Community Forums

highflier · 04-25-2025, 12:58 PM

Hi all,
On my first trip with my new to me winnebago vista 29. It is based on the F53 chassis.

In the last several hundred miles the house battery stopped charging via the engine/alternator.

Starter battery is charging, the house charges off shore power and generator

I figure it is a fuse or relay somewhere. Owner manual is worthless as it just says charges when engine is running.

Can Anybody out there give me a clue where to look for the failed item?

Oh by the way I have a blue tooth battery monitor, which allows me to watch the voltage closely.

d23haynes57 · 04-25-2025, 01:03 PM

Follow the wires from the house battery positive cable. It will lead to some type of relay can. There may be a fuse. Do you have a multimeter or at least a test light?

highflier · 04-25-2025, 04:35 PM

Yep have a cheap but very functional multimeter with me. not surw how easy it will be to follow wires, finally at a spot for 24 hours or so. also appears that the inverter says it is on, at main control panal, but unit it self cycles display from ~12 volt to .1 volt. I am guessing same issue, probably getting power to interface but no power to the main input for inversion. I am pretty much in no mans land right now.

In a pinch, while driving is it safe to connect house positive to starting positive, then disconnect when I setup camp?

highflier · 04-25-2025, 07:11 PM

OK I think it is a relay, 1 side has voltage of house, the other side has voltage for starting battery,

When I start rv, the center wire goes hot(14 volt). but the house and starting battery do not connect, starting goes to 14v cause of alternator, house is staying at 12.9 or so.

I don’t think that is my inverter issue, But I do feel
it is the issue of while I do not charge on the road

Pic of part and on my Rv it was located behind a panel of breakers,
front most basement storage on driver side, excuding the propane area

d23haynes57 · 04-25-2025, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by highflier

OK I think it is a relay, 1 side has voltage of house, the other side has voltage for starting battery,

When I start rv, the center wire goes hot(14 volt). but the house and starting battery do not connect, starting goes to 14v cause of alternator, house is staying at 12.9 or so.

I don’t think that is my inverter issue, But I do feel
it is the issue of while I do not charge on the road

Pic of part and on my Rv it was located behind a panel of breakers,
front most basement storage on driver side, excuding the propane area

Do you hear it click when it is energized? It is common for the contracts in these to foul.

SafariBen · 04-25-2025, 08:33 PM

You found the problem. You could try turning it on, then removing the center (control) wire and touching it to it's terminal repeatedly to see if it will clear the contacts. If it's not clicking when you do this, then it won't work obviously, and check the ground for voltage in that case. For short term, you can connect the cables there with a jumper or move one cable to the other terminal while driving.

SJ-Chris · 04-26-2025, 11:23 AM

The part you are needing to replace is the battery isolator solenoid. It is not uncommon for these to go out. The good news is they are not usually expensive nor are they hard to change.

https://www.google.com/search?q=e450...t=gws-wiz-serp

Go into any AutoZone or O'Reilys and they should have the correct part for your year/make/model. Let us know if that fixes your problem.

Good luck!
Chris

SJ-Chris · 04-26-2025, 11:27 AM

Also, to answer your question about hooking up the house batteries (positive) to the chassis battery while driving....Yes, that is perfectly fine and will charge your house batteries while driving. That's exactly what the battery isolator does while driving.

But you should disconnect when you park at your campsite if you are boondocking. Otherwise your chassis battery will get used in parallel with your house batteries and you risk draining the batteries and then not being able to start your engine (....again, this is what the isolator solenoid is designed to protect against).

If you are parked at a campsite and you have electrical hookup, you don't really need to disconnect the house/chassis connection as your converter-charger will keep your house batteries AND your chassis battery fully charged. Might not be ideal as your batteries could be different age/type/condition, but until you get the new solenoid installed it should be fine.

Good luck!
Chris