P30 '84 fleetwood battery setup question

[Curt/n/Candy]

okay; i have separated the house power battery from the chassis battery I THINK. problem is, now i can't get the engine to turn over. i get the "dead battery" clicking solenoid and nothing else.  the PO had ALL the power sourced off the chassis battery so i was pretty much shooting in the dark re-routing the wires. i have the house power but not enough juice on the chassis battery OR there's a poor connection dropping voltage.

somewhere along the line, one of the previous owners removed the chassis AC compressor and lines, leaving the rooftop unit to handle cooling. it must have been enough, the other PO didn't complain about it.

i bought a repair manual that covers a lot but not clear enough on the battery issue. any clues/tips/ideas?

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Well, the clicking sound is a low voltage indicator, so either that chassis battery is bad or you have a poor connection to it.

If it had both house and chassis toed together before, it was probably the house battery that was actually supplying starter power.

The roof a/c generally does a better job of cooling than the dash a/c, but you have to run the generator to power it. No problem with doing that.

 

[Curt/n/Candy]

i don't know why my automotive electrical training wasn't kicking in, Gary; i realized last night after much pondering that there are few grounds to chassis metal on this coach. the builders put relays onto plywood, then put ground wires onto the attaching screws... which are not grounding anything. after restoring dozens of sixties Fords, i should have an eye for poor grounds.
i'm just not good with multiple batteries for separate systems! boy; my BE&E instructors from Great Lakes would be chewing me out for saying that... but that was 25 years ago. wish i had my Simpson multimeter.

i'm going to add a couple of decent ground cables and see if that helps; i have to get it started again to put it up the driveway, can't leave it parked out front in the street much longer!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Right - the bad connection is more likely a poor ground than a poor hot.

 

[Curt/n/Candy]

got it where i think it's correct/works; replaced a couple of questionable cables, and replaced the lost alternator belt. then, for the life of me, couldn't find my jumper cables to jump the coach off with my car. high and low, near and far. borrowed a set from a neighbor and got her fired up, then manuevered her into the driveway. i'd LIKE to say without incident, but i managed to bend the back bumper and rip off a vent cover. grrrr. well; the last big truck i drove into the back yard was a Jerr-Dan and it had neither.
anyways; she's out of the street and that eases my mind.