Battery Disconnect

[Joe111]

On my 97 Fleetwood Bounder there are battery disconnect switches (see attachment). I am assuming that the chassis battery is the main battery and the aux battery is/are the house batteries. When do I switch them. I have pushed them and nothing happens.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Jim Dick]

Hi Joe,

You are correct. The aux battery is the coach battery and the main is the starting battery. When you push the switch it should disconnect whatever battery you select. If you are hooked to power you may stiill have 12V to the coach but the battery is disconnected. If you are not hooked to power, everything should be dead. In most cases you will disconnect the batteries when you are not going to use the coach for an extended period. If you activate the main battery you can still drive the coach but the house side will not work.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Jim has explained the disconnect operation well. I'll only add that there are often a few safety-oriented items that go direct to the battery and bypass the disconnect switch. One is the LPG alarm/shutoff system and possibly the CO (carbon Monoxide) detector too. The power steps may be on the chassis battery instead of the house/aux battery and may bypass the disconnect altogether.

And aftermarket add-ons are sometimes wired to the battery instead of through the power distribution panel where the disconnect realy is, so don't be surprised if some optional equipment still works.