No House Power until I started the engine

[AnimalCop]

Hey All,

I had an issue with a new MH I just got, 1993 Winnebago Vectra on Ford F58 Chassis.
Nothing was plugged in, it was in my driveway, I wanted to go inside, so I tried to turn on a light, nothing.. So I went to the battery switch and turned that on, still no lights, nothing on the electrical panel would show, like battery condition, levels. So at that point I started the Chassis Engine, then everything worked, even after I shut down the engine.
Is this normal, it is not a one time thing because I tried it again and same thing. Once I started the engine and I checked battery level, it was full charge after I shut down the engine.
Any opinions out there?

[Skip426]

If you were checking coach battery state of charge with the engine running you are getting a false reading ( alternator voltage ). You need to check coach batteries with a volt meter. ( engine off ) . I'll bet their dead; alternator gave a quick charge; and some transfer switches won't work if the coach batteries are dead.

[AnimalCop]

No the Coach batteries are fine, and after I started the Engine and turned it off then I still had the Coach power working, that is when I checked the power gauges.
The one thing I did do was turned off the button on the dash to disangage the coach batterys, but I turned this on prior to trying to get a light on in the coach. Once I started the Chassis, then the lights popped on and then I turned it off and they remained on.

[PlayItForwrd]

Deja vu- just posted in another thread about this-- You may have a solenoid that's supposed to switch on via the house batteries but (for some reason) it isn't. Working theory: Once the solenoid is energized by the chassis battery, the house batteries will keep it energized until you shut off the switch, then you'll need the engine to energize it again...

Our last motorhome ('87 CruiseAir III) had a zillion solenoid relays, and each relay had 2 fuses. After selling it to a friend we found a couple of those fuses blown, which fixed a couple of problems we just lived with while we had it...

Right after we bought our Allegro I found this solenoid on the electric nightmare board, notice the burnt connection and the cable that's supposed to be there dangling below...



I believe-- but not positive-- that this solenoid, when energized, allows the engine alternator to charge the house batteries. It says "chassis solenoid" on the sticker behind it. I didn't notice it WASN'T charging, I was just checking things out and found it that way--

So, guess what my guess is as to your problem?

[ChuckinKC]

I had a similar problem with my 1996 Nemar Kountry Aire. I found that the remote house-battery disconnect solenoid was worn out. I have the kind of house power shut down where you push a button at the power control panel to shut off the house power for coach storage.

As the house power is shut down, if there is ANY load, the contacts in the solenoid spark, which over the years causes the connection to go bad. I think that when you started the coach engine the alternator jumped the voltage up to about 13.8 volts to charge the batteries, and that was enough to overcome the resistance in the contacts, but once they were open again the batteries are not strong enough. I replaced the solenoid and have had no further problems. I was able to find the solenoid on ebay for about $35 and replaced it myself -- if you do that be SURE to disconnect all batteries and shore power and take a picute of the solenoid before you start to be sure you get all the connections back to the way you started.

[AnimalCop]

Where should I start looking for this Solenoid

[ChuckinKC]

Probably near the house batteries, it SHOULD be the very first thing that the large red positive cable goes to from the house battery(s).