2000 Ultimate Advantage Problem: Battery Mode Solenoid Clicking Sound

Hello-  I just found this website & thought I'd see if anyone else has ever had the same problem I'm having with my UA 38 K.  While parked without shore power & with the generator running we've been hearing a clicking noise coming from the battery mode solenoid.  It seems to occur mostly when the furnace quits running.  It also seems to occur when the generator is turned off & the furnace quits running.  When I turn the auxiliary battery swith off it quits.  The voltage of the house batteries seems to be ok at over 12 volts.  Could the switch be bad?  It can't be good for the switch to cycle like that for hours on end.  Any ideas will be most appreciated! 

Hi and welcome!  I'm not real familiar with the UA/UFs.  Is your solenoid a dumb one or did Winnie use one with a little smarts (i.e., not operate unless the source voltage is >= xx.x.)

If you would, take a minute or two and say hi to the forum in the Introduce Yourself board.

extrucker04 said:

While parked without shore power & with the generator running we've been hearing a clicking noise coming from the battery mode solenoid.  The voltage of the house batteries seems to be ok at over 12 volts.  Could the switch be bad?  It can't be good for the switch to cycle like that for hours on end.  Any ideas will be most appreciated!

Click to expand...

Can you check the coil voltage on the solenoid? Perhaps a loose connection around the batteries dropping the solenoid coil voltage?

Extrucker ... welcome to the forum.

The clicking you are hearing is NOT a problem, unless it drives you crazy ...which some people say it does    Your UA is equipped with a BIRD (bi-directional relay device ...at least I think that is what it stands for.)  You are hearing the BIRD relay. The BIRD allows your coach to charge both chassis and house batteries whether on shore power, generator, or engine power. The BIRD protects you from drawing one battery bank down too far by tripping the relay when a heavy load kicks in on one or the other battery banks by "isolating" the banks from one another. When the heavy load drops off, the relay reconnects. I find I tend to hear it more when boondocking than other times, but that could be a simple matter of noise level. Whatever, the clicking is normal. And if you touch it, it is nearly always a bit too warm to leave you hand on ...again, normal. We are fulltimers and mine has been clicking back and forth and hot to the touch almost 24/7 for over five years now!

So, I say, find something else to worry about and enjoy the heck out of your UA!!  Great coach!!!

I am glad somebody knows what's going on!

But I think if my RV had that feature, I would disconnect it. I don't need my RV chassis battery to be charged in any more ways than in my cars.

afchap said:

The clicking you are hearing is NOT a problem, unless it drives you crazy ...which some people say it does    Your UA is equipped with a BIRD (bi-directional relay device ...at least I think that is what it stands for.)  You are hearing the BIRD relay. The BIRD allows your coach to charge both chassis and house batteries whether on shore power, generator, or engine power.

Click to expand...

Disconnect it?? When all the owners paying good money to install a trik-l-start etc would LOVE to have the feature built in?

Larger motorhomes have many parasitic drains on the chassis batteries, and the batteries can be drawn down when sitting for as little as three weeks. Many owners store their coach langer than that, or are parked in an RV park. Why would you not want to keep ALL your batteries maintained and topped of with a BIRD and a "smart charger" (which he also has) that does not overcharge the batteries??

afchap said:

Larger motorhomes have many parasitic drains on the chassis batteries,

Click to expand...

But why?

IMO, that's the problem.    I rewired my propane detector, radio and some other stuff to run from the house battery.  IMAO, there is no real reason to have more drains on a RV chassis battery than a car has.  And my RV chassis battery now has less drain than the average car.

For a long term storage, I  have a five watt solar panel on my chassis battery which is more than enough, since the  parasitic drain is somewhere around zero ma or so. And it's very quiet <g>.  (I also have 60 watts of solar on the house battery).

DonTom said:

But why?

Click to expand...

