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Old 07-13-2012, 10:04 PM   #1
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1979 28' Airstream Excella 28
Cedar City , Utah
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Starter Motor Wires

While in the process of re-wiring the alternator and generator, I was surprised to find two large red wires (battery type cables); one leading from the starter to the battery (of course) and another on the same terminal leading to the rear of the coach, perhaps to the generator area. I hope this makes sense to someone here as it makes none to me. I couldn't see where it terminated. Can anyone enlighten me?

Mary
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Old 07-13-2012, 10:31 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by marydixon555
While in the process of re-wiring the alternator and generator, I was surprised to find two large red wires (battery type cables); one leading from the starter to the battery (of course) and another on the same terminal leading to the rear of the coach, perhaps to the generator area. I hope this makes sense to someone here as it makes none to me. I couldn't see where it terminated. Can anyone enlighten me?

Mary
Mary, I had the same arrangement on my '82 until two weeks ago. On mine the other cable goes to my generator. For the life of me, I don't understand why the battery cable was run from the generator in the rear to the starter up front...that extra 12 feet of battery cable is expensive in more ways then one. I say 12 feet because the cable could have been run from the generator to the battery box below the entry door step thus saving about 12 feet of battery cable. I'm having a starter problem, which I now believe is the ignition switch, so a couple weeks back, I pulled the starter and did a little maintenance on the wiring to the starter. I removed the battery generator battery cable from the engine starter and pulled it out of the frame rail back to the battery box. I connected this cable directly to my engine battery distribution lug which is located with 18 inches of the battery. Someday, I will cut off the extra 12 feet of cable, but I don't have a battery lug vice to do that right now.
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Old 07-13-2012, 10:52 PM   #3
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1979 28' Airstream Excella 28
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Hi Dadstoy and thank you for reaffirming what I suspected. It is merely a daisy-chain connection point then to the generator. In my case, the additional cable is about the same but it is an almost straight shot from the starter to the generator along the passenger side so now that makes sense. My batteries are on the opposite side and nearly the same distance so I'm no longer confused. I have shortened many wire pathways in the process of redesigning and restoring this coach for the same reasons you've alluded to. I am very grateful to you and others here for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Truly,

Mary
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Old 07-14-2012, 03:34 AM   #4
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Let's think this over for a moment. Why in the world would Airstream waste 12 feet of heavy gauge copper wire on all its MH's.
Obviously, the generator gets its power starting power from the Engine battery. What happens if the engine battery is dead? You can't start the generator unless you get some jumper cables out. Airstream gave us a "Jumper" switch, located in various locations in the different year models, that will connect the coach batteries to the motor battery just long enough to start the engine or to start the generator.
I would make sure that you are not by-passing this set-up, by going directly to the engine battery.
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Old 07-14-2012, 10:46 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by PeterH-79MH
Let's think this over for a moment. Why in the world would Airstream waste 12 feet of heavy gauge copper wire on all its MH's.
Obviously, the generator gets its power starting power from the Engine battery. What happens if the engine battery is dead? You can't start the generator unless you get some jumper cables out. Airstream gave us a "Jumper" switch, located in various locations in the different year models, that will connect the coach batteries to the motor battery just long enough to start the engine or to start the generator.
I would make sure that you are not by-passing this set-up, by going directly to the engine battery.
Actually, the distribution lug I referred to is the starter assist cylinoid on the engine battery side. This is the same point that the engine battery cable is connected to and then runs up to the starter. So effectively, the generator battery cable is still connected the same as original. This would still be true if you connected the generator battery cable directly to the engine battery.
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