Lost 12 volt power

[ChuckTeriOTR]

I lost 12 volt power and was able to get it back on by switching the Salesman Switch on/off. Alliance coach replaced the White/Rogers solenoid in the bay on New Years Eve. At 5:00am this morning was awakened by our dog barking due to a very pungent electrical smell coming from the bathroom area mid coach. The bay where the solenoid is located is below this area. I have toggled the Salesman switch several time but it keeps clicking the power off. In reading thread on this issue it would appear you can bypass the switch/solenoid by connecting both the battery leads to one terminal on the solenoid. I am uncertain if I should do this since I have the smell which no one else has mentioned. I would like to take the coach back to Alliance on Monday but according to this thread my slides will not work.

Any suggestions?

[rag_ftw]

Can you determine what is causing the smell?
How hot is the solenoid?
How many wires are connected to the solenoid?
Have someone cycle the salesman switch while you listen/feel the solenoid to determine if it is cycling. New solenoids are bad every once in awhile.
If you have an ampmeter try to determine what the load is across the two big leads. Measure across the solenoid and again just the leads with the solenoid out of the loop. If there is a big differed that would point to the solenoid to me.
When my solenoid died I connected both wires to the same teminal until i could get another one. I got one from NAPA that is rated at twice the amperage as the white/Rogers for about half the price.
Just some stuff to try to help isolate the problem.

[ChuckTeriOTR]

Great recommendations. Before I put the two large cables on one post of the solenoid do I need to remove the positive lead on the coach batteries or can I do this with the batteries hot?

[rag_ftw]

I did it hot, after minimizing the potential loads on the coach batteries. (I'm OK with a little spark but big sparks make me jump, even when hooking up battery terminals!)
Sure hope you are in an area where you haven't needed heat!
The NAPA part number for the 200 amp solenoid is ST725.

[ChuckTeriOTR]

Which wires do I attach to the three posts? See the attached photo which shows how it is currently wired.

Thanks

[GaryM2]

You might consider using jumper cables for a quick and simple solution. Hook the jumper cables to the top of the solenoid (the two large terminals), red on one side, black on the other. When you want ‘power’ just clip the other end of the jumper cables to each other – red to black. The jumper cables take the place of the solenoid and should have enough capacity to carry the load. Once you get the slides in and the coffee made , remove the cables and head back to Alliance.

[rag_ftw]

Originally Posted by ChuckTeriOTR

Which wires do I attach to the three posts? See the attached photo which shows how it is currently wired.

Thanks

That is the battery boost solenoid on mine. Is there another solenoid to the right of that one? On mine the battery boost (3 wires) is on the left and salesman (4 wires) is on the right. My NAPA 200 amp ST725 salesman solenoid looks like the attachment.

If the coach has DC power my salesman solenoid is always warm to the touch and the battery boost solenoid will be cold. What's the chance they replaced the wrong solenoid?

Have someone cycle the salesman switch while you are looking at the solenoids. You should be able to hear it click. (or if your ears are like mine you should be able to feel it click!). Now do the same test on the battery boost and let us know your results.

[ChuckTeriOTR]

Mystery solved. They installed the wrong solenoid and invoiced for the wrong one also. They had replaced the solenoid below the one in the photo with a diesel solenoid which was not continuous duty and only 60 AMPS. The smel was the oil from the solenoid which had burned and leaked out.

I verified this is a 200 AMP continuous duty unit. Alliance refunded my cost from last Thursday and gave me a spare one also.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.