Because there's more stuff hanging on the chassis batteries - tranny electronics, engine electronics, the steps, genny, thousands of feet of wiring, etc, etc 

John mentioned a few thing on chassis power. Smart steering wheel is another. Slides and leveling jacks too but they draw power only when you use them. The LP detector is deliberately wired to chassis battery so you would be warned of a leak even when house batts are turned off, dead, etc...  I hope you provide a good record of all your "unconventional" wiring changes for the poor confused next owner!    There is a used MH a couple sites from me right now and new owner has electrical problem no one can figure out due to obvious wiring changes from batteries onward...

afchap said:

John mentioned a few thing on chassis power. Smart steering wheel is another. Slides and leveling jacks too but they draw power only when you use them. The LP detector is deliberately wired to chassis battery so you would be warned of a leak even when house batts are turned off, dead, etc...  I hope you provide a good record of all your "unconventional" wiring changes for the poor confused next owner!    There is a used MH a couple sites from me right now and new owner has electrical problem no one can figure out due to obvious wiring changes from batteries onward...

Click to expand...

There won't be a next owner. I don't sell vehicles. I drive them until they are junk that nobody would even want for free.

But I see no reason to have much stuff on the chassis battery. At least not stuff  that can drain it when the key is out. Should be no more than a car, IMO, and preferably even  less. For an example, I don't want to have to put the key in to turn on the RV's  radio. Why have the radio on a key ignition at all? It has its own off / on switch.

And why would my house battery be off if somebody is in the RV?  And a dead house battery will be obvious and a weak one will give an alarm. And why drain the chassis battery with a propane detector when the propane is off and in storage?  I want mine to go off with the disconnect switch.

But I guess to each his own.

It would be nice to be able to let the rig sit for longer periods w/o the chassis batteries dying out. I suppose the mfg'ers try to split the load between the two battery banks in some rational way, knowing coach owners don't want their house batteries dying out too fast when boondocking. And it is ALWAYS true that what works well for one person doesn't work well for another ...no way to totally satisfy everyone without personal design from the ground up (VERY expensive!!).

A couple of comments on differences ...low house batteries don't have any kind of alarm on most rigs I am familiar with.  ...most Class A (and some others I believe) do have a selector switch so you can choose to power the radio from chassis batteries or from house batteries. Whichever you choose, most modern radios are still using a small amount of power when the radio is turned "off" ...for memory and display primarily.

afchap said:

A couple of comments on differences ...low house batteries don't have any kind of alarm on most rigs I am familiar with.

Click to expand...

They do after you move a propane detector (which has a low voltage alarm) to the house battery.

.most Class A (and some others I believe) do have a selector switch so you can choose to power the radio from chassis batteries or from house batteries.

Click to expand...

That I did not know. None of my Class C's had that feature. Nevertheless, a 5 watt solar panel should be all that's needed on the chassis battery , unless you're parked where the roof is still in the shade. And solar has the advantage of keeping the chassis battery charged even when boondocked.

But I like to move as many loads as possible from the chassis battery to the house battery. The house battery is usually charged by  more methods for one reason.

But I guess which way is best really depends on how the RV is mostly used.

DonTom said:

Nevertheless, a 5 watt solar panel should be all that's needed on the chassis battery , unless you're parked where the roof is still in the shade. And solar has the advantage of keeping the chassis battery charged even when boondocked.

Click to expand...

The Winnie 10 watt solar panel is wired to the house battery if I remember correctly.  2005 and later pusher models have a chassis battery disconnect switch (at least I have one on my Horizon.)

On our sailboat, I had a dedicated engine starting battery, and that's all it ever did.  House batteries were on two switches (an 8D and two 4Ds) and I manually managed charging and discharging.

John Canfield said:

The Winnie 10 watt solar panel is wired to the house battery if I remember correctly.  2005 and later pusher models have a chassis battery disconnect switch (at least I have one on my Horizon.)

Click to expand...

Yeah, but if only ten watts, it makes more sense to be on the chassis battery where it will make a real difference. I wired mine myself and have 60 watts to the house battery and 5 watts to the chassis battery. And no clicking sounds. ;D  But I would wonder if ten watts could be a little too much at times, if no controller to the chassis battery.

On our sailboat, I had a dedicated engine starting battery, and that's all it ever did.  House batteries were on two switches (an 8D and two 4Ds) and I manually managed charging and discharging.

Click to expand...

In my little boat, I have two marine batteries and a switch that will select either, none, or both.  And that little diode thingie that will keep them both charged regardless of which one I have selected.