I am sophisticated with electricals but need some help from somebody who knows 1997 Monaco Windsor Diesel or similar RV. There are two issues apparently related:
1. The house power turns off (including interior lights, radio etc) when the ignition is turned on.
2. The engine battery is not being charged on shore power but is charged when engine is running
3. It is 38 foot with diesel under the rear bed. Various relays and power equipment are mounted on the front wall of the bed.
4. The RV has a 2000w heart inverter that appears to be working fine.
Here is what I see:
1. Fuses are behiind a pullout at center of dash at floor level. There is a black 8 guage wire coming from the rear that goes to the house power fuse terminal at upper right. All fuses test good.
2. When I turn the ignition on, a battery disconnect relay on the fuse backplate connects power to the running equipment fuse block terminal. That is working fine.
3. The house battery terminal black wire appears to go to the engine compartment to a battery disconnect relay which has another black wire going somewhere else of the same lug (see engine compartment new relay lower right). I do not know where the other black wire goes. Where does it go? That relay is not getting power to the coil under any circumstances. That relay has 12v on the on one contact that comes from a large rectangular device that has fins on it. I think that is a bridge rectifier.
4. The house lights come on if I jumper across the relay. I think this relay is supposed to turn on when the ignition is on. I replaced the relay today but that did not fix the problem (see photo with new relay).
5. POSSIBILITY: whatever controls the coil of that battery disconnect relay might not be working. There is a purple wire going to the coil. But what pulls it down?
6. When somebody toggles the ignition switch, there are about 8 smaller control relays mounted high in the engine compartment, some of which click. One is labeled "ignition" but its wires are yellow/white and do not appear to go to the battery relay. I tapped the relays to see if that power up the battery disconnect. That did nothing.
7. There is another old battery disconnec (see photo) but it has small wires and does not appear to go to the new relay I put in. I do not know what it does.
8. I looked for more hidden relays such as under stove in slideout. i do not see any hidden equipment
Conclusion so far:
1. Whatever powers the purple wire on the coil of the new battery disconnect relay may the key. I do not know where that wire goes (hiding in loom). That wire does switch to ground ... the other side of the coil always has 12v . The house lights do go on when I jumper the contacts.
2. I'm not sure where 12v comes from to charge the engine battery. There is a big blue CH battery isolator with huge wires at right of front of engine compartment and a green finned Lambert battery maintainer/protector. I have not look into that equipment yet. If you have any tips as to why that might not be charging the battery please advise.
1. The house power turns off (including interior lights, radio etc) when the ignition is turned on.
2. The engine battery is not being charged on shore power but is charged when engine is running
3. It is 38 foot with diesel under the rear bed. Various relays and power equipment are mounted on the front wall of the bed.
4. The RV has a 2000w heart inverter that appears to be working fine.
Here is what I see:
1. Fuses are behiind a pullout at center of dash at floor level. There is a black 8 guage wire coming from the rear that goes to the house power fuse terminal at upper right. All fuses test good.
2. When I turn the ignition on, a battery disconnect relay on the fuse backplate connects power to the running equipment fuse block terminal. That is working fine.
3. The house battery terminal black wire appears to go to the engine compartment to a battery disconnect relay which has another black wire going somewhere else of the same lug (see engine compartment new relay lower right). I do not know where the other black wire goes. Where does it go? That relay is not getting power to the coil under any circumstances. That relay has 12v on the on one contact that comes from a large rectangular device that has fins on it. I think that is a bridge rectifier.
4. The house lights come on if I jumper across the relay. I think this relay is supposed to turn on when the ignition is on. I replaced the relay today but that did not fix the problem (see photo with new relay).
5. POSSIBILITY: whatever controls the coil of that battery disconnect relay might not be working. There is a purple wire going to the coil. But what pulls it down?
6. When somebody toggles the ignition switch, there are about 8 smaller control relays mounted high in the engine compartment, some of which click. One is labeled "ignition" but its wires are yellow/white and do not appear to go to the battery relay. I tapped the relays to see if that power up the battery disconnect. That did nothing.
7. There is another old battery disconnec (see photo) but it has small wires and does not appear to go to the new relay I put in. I do not know what it does.
8. I looked for more hidden relays such as under stove in slideout. i do not see any hidden equipment
Conclusion so far:
1. Whatever powers the purple wire on the coil of the new battery disconnect relay may the key. I do not know where that wire goes (hiding in loom). That wire does switch to ground ... the other side of the coil always has 12v . The house lights do go on when I jumper the contacts.
2. I'm not sure where 12v comes from to charge the engine battery. There is a big blue CH battery isolator with huge wires at right of front of engine compartment and a green finned Lambert battery maintainer/protector. I have not look into that equipment yet. If you have any tips as to why that might not be charging the battery please advise.
