Electrical or just bad luck

[Gordiegaffer]

What model Sightseer and where are you located

[OnTheMove2]

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

1. The jacks have a sensor at the top that is made when the jacks are fully retracted. If the jacks are extended even 1/8" the sensor will give the controller the signal that the jacks are down. It doesn't know if they are fully extended of within 1/8" of full retraction.

You can try to extend the jacks, wipe them down with WD 40 to clean any grime off them, wipe them down and retract them to see if they will go to the full home position. If this works be sure to extend the jacks again and be certain all the WD 40 is cleaned off. It works good for removing debris, but if left on will attract more.

If this procedure fails try replacing the return springs with HD ones from HWH. Should that not cure the problem about the only recourse is to replace the offending jacks. We had to replace the return springs and rear jacks on our 2001 Adventurer.

2. It's possible that the batteries are not being charged while on shore power. To be sure start the engine and go to the "One Place" monitor station. Look at the charge on both the chassis and house batteries. They should both be in the 13.4 range while the engine is running if the alternator is working properly. If the chassis battery is reading in that range, and the house batteries are not you probably have a bad solenoid. We had to replace this solenoid on our 2001 Adventurer.

3. Also check the house batteries with the engine off and plugged into shore power. They should read in the 12.8 to 13.4 voltage range. If they are below that range either the charging solenoid or the converter/charger has failed. We had to replace the converter/charger on our 2013 Adventurer.

4. As for the stairs be sure to lube all pivot points on a regular basis. We had the stairs on our 2013 Adventurer refuse to retract after only 2 weeks of camping in Florida.

5. Since the coach is rarely used I would check for the possibility of mice, squirrels, or other rodents having set up house keeping in the engine compartment, or having chewed on one or more wiring harnesses. We had varmints chew through a wiring harness at the rear of our 2001 Adventurer. We were lucky in that the only things affected were the lights on the towed vehicle.

Hey Hikerdogs,

Thank you so much for your very comprehensive and helfpful post. You guys here are so very awesome!!

I will respond to each of your posts, as you were so kind as to enumerate them.

1. Jacks: I am assuming there is a sensor for each of the jacks. I will crawl under the motor home and wipe them down with WD40. I am assuming again that you mean the pad, not the springs or anywhere else. As an aside, I have noticed that one of the jacks might be leaking hydraulic fluid. Could this possibly be causing this problem to occur? I know there is somewhere to add hydraulic fluid, but will need to comb through the manual to find where and how to check on this.

2.I'm not sure what my monitor station is called, but I don't think I have ever seen it called the "One Place" monitor system. In the manual it is referred to as the Powerline 2004 Energy Management System. This panel basically provides me with levels on the tanks as well as LP Gas and "Batt Chg". The Batt Chg has indicators from E to F. This is for the house batteries only. I can not tell from that how much charge the house batteries actually have, but when connected to shore line (even if my home) the batteries have shown a Full Charge. I have no way of checking the charge on my chassis battery. Unless there is a tool I can I use, which I would probably need to buy.

3. I have plugged the house batteries with a trickle charger; since yesterday. I'm going to go and check and see if they charged them up. If they didn't, then I will plug the power into my house. Although I don't think my surge protector is functioning properly so might have to bypass it. Which worries me a bit. If the batteries do show a full charge, then I guess I can assume the solenoid is alright.

4. Thank you for the suggestion to lube the stairs. That is a good idea. Is there a particular lube that you have found to be a good one? When an RV repairman checked on things for me last year, he said that there was power going to the stair motor, it was just not working. It was then that the motorhome was sent to the dealership. They repaired the stairs, but that is when the motorhome fans stopped working along with the dash a/c. It also would not start. The stairs on this motorhome are not the factory stairs and I worried that it was not wired properly.

5. You could certainly be correct. Living in the country has its drawbacks. I parked my truck for a while and when I returned to using it, I saw that something had made a nest inside the engine. I will look through everything that I can.

Thanks so much for you great advice. I will keep you posted.

Terry

[OnTheMove2]

Originally Posted by georgelesley

So many things that seem t be unrelated makes me wonder if maybe a mouse or squirrel had lunch in your wiring harness.

