Community Forums

nodine · 04-30-2016, 05:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ereadingrv

Okay, posted are (first) two pictures of the battery compartment. Yes, we know that in the second, new picture of the battery bay there is a seventh battery shoehorned in their and being used to supplement the other two chassis batteries. That is a temporary situation until next week, when we're adding 6 new batteries.

Following the battery compartment photos are two photos of the Front Distribution Panel, so that people can see how (relatively) different it is from, for example, the 2001 Diplomat. At least, it is for those of less technically-proficient!

Any help with the solenoid and/or solenoid workaround would be appreciated! I did a search of the forums, and there ARE a lot of posts on this...unfortunately, none that we could relate to with our particular setup, since it is a 1999 Diplomat.

Your Front Run Bay is very different from ours and I do not see a contactor that would be used to disconnect the house 12 volt system. That does not mean you do not have one but it would be best to find someone with a 99 Diplomat that knows for sure. Maybe I jumped the gun and have you on a wild goose chase. Sorry for that. You may very well just have a bad connection as MSHappyCampers pointed out.

Your frig, furnace, water pump, and vent fans are some of the other items that use 12 volts from the house battery system.

Bob

ereadingrv · 04-30-2016, 06:34 AM

[[ Your Front Run Bay is very different from ours and I do not see a contactor that would be used to disconnect the house 12 volt system.]]

Bob...

If I had a hundred bucks for everyone who has looked at components on our coach and said something along the lines of, "Wow, that doesn't look like anything I've seen before!" I'd be driving a Foretravel before the month was out.

Apparently, Monaco made more than a few significant changes between 1999 and 2001, for example.

That said, we turned off the master power switch in the battery bay (in the pictures, it's the big, black dial on the upper left of the battery bay, above the house batteries). It killed the generator, etc. We turned it back on, and the interior lights all came back on. Generator fired right up.

Just for our edification, we'd love to know if anyone can explain how the h*ll that fixed the problem.

mel s · 04-30-2016, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ereadingrv

Hi, Bob:
Okay, here's what is probably a REALLY dumb question...but what other systems in the coach are 12v besides the interior lights? I honestly thought that was the only thing.
Again, dumb question, I know...but I honestly didn't know 12v was anything but the interior lighting, cigarette lighter jack (yes, ours has one), etc.

ereadingrv
RV roof vent fans and water pumps are 12V... as are the controls of RV refrigerators, furnaces, water heaters and often the spark ignitors of propane cook tops/ovens.
See: The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
(Google understanding rv 12v systems for more information).
Mel
'96 Safari

ereadingrv · 04-30-2016, 07:13 AM

[QUOTE=mel s;3046758]ereadingrv
RV roof vent fans and water pumps are 12V... as are the controls of RV refrigerators, furnaces, water heaters and often the spark ignitors of propane cook tops/ovens.]]

Oddly, Mel, our refrigerator controls continued to work fine on 110v, apparenly; I'm not sure if that's just this model of refrigerator or what the deal is. Another thing put on our "checklist" of things to research when we have the time.

We also noticed, after I wrote that message, that in fact, we'd lost the heat/AC panel and the rooftop a/c units. We're out of propane at the moment, so didn't get to test that, but I suspect you're right on that, too.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 04-30-2016, 07:28 AM

ereadingrv-

So, everything is working now?

Could be a failing chassis battery disconnect switch.

I located a 2000 Diplomat drawing package on the Yahoo "Monacoers" Group Web site. I can't say how much it matches your 1999, but there are some similarities. Here is a mark-up I made from sheet 13 of that package, showing a "Battery Cut-Off Relay" in the Front Distribution Panel.

The relay as drawn appears to be self-powered, that is, the 12V coming from the coach battery appears to activate it- no external switch required. As soon as you turn the battery disconnect switch on, the relay would close and pass power through to the "House Battery" stud on the circuit board in the Front Distribution Panel. Why it would be wired this way I don't know (and I easily could have misunderstood the diagram). It could explain why you can't find a battery cut-off switch near the entry door.

Oh, and there are no more relays between that stud and the fuses that feed the lights, if the 2000 Diplomat drawing package applies.

I'd want to know more about this, and if you do as well I suggest tracing the battery cable from the disconnect switch in the battery compartment to the Front Distribution Panel (FDP). (One iRV2 poster, "Dr4Film," found a cut-off relay in the "Rear Run Box" of his coach). If you could provide another picture of the FDP with the relays and wiring pulled out of the way, that would be useful. You're just trying to confirm a relay is nowhere in the path.

