Vesta Starting problems

[rg neumann]

Preparing to go south for the balance of winter but the Vesta's chassis batteries are dead. Coach has been on house current for 3 months now and the house batteries show full charge. With gen running, and crank case heater on for 12 hrs, the coach started fine. Had to keep battery assist on to prevent stalling for a few minutes. Monaco techs. assisted me to find out that the Isolator Delay Relay module was defective. Cost for new one is $360 and would be shipped from Oregon. Since we are planning to leave in a few days, now that the chassis batteries along with the battery assist will start the coach, can I go south without this module being replaced. What else does this module control? For $360 bucks it must do something else, wouldn't you think ????

[topdownman]

From the internet, so it must be true: Unlike diode isolators, the IRD provides the engine driven alternator with the opportunity to begin charging the main battery before connecting the auxiliary battery.

This allows the use of self exciting alternators and lets the engine briefly warm up prior to placing the load of a heavily discharged battery on the alternator.

The IRD ECU is fully potted in a plastic enclosure for mounting in the engine compartment. The ECU operates in conjunction with the Intellitec Silver Can relay. There are just 3 connections to be made; one from an ignition switched source, an earth, and the last being the relay coil.

The IRD senses the voltage on the main battery of a 12V / 24V system. When this voltage goes above 13.3V / 26.6V for 12 seconds, the IRD ECU will close the isolator relay, providing charging current to the auxiliary battery. When ignition is off, the relay opens immediately. Should the voltage on the main battery drop below 12V / 24V for 2 seconds whilst the engine is running, the relay will drop out, prioritising charging current to the main battery.

[rg neumann]

Thanks for the information, guess it is worth $360!!