Hey George...I worry about that as well. I am going to go out and crawl all over the rig to see if I can find anything like that.

Wish me luck, Terry

[OnTheMove2]

Originally Posted by David 70

Did the dash ac work good before all this or was it weak? If it was weak my guess would be low freon charge.

Hi David, the dash ac seemed to work just fine. It wasn't weak and blew out really cold air. I guess it could be a freon issue. I was wondering also if it could be because the antifreeze is low? My truck won't blow out cold air if the antifreeze is low.

Freon is expensive to replace isn't it?

Thanks, Terry

[OnTheMove2]

Originally Posted by Gordiegaffer

What model Sightseer and where are you located

Hi Gordie.

This is a 2009 Sightseer model 37L. I live in Washington State about 40 miles south of Seattle.

Terry

[YC1]

Some great advice already. We had a new 2008 Sightseer.

The engine battery was not charged when plugged into shoreline. I added a device to solve that one. In addition to that I added a bit of solar for good measure.

So here is my advice for anyone buying a new or used RV.

You have to be handy with tools, a voltmeter, or a check book. And often all three at the same time. These darn things are actually hobbies.

The rv lives a miserable life on a fault line and lack of use is even worse because you won't pick up on all the broken things until they come in multiples.

We loved the Sightseer even though it had its problems. Fortunately I'm more than handy with tools and Voltmeters but am stingy with the check book.

For some folks, a complex rv may not be the way to go. Wait till you chase leaks.

Sorry, didn't meant to toss water on the parade. Obviously you have been on the forum long enough to know I'm just preaching to the choir.

Cheers

[Ray,IN]

Originally Posted by OnTheMove2

Hi David, the dash ac seemed to work just fine. It wasn't weak and blew out really cold air. I guess it could be a freon issue. I was wondering also if it could be because the antifreeze is low? My truck won't blow out cold air if the antifreeze is low.

Freon is expensive to replace isn't it?

Thanks, Terry

Engine anti-freeze has nothing to do with the air conditioner, nothing.
Yes, if you follow the instructions on the can of refrigerant (there is a sticker stating refrigerant type, usually R134A) it is a DIY job. You may buy a can at any auto store or WalMart. Buy a can with a gauge, then simply follow the instructions exactly.
It is probable some refrigerant leaked out due to non-use.
It is not expensive, around $8 for a can with a gauge.


As to your electrical problems, over 80% of all 12V issues are the result of a poor/missing ground. Make sure all ground connections are clean, and tight.

[Gordiegaffer]

Look at your starting battery i have knife switch that i disconnect when i leave the coach there are all kinds of draws on the battery when you are not using the coach. The starting battery does not charge when plugged in to shore power. if you have power add a trickel charger. I don't have power where i keep my coach so i added solar too charge my batteries. My jacks do not have springs its all hydraulic check for leaks do not add fluid unless the jacks are up and do not fill past the line. Good luck

[OnTheMove2]

Hi YC1....ha ha, I have unfortunately experienced the rain already on my parade, but it was when I owned an old travel trailer, which is currently posing as a large garden decoration.

Although I was the youngest of three, with two older brothers, my dad did not gender discriminate and showed us all how to use tools, be they in repair of the home or the auto. And even though later on, my ex and I rebuilt a chevy corvette, it is far and away from the knowledge needed to tinker on a complex beast like this motorhome. So I have had to depend upon the kindness of strangers, such as everyone in this group!

Now volt meters just confuse the heck out of me, even though I have used them, I have had to have instructions always nearby to look at constantly. And I absolutely do not like having to open up the pocket book to pay for things that go wrong, which is why I purchased the all inclusive warranty on this rig when I bought it. And the dealership has been terrific as they have footed the bill on all the repairs. They even went so far as to send a driver to my house to pick the motorhome up and drive it to their dealership, and then drove it back to drop it off (and we are talking about a 350 mile round trip). So, I tried to anticipate the drain on my funds as best as I could.

I do agree that not everyone should purchase a motorhome. It is certainly not for the faint of heart.

I have given serious thought to adding a solar system to the rig as depending upon shore power has been very frustrating. Since you have owned a Sightseer in the past, perhaps you could recommend an inexpensive system?

