Community Forums

shootist · 12-06-2022, 06:40 PM

Sitting here with a fellow rver and he doesn't know if or where his battery combiner relay is. I know most sprinter chassis I have seen have them under the passenger seat. Anyway, it has caused him some major problems as the gen is on the chassis side and they don't charge going down the road. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

twinboat · 12-06-2022, 06:48 PM

Generator powers the 120 volt system.

120 volt system powers the charger for the house batteries.

The combiner relay connects the batteries together but doesn't effect each systems charging its battery.

shootist · 12-06-2022, 07:11 PM

Twinboat, you are Good! So he needs to install a combiner relay if he desires. Does Mercedes want a huge flyback diode in the system?

CharlesinGA · 12-07-2022, 12:05 PM

The relay is most certainly installed. It may not work, but its there somewhere. Basically all RV's like this have some sore of relay to tie the engine and house 12v systems together. It is most likely adjacent to the house battery on/off relay.

Charles

SJ-Chris · 12-08-2022, 09:27 AM

Follow the positive cables from the battery. You will likely find that one of them goes to the solenoid you are looking for.

I'm not sure on a sprinter, but on all the v10 Class C RVs I've owned it has always been mounted on the driver side fire wall nearby where the steering column is.

On a couple of my RVs this solenoid has gone bad and needed replacement, so it seems to be a somewhat common failure. You definitely want to be able to charge your house batteries from your alternator while driving, especially if you don't have solar.

Good luck!
Chris