Hi,
I had a weird thing happen yesterday as we were breaking camp and getting ready to leave the campground.
I have a viper alarm in my RV (model 350 plus) and I have a Battery Doctor Battery Disconnect, the kind with the Green Knob. Not sure right now while typing this if it has the fused piece on it.
Battery Doctor Green Knob Battery Disconnect - Battery Switches & Testers - Battery Supplies - Electrical
That's the link to the type I have. I also have a brand spanking new battery in the chassis.
Anyway, long story short, we were only camping for two nights. I did not have the alarm set all weekend because i hate it and i think it drains my battery.
So, I had to back up my RV a bit to reach the sewer pipe to drain my tanks. I turned on the RV, it was sluggish as if a weak battery but it fired up okay. I left it running for around 5 minutes I guess.
Turned it off and then closed the car doors and this time clicked the door locks with the key fob thing and it set the alarm to on.
Walked the dogs for one last time before the drive.
Went back to the RV and tried to hit the unlock button with the key fob and it was dead! Got in to the RV via the coach door and unlocked the car door manually with the latch.
Now, no power to the vehicle at all! Putting the key in the ignition and turning to ACC or to ON resulted in nothing.
(one time before the viper alarm was keeping the vehicle from starting but at least at that time i had 12 volt power to the viper alarm and alarming it and disarming it allowed the vehicle to start)
This time though, i had no power to the viper alarm at all so i could not repeat that fix. But, i did engage the switch to get 12 volts from the coach battery and i was able to use the key fob to alarm and unalarm the system but I still had no power to the vehicle with the key in ON or ACC.
We tried to jump the vehicle with another persons truck and it was as if nothing helped.
A man came over to help and he said he just barely touched the green knob on that disconnect switch and I think that gave my juice to the ignition switch and dashboard, rear camera, etc. But, i can't really believe that him just touching it fixed it. Does this sound logical to anyone?
I think there may be two issues at work here, one with the disconnect and one with the alarm system disabling the starter circuit.
Can anyone shed any light on this or point me to someone who may be familiar with the operation and wiring of the car alarms in RV's?
On a side note, something seems to be draining my chassis battery, only 2 days of sitting and it's sluggish to start with a brand new battery?
Thanks,
Val
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