If you want the full drawing set from "Monacoers," I can send it to you by e-mail. I'm slowly using up my quota of storage on iRV2, and want to conserve where I can. Just send me a private mail message including your e-mail address.

ereadingrv · 04-30-2016, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by l1v3fr33ord1

ereadingrv-

So, everything is working now?

Could be a failing chassis battery disconnect switch.

I located a 2000 Diplomat drawing package on the Yahoo "Monacoers" Group Web site. I can't say how much it matches your 1999, but there are some similarities. Here is a mark-up I made from sheet 13 of that package, showing a "Battery Cut-Off Relay" in the Front Distribution Panel.

The relay as drawn appears to be self-powered, that is, the 12V coming from the coach battery appears to activate it- no external switch required. As soon as you turn the battery disconnect switch on, the relay would close and pass power through to the "House Battery" stud on the circuit board in the Front Distribution Panel. Why it would be wired this way I don't know (and I easily could have misunderstood the diagram). It could explain why you can't find a battery cut-off switch near the entry door.

Oh, and there are no more relays between that stud and the fuses that feed the lights, if the 2000 Diplomat drawing package applies.

I'd want to know more about this, and if you do as well I suggest tracing the battery cable from the disconnect switch in the battery compartment to the Front Distribution Panel (FDP). (One iRV2 poster, "Dr4Film," found a cut-off relay in the "Rear Run Box" of his coach). If you could provide another picture of the FDP with the relays and wiring pulled out of the way, that would be useful. You're just trying to confirm a relay is nowhere in the path.

If you want the full drawing set from "Monacoers," I can send it to you by e-mail. I'm slowly using up my quota of storage on iRV2, and want to conserve where I can. Just send me a private mail message including your e-mail address.

Thank you for locating that! My "public" email address is rdsdrop@gmail.com. I'd greatly appreciate the email of that image.

I agree with you, we do want to know more about the whole situation with how it's wired.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 04-30-2016, 10:33 AM

ereadingrv-

The diagram package is on its way.

windsorbill · 04-30-2016, 06:54 PM

I'm not seeing a solenoid for a salesman switch. It's hard to tell from pictures, but I know on my coach if battery terminals are dirty--even a little bit--12 volt system has a mind of its own. Maybe try cleaning all battery post connections. Just be 110% certain you connect them back the way they are. I usually take detailed pictures or label everything with drawings.

ereadingrv · 05-03-2016, 09:26 AM

Okay, here's today's latest update...

The lights went OFF again, despite the battery contacts being cleaned and checked. We know the batteries, which were neglected by the previous owners, need replacement. So we are picking up a set of 6 volt Trojans (brand new, stamped 2/16) for $520 today. Seems like a VERY good price to us. We're also, obviously, hoping that this will fix the 12v issue, since it does seem to be battery related.

Any advice or comments on our choice of batteries? Anything we may not be thinking of?

barmcd · 05-03-2016, 01:13 PM

You also might want to check for a switch by the front door. We have a 12 volt cut off switch there that will turn off the lights and coach radio which apparently runs off the house side in our coach. That switch is next to the front porch light and stair light switch and controls a relay that turns the 12 volts off and on.

ereadingrv · 05-03-2016, 01:14 PM

From our last post...no thoughts on batteries?

We've considered a series of mice running on treadmills as an alternative to batteries, but these days mouse food is more expensive than batteries.

But seriously...any thoughts? Opinions? Thanks!

ereadingrv · 05-03-2016, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barmcd

You also might want to check for a switch by the front door. We have a 12 volt cut off switch there that will turn off the lights and coach radio which apparently runs off the house side in our coach. That switch is next to the front porch light and stair light switch and controls a relay that turns the 12 volts off and on.

Nope, sadly, not. As mentioned earlier, we appear to have no salesman's switch on this coach.

barmcd · 05-03-2016, 01:37 PM

R1 looks like it's a self holding relay, but I don't see the source of the voltage to energize it. You can see that one line of the relay comes from the battery and goes through normally open contacts of R1. Something would have to energize the relay to close those contacts.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 05-03-2016, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ereadingrv

Okay, here's today's latest update...

The lights went OFF again, despite the battery contacts being cleaned and checked. We know the batteries, which were neglected by the previous owners, need replacement. So we are picking up a set of 6 volt Trojans (brand new, stamped 2/16) for $520 today. Seems like a VERY good price to us. We're also, obviously, hoping that this will fix the 12v issue, since it does seem to be battery related.

Any advice or comments on our choice of batteries? Anything we may not be thinking of?

ereadingrv-

Trojan batteries seem to be well-built (I had two T-105s on the last coach), and the company well-regarded.

Let's see if the new batteries fix the intermittent outages you've reported.