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Robwheeler · 03-04-2021, 09:48 PM

Hello all. New to the forum. Just bought a ‘97 fleetwood storm. I am trying to trace/isolate charging issues. Any leads on where to find electrical schematics for for my chassis Battery charging/starting system?
Thanks in advance.
Rob

Skip426 · 03-04-2021, 10:45 PM

Welcome to iRV2 .

I'm not sure if all Fleetwood Storms of your vintage, were built on the same chassis .
So could you add that info to your post .

computerguy · 03-05-2021, 04:20 PM

Also don't know specifically of that year. But, Fleetwood has a BCC (Battery Control Center) that controls the isolation of the battery banks (chassis vs house) and charging of them.
Do you have toggle switches labeled something like Main and Aux?
In your basement somewhere near the house batteries do you have black box labeled BCC or Battery Control Center?
If yes then that is where you want to focus and lots of folks here can help with that BCC troubleshooting.

donr103 · 03-06-2021, 08:35 PM

try big box auto parts store and get chevy truck book. maybe haynes 1988-1998 C/K that is what i did. i found isolator mounted on front Lt under hood at fuse box. It is a small black box with 3 wires and it will be very dirty. Look on top with cell phone and you should see model #. let us know how you did and if you need more info. I have 2000 p32

Robwheeler · 03-07-2021, 01:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skip426

Welcome to iRV2 .

I'm not sure if all Fleetwood Storms of your vintage, were built on the same chassis .
So could you add that info to your post .

Wholly cow I should have thought of that. It’s a Chevy 454 and a p37 chassis.

Robwheeler · 03-07-2021, 02:10 AM

Yes I have the switches in the entryway labeled house and aux. I assume they lead to the large solenoids under the “hood” that click when they are activated and are connected to what appears to be in the neighborhood of 16,750 relays, wires, connectors and wiring harnesses that all contain the same gauge and hue of red. I do like that every wire harness has been zip tied together and wrappped in the shape of 6 full size pretzels and taped together. Isolating them I has been a breeze.

Robwheeler · 03-07-2021, 02:21 AM

I’m isolating alternator charging issues and am trying to find my excite wire circuit for the alternator. Any quick tips? Thanks for your help in advance.

Robwheeler · 03-07-2021, 03:10 PM

As I’m tracing it appears I have no voltage to the top 2 fuses on the right. ISO relay and ignition in the photo. I just changed the second one down a few days ago, as it was blown. I now have no power at all to it. I’ll pull that fuse bloc/buss? And see what I find. Any other info someone might have as to the source of power to that block would be awesome.

donr103 · 03-08-2021, 09:09 AM

we need more info too put you on right path. after the fuse box on front lost power, do you still have ingnition with key on? are you just not getting any charging volts when engine is started? how old is you chassis battery? did you ever find the battery isolater? how old is your coach batteries? I believe is it is GM/chevy the alternater exciter is bulit inside the alternater. You can conferm this by getting book i listed. also you be get better response by moving onto workhorse forum. have you checked all fuses in fuse box inside to lt of steering wheel under bottom of dash, I am new here to and found so much help from all these fine people. big auto parts chains will test alt for free and if battery is bad then it may have shorted out alt. i have had that done to me.

Robwheeler · 03-09-2021, 12:15 AM

Batteries appear to be good. I have no starting issues until I run it for an hour or so. Charge from shore power and it fires right up. I have temporarily run a jumper between the two posts of the isolator just to bypass any issue there. I’m bringing the batteries in to be tested just to be sure. When I tested the alternator with a volt meter directly from the main lug to the block I only get 12 volts or less. I assumed bad alternator and replaced it but am still getting 12 or less which is why I’m searching the excite circuit. I’m not getting power to the smallest wire (pink) on my three wire alternator. I’ve tested continuity back towards the key and so far so good, but still have a few feet to check, mostly through the column. Thanks for hangin’ in there

YC1 · 03-09-2021, 05:56 AM

To limp by run your own power to the missing link.

Buy a signal tracer which seems to be very important in an rv with little documentation available.

Signal tracers come cheap to commercial quality. Home Depot and lowes have decent ones.

Pull the fuses that are missing the voltage and inject your signal into the "hot side" where the fuse was so you are sending the signal back toward the source voltage.