Best to you,

Terry

[OnTheMove2]

Hey Ray,

Thanks for the advice on the refrigerant. I will check into that. Since it is pretty cheap, can't hurt to purchase some even I don't end up needing it.

I will check out all of the ground connections as well. Thanks. Sometimes things can become so overwhelming that the little things can get overlooked.

As to the AC and coolant...well, I don't know what to tell you. I have a Ford F350 turbo diesel. The AC would run great so long as I was in gear and driving, but the moment I idled, the AC would go from cold to much warmer. An old mechanic in the neighborhood told me to check the coolant and if it was low, to add some. I did this and it immediately fixed the problem. Perhaps there was something else going on, a leak or such, but I am only telling you from my experience, what happened. So who knows.

But thanks for your advice and direction on the refrigerant. It is good to know I can perhaps fix things in such a cheap way.

Best, Terry

[OnTheMove2]

Thanks Gordie...I am not sure what a "knife switch" is, but the Sightseer has switches for the chassis and for the coach. I always keep those in the off position, even if I am only parking for a couple of days. And these have been in the "off" position, but the batteries were still dead, even though it has only been parked unused for a couple of months. I believe there is a slow drain on the batteries even if the switches are off. I figure I am going to have to start disconnecting the batteries just to make sure they aren't drained.

I would like to have solar as a back up, but because I live in Washington state where the sun seldom shines, I have not pursued it too aggressively. However, I do know that solar has come a long way and they have panels that can draw energy even on cloudy days, it just takes longer. Please feel to suggest a solar system.

Yeah, I have never expected my chassis battery to charge with shore power. Too bad as that would be nice. But there has been a problem with my chassis battery since I purchased the rig and drove it home...literally...the moment I drove it home, parked it and went out the next day...it would not start. I had it taken to the dealership and was told that the starter battery was dead because I had left a compartment light on. I told them that I seriously doubted that...but was met with skepticism by the mechanic, who told me the battery was now fully charged. So, I told him...well why don't you call me back tomorrow once you finish checking everything else out. And he did. He called to tell me that the rig wouldn't start. Ha Ha ....After working on it, they said they had everything fixed...something to do with the stair motor drawing power even when the switch was off. So ALL was good, right? That was until they brought it back to me. The driver turned it off to ask me where I wanted it parked, only to discover it would not start again, only minutes later! I bought a new battery and it seemed that fixed it, but I have never been very optimistic since I was told it had a new battery when I bought it. It is a conundrum.

I had a trickle charger on the starter battery for 24 hours the other day and it did no good. I also tried the charger on the house batteries with the same result. So I rummaged around and found the newer battery charger I had purchased and hooked it up to the starter battery and immediately saw the stairs retract. The rig did not have enough power to actually start, but at least the dash lights came on, so I found that encouraging. I am going to check on it in just a few minutes to see if the battery is charged.

One thing I found very discouraging however is when I tried to hook the rig's power to my house. The surge protector started flashing indicating that the voltage was too high. It kept the RV turned off, doing its job and protecting a surge of high voltage to the rig. But this has never happened before. I had the rig hooked up to my house just a few months ago and everything was fine. Can't understand why I would now have high voltage. I guess I am going to have to try and sleuth that one out now since I don't want my panel to have an electrical melt down. However, I did have one of my breakers blow out (in the house) and the mother board to my dryer took some kind of hit. We have power outages but haven't had one since last winter. My neighbors have been doing a lot of work of late so I am concerned that they have impacted the power coming to my house. I had the utility company come out a couple of months ago to double check and was told everything seemed to be okay. But if it is some type of surge, then the electricity might be inconsistent. So I don't dare try and power the house batteries to my home until I can get that figured out. I will try the trickle charger on them to see if it will charge them.

It's always something. Every day I seem to wake up to a different challenge.

