Battery Cut-off Switch

[Our Time]

2008 Diplomat, the battery cut-off switch seems to be activating itself. About once a day I will loose all the DC power in the coach. Turn the battery cut off back on and all is normal. Two questions:

1. Measured DC volts, one side of relay 13.33, other side or house side 12.2. Normal?

2. Can I safely bypass this relay without causing a problem until I can locate a new one?
Thanks,
Chuck

[Jim Stewart]

Yes, you can by-pass, it is a common problem on these coaches.

Look here, post #6 shows how it's done.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/12-v...ion-24884.html

Hopes this helps.

Some have recommended this as a replacement, more expensive, but lasts forever!

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Solen...8026472&sr=8-3

[Our Time]

Thanks Jim, that gives me all the info I need to fix it. I am going to bypass it while I wait for the upgraded relay. Thanks again for the info.
Chuck

[wa8yxm]

ACan you safely bypass till you find a new relay:

YES.. i have done that when needed

In fact: Depending on how you "Store" your rig, (I am now full timeing)

Well, let me put it this way: The only time I disconnect is when I'm getting propane or when I'm working on the batteries. And the only reason for disconnecting when getting propane is that it is the easiest way to shut everything down quickly.

If you are like me.. You could bypass and forget the new relay. Shut down the water heater, furnace, fridge, etc independently when getting propane and... Well.. Lifting the negative battery cable first is the proper way to remove batteries.

[azstork]

Chuck -
After accidentally hitting the "battery disconnect" switch by my front door on numerous occasions and reading about the problems with the battery disconnect relay, I decided to perform "preventative maintainance" and shunted across the relay before it went out on me. With my luck, it would happen on a rainy, dark night far, far away!!! Anyhow, I no longer shut off the TV or other systems when I accidentally hit the battery disconnect switch, and I don't know of any real downside to a permanent shunt.

[Pusherpilot]

The "salesman" switch in the entryway is just a convenience. Mine never worked. When I started having dc power probs in the coach I simply removed the relay and bypassed it. When I checked the relay I found that the fuse in line with the coil had blown, god only knows when that happened! We've had no problems since.
Ron

[Our Time]

On second thought I will leave the bypass as a permanent fix and forget about the high dollar relay. As stated, the switch is located in a poor position and has no practical use I can figure. When I store the coach, I shut off the batteries in the battery compartment, or remove the batteries. Thanks for all the replies guys!

[UPS 34]

I have had people hit the switch coming in the door many times. I think I will bypass it also.

[Jim Stewart]

Originally Posted by Jim Stewart

Yes, you can by-pass, it is a common problem on these coaches.

Look here, post #6 shows how it's done.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f115/12-v...ion-24884.html

Hopes this helps.

Some have recommended this as a replacement, more expensive, but lasts forever!

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Solen...8026472&sr=8-3

OK, I know that I have helped other people by referring them to the above post for by-passing the dreaded Salesman Switch (not my solution nor pictures, thanks to original poster). I read all about it, remembered how to do it, even printed the pictures and put them in the future reference folder I keep in the MH.

Mine had acted up before, but when I reset the switch, it always worked, That was until last night a 10 PM. It was dark, humid (can't use air conditioners when it goes) and too late to be locating what I needed to solve the problem and disturb the neighbors, so this AM I got my stuff together and by-passed the switch (took 10 minutes).

Let's just say the next time I am too lazy to fix a potential problem before it becomes a problem, I will in fact fix it.

For those of you that have also procrastinated, the typical symptoms prior to complete failure is for no apparent reason, the 12 volt lights will flicker occasionally and then go out. Resetting the switch by the door will often solve the immediate problem. This scenario will continue to be more frequent until total failure occurs.

[Dr4Film]

I glad this thread has come up again as I've been wanting to post some photo's of the fix I did to prevent an accidental turn off of the "Salesman Switch". It is the first photo attached. It is actually a plastic mirror wall mount purchased from the local hardware store.

Then, as you can see from the previous photo's posted that Jim referenced versus mine below, the bypass is completely different. I am sure that many different methods are used depending on what the year & manufacture are for the coach.

Also, there are different relay systems used in coaches to accomplish the battery disconnect. Some coaches come with continuous duty relays and some come with latching relays. Mine is a continuous duty relay, and please don't ask me how I discovered that but I refuse to install another one only to have it fail again. So at a later time, I will need to run another wire from the rear curbside bay to the front of the coach near the entrance door, then install a DPDT momentary switch into the passenger side arm rest cabinet below the one you see in the photo, which is just a simple SPST on/off switch. Then I will purchase a latching relay from one of the many Internet vendors that have them to replace the defective one that is currently there. The latching relay only draws a small amount of power when you touch the momentary switch to accomplish the large coil latch when either connecting 12volt power or disconnecting it. Then that small amount of power is shut off when you let off on the switch.

The continuous duty relays are a waste of energy as they are always energized and draining your batteries. Also, you will spend way too much time fiddling with them.

The last photo is of my passenger side arm rest controls where I used a similar type solution like I used on the Salesman Switch but using a different type of lock. This is actually a plastic screen lock also purchased at a local hardware store. This is on my step cover button to prevent unwanted opening or closing of the cover accidentally. Especially when our dog is either laying or standing on it while it's opened or standing someplace in the step-well when the dang thing starts to open. Scare the bejibbers out of him and me too. If you need to use the button, you simply turn the lock to allow the button to be pushed. There's one on the driver's side to but that one doesn't have a lock on it.

Dr4Film ----- Richard.

[coachmanrvr]

This one saved me on my 08 Vacationer. It would trip every now and then for no reason. I had been just resetting it until it dawned on me that if it tripped when I was storing it in our garage the heater would stop working. We don't store for more than a week or two ever, but no power = no heat.

That was it for me; I bypassed the relay and said done.

[Chris-Alto,TX]

After waking up at 4:30am Christmas morning in 2007 with no heat I bypassed the relay (third time it had failed-though the previous failures were failures to turn off). Haven't given it a moments thought since. The good folks at Monaco tech support confirmed at the time that unless I wanted the function of the switch there was no reason to replace the relay.

[Gordon66]

Last week, my solenoid decided at 2:00am and 15 deg. outside it didn't want to provide 12v power to the heaters so it shut down. I completely removed the relay and connected the wires straight to the lugs on the main board. Now no worries. Plus the cats can't shut down the 12v system anymore.

[Lukeaa]

Mine died today, so I took it off and threw it away. I notice that I now have a much better 12V reading to my lights. I suspect the relay was why my flourecent tubes kept dying.