Seems odd this voltage would go through any igniton switch but all things are possible. There could be a fusible link gone bad or simply a loose connection of course.

Looking at the fuse block it kind of indicates the voltage may be coming from/through a relay. Are there any square plastic plug ins nearby?
A signal tracer (fox and hound), will at least let you get into the neighborhood of where the wire routes.

If you can get a good clear look at the wire color use some cleaner to make it even clearer.

Good hunting.

Robwheeler · 03-09-2021, 11:26 PM

If you’re following this thread I hope it helps as I go on. I traced my small pink wire from my alt all the way through the engine bay and fire wall to where it would Re enter the firewall and go to the column or fuse box and low and behold it went to a connector and looped back exactly where it came from, through a different colored wire all the way past the the alternator and underneath the coil packs or distributor as I’m not familiar with the terms for my ignition as of yet, but clearly something was bypassed. Clearly this wire has nothing to do with an exciter circuit. I got pissed and started tracing other wires which led me to this relay that I had power to but not on the other end. I replaced it with a “generic 4 prong relay” from the electrical aisle from o Reilly andlow and behold, if I hold down my “aux start” button, my alternator will charge my chassis battery, which is exciting as it gets if you’ve come this far.
Keep you posted!!

Also a tip. If your volt meter has a chime for continuity,and is digital, eliminate that sound from your head. You’re tracing tiny wires that might run 20 feet,. And if you’re lucky you might be hitting 3 strands of that wire and your meter is taking into account impedance . I had to get in a habit of looking down to see that I was getting the tiny reading of voltage that would not set off the alarm . Couple good wiggles and stabs and you will see a rise in voltage or get an alarm, to confirm. There are more wires in a harness than Colors in the universe, so they all look the same eventually,.

YC1 · 03-10-2021, 05:06 AM

A 12 volt test light is less likely to fool you. As you have discovered, a digital meter can really lead you astray.

Tugging and pulling on wires is a very good way to accidently fix a problem that will come back to haunt you as well.

Take pictures as you go and print them out. Write the voltage readings down, good or bad. After fifteen measurements and the proper use of the English language you will have forgotten the first fourteen while grabbing bandaids to repair your bleeding knuckles.

Holding the aux button down leads me to believe you have a fuse out or other issue that controls that relay.

That relay likely should close when your ignition switch is turned on, thus providing power to the circuit/path that excites the alternator.

Take a voltage measurement on the block that does/did not have power and you were chasing the wires. Push the aux button and take the measurement again. If you get power to the block then you really should pursue the control of that relay.

It is common to find more than one problem. A previous owner probably did some sort of workaround because of lack of schematics or was just not competent enough to resolve the real issue.

The real issue could be as simple as a bad ignition switch or blown fuse. The fuse could be a 5 amp fuse you would never dream could cause the issue. The use of a 12 volt test light can quickly sort out blown fuses. Just touch each side of the fuse and see if it lights.

If you run out of energy you could run your own wire to that relay from a fuse block using the fused side of the fuse you find has voltage on it when the ignition is turned on. The radio fuse is often a good choice.

Making assumptions here of course but the aux relays/solenoids are often running constantly when the ignition is on.

donr103 · 03-10-2021, 09:53 AM

this may seem a little wierd, but if you shin a flashlight on gauge panel... see if you have a charge indicator light and volt gauge.. than i would check all fuses on inside fuse box lt bottom dash. sometimes there is an alt fuse and sometimes it just says gauges..also that said.. i believe there are some resisters on back of certain models that are on back of control board that is on back of gauge cluster that can cause this.. but i still dont think that excatly all. If you have old alt. get it tested.. it free.. then they will not generaly test battery out of vehical. I believe chassis batt bad, they can test good but still be bad and if alt charges with other batts connected then you are not getting enough voltage from chassis batt.. google alt wiring dia for make and model a nd year of eng and look though images i bet you will find it.. i believe that exciter is bult into the back of alt.. if it is GM.. and alt gets exciter off 10 gauge red wire on alt to starter connection. YOu could have a poor connection or bad fuse iink at sarter, i have seen that too. i beleive you will chase down and fix more then one issues as you go along.. good luck and keep us posted.. also post on workhorse forum, there are some great guys that follow workhorse.. if its GM and they will give you far better ideas than i can..