Thanks for your advice...Best, Terry

[Craig1960]

Kudos to you for trying to figure out what the shop can't on your own. You have a few unrelated problems so I think like mentioned the mice or squirrel could be part of your issues or bad grounds is pretty common as well.
If the chasis is draining over night thats a pretty good draw. One way to narrow that down a bit is with a volt meter. Just so I don't have to type so much here is a link that explains it.
https://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

When you do get that figured out I would still reccomend a solar battery maintainer like this one. I bought mine on sale for 10.00 Cdn. My battery would drain after sitting a long time but since I added the solar panel I don't even worry about it over the winter.
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/c...-0112007p.html
For my house batteries I have two 200W panels on the roof which also saves me from taking my batteries out for the winter now and saves me from running the genset too much when boondocking.
I didn't notice if you said what type of jacks you have, are they HWH?
As for the A/C I would try what was mentioned previously about buying a can with gauges and try to recharge it. Who knows maybe the mice or squirrels got to that as well.

[YC1]

Sorting all the different systems can be undaunting.

The 2008 sightseer did not charge the engine batteries and it took just a few days before the battery was dead. There were things like the steps, etc that always drained it. One battery is kind of minimal for the setup.

So you need two things. You need a physical disconnect on the engine battery. Either the negative lead or the positive lead. Which ever is most convenient. Not just a solenoid. A physical cutoff switch.

You also need a cutoff switch on the coach battery as well. Those switches and solenoids on that model just to not do the trick.

Once you have the batteries off line you need a way to charge both banks up. There are plenty of devices to take care of that.

IF you have shoreline available all the time you do not need to cut off the batteries but you do need a device to charge the engine batteries at the same time as the coach batteries.

I had power available so I only needed to add a trik-l-start device to keep the engine battery up.

One of the issues facing you is by the time you get this sorted you may have damaged your engine or house battery so that they will not hold a charge virtually overnight.

Solar is a nice add on but you do need sunshine. It may not be worth the money for you. Fresh batteries and knowing exactly how they are connected is critical.

As for using a voltmeter, get some help and take pictures of whatever voltmeter you will use. Remembering where to turn the dials can be difficult if you don't do it all the time.

Best of luck

[OnTheMove2]

Hiya Craig,

Well thanks for the kudos. I just have to make sure that out of my ignorance I am not doing more harm then good LOL.

Thanks for the info on how to test for a parasitic drain on the battery. I have printed off those instructions from the link you posted and will try and find my trust volt meter to see what is happening.

With regard to the batteries:

Good News: The chassis battery took a charge and I was able to get the rig started.
Bad News: My battery charger indicated the battery was bad. Of course that could mean there was a drain on it which was dropping it below the required levels. Or it could mean that it is just bad, although being only a year old, that would be disappointing.

Good News: The charger was also able to charge up the coach batteries. I checked the monitor and it indicated the batteries were fully charged.

Bad News: I was unable to hook up to shore power (ie: my home) because the surge protector indicated I was receiving high voltage (141 amps). Because this is a 50 amp coach, I have been using a dog bone with two outputs, one that is for a 30 amp outlet and one for a 15 amp outlet. This might not be the best configuration but it has seemed to work for me in the past. Anyway, Line 1 - the 30 amp outlet reads at 126 while Line 2 reads at 141. I tried unplugging appliances, even flipping breakers and it would not budge from the 141. I tried using just the 30 amp plug and it indicated that Line 2 was too low, reporting in at 90 amps, even though it wasn't even plugged in. I did not want to bypass the surge protector just in case my power was having problems; sure did not need to fry a bunch of things in the rig. I am thinking my power surge my be faulty, so guess I will need to buy a new one. Any recommendations or suggestions about this latest headache?

Now that the batteries are no longer being charged I am going to see if they have drained any. Well at least I can tell if the coach batteries have drained. I will see if the coach starts as well.

Both of the battery switches were in the Off position so if they are drained, there is definitely something going on.

Thanks for the recommendation on the solar battery maintenance. That is pretty inexpensive and probably well worth the money. I will have to explore further with regard to installing solar panels as that is going to be a tad bit more costly.

As to the jacks, I have no idea if these are HWH. It does not identify them in the operators manual. I did not receive all of the supplemental books and it is quite frustrating when it says things like "See the Leveling System Operating Manual" in your InfoCase. Of course I have no such manual. I am going to have to go through the Operator Manual to see how many of these supplemental guides I am missing. If there is a way to find out what kind of jacks I have by eyeballing them, let me know.

Thanks for everything and all your advice.

I am able to finally draw a deep breath with everyone's help here.

Best, Terry