how to bypass battery disconnect switch?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

eks719

New member
Joined
May 15, 2019
Posts
1
Hi all, we just got our first travel trailer and are new to all of this so I?m hoping to get some advice from your experience :)

What we?re working with is a 1978 Yellowstone Camino with a Shauer 10 amp automatic battery charger model 0132-04. We have searched in every cabinet inside as well as around the tongue and under the front of the frame by the battery for a disconnect switch but all we found under frame were 4 glass fuses that of course are not labeled..There is a little metal box that says Bargman on the tongue with some rogue wires coming out but not connected to anything.

Inside the trailer the breaker box is right above the stove hood in a cabinet. It has 4 breakers on it; main, general purpose, appliances, and air conditioner. When plugged in to shore power and with converter on all lights, appliances and outlets work. However, we get no 12v lights or fans if only hooked up to battery. We DO get power to the water pump that is under the bed when connected only to battery. We tried using a regular truck battery at first but ended up going to get a brand new deep cycle so I know the battery is good. Converter is located in the rear outer cargo under license plate and plugs into an outlet that?s inside the cargo area. There is also a service light in there that works off the 12v by twist knob when converter is on, as well as a light switch that is labeled ON and OFF. We thought that this light switch may be the disconnect but it didn?t let the battery kick on when flipped. Now I am left wondering if this really is the disconnect switch or if it could be inside the Shauer charger/converter?

We?re interested in bypassing the disconnect switch and just trying to figure out the best way to go about it. Any and all info is really appreciated! Please let me know if there is any other information needed for an answer.
Thanks and happy camping :)
 
being a 78 TT it probably does not have a disconnect switch. On the converter are two 30 amp reverse polarity fuses. Also there will be an in line battery reset able fuse within 6" of the battery. Check for both. follow the wires from the converter to the battery.  Use a volt meter.
 
Probably is no disconnect switch in that vintage of trailer, so I suspect you have a disconnected or broken wire somewhere. Probably doesn't have the polarity fuses or the inline fuse that Cavie described either., but those things may have been added. I don't think the Schauer charger is original either.

The Bargman box on the tongue is almost surely a breakaway switch, intended to activate the trailer brakes if the trailer should ever disconnect from the tow vehicle while underway. It is legally required! It should be wired to the battery and the trailer brake wiring and has a pull-cable that connects to the tow vehicle while underway.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
131,752
Posts
1,384,354
Members
137,524
Latest member
freetoroam
Back
Top Bottom