charger?

Just as you said, find the pump and there's the valve. Unfortunately when turned to city fill it goes on the ground. Will just use gravity fill. This camper and I are having getting to know you pains😩

Bummer Does it go directly on the ground, or is it because the tank is full and it is overflowing?

[Rick_NH]

Can't see the hose its above the generator. My guess is it wasn't winterized, froze and cracked. Not a show stopper.
Shore power charger has been on the whole time. The interior lights are at 14 volts. Seems there is no connection between shore charger and the bats. Your right, it's appears to work as designed except the shore charger is MIA.

[Rick_NH]

Yes have been charging bats with external charger. Shore power on or off makes no difference

[Old Bounder]

Here is a link to a manual that purports to be for 2002/03 Fiestas.

The diagram on page 8-7 shows how the converter feeds the fuse panel for the interior lights and appliances. I think you said the converter feeds the lights about 14V when on shore power. That's good.

The panel also has two connections, behind the fuses, that send the converter output on to the BCC panel to those two manual reset circuit breakers. Those are the two lines you see exiting the fuse panel on the right. Those lines may also be fused on the fuse panel end, but I don't think so.

You will need to measure the voltage on the end of those lines leaving the fuse panel, and again when they reach the two circuit breakers and the house battery disconnect siolenoid/relay.

What model converter (house charger) do your rig have?

Another question that I've been meaning to ask is, do you have interior lights when you remove shore power?