MAYCO's 1982 310 TD

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Kota

http://www.dometic.com/QBankFiles3/E...nual_17591.pdf

Check out section D in the installation guide: Connection of low voltage wires.

Sneaky little bastards.

Well that's a first for me, thanks for pointing it out. I hadn't seen an AC unit that required a separate 12 vdc source. My suburban furnace does require a 12 vdc source so that might be something for Mike to check into.

Bet the fridge is a parasite too!

Now on fridges I'm used to seeing the DC control voltage from the coach batteries.

[mayco]

Hey Dave,
My AC units dont have any lights on the control boards. Im pretty sure they are original units, Coleman Mach series. I dont think that they have any 12v to them. The fridge definately does have 12volt controls but its been turned off during testing.
Once Lynn has a minute or two to give me a hand, Ill have her sit and read the meter while Im up under the dash pulling the fuses. Pretty difficult with my back to get in and out from under there.......difficult for ANYBODY really. At least I can try to narrow it down to what circuit(s) I need to look at.

With the age of the coach, the horrendous original wiring loom and handiwork of POs, I might never get a "0" reading for a parasitic drain.....who knows. Ive got plenty more testing to do though. Got a new solenoid delivered just now, might just keep it in stock not sure.

This situation really could have been happening the whole time that Ive had the coach and I just didnt realize it until we have started boondocking more. Almost all the time in our travels so far we have had access to shore power. So the coach batteries have always had a good charge when we have camped for a few days and then went to start the coach. Even if the chassis battery had gotten somewhat discharged, when the solenoid combines all three its been enough to always start the coach with no problems. I didnt realize we had a problem until a recent trip where we boondocked for 3 days. I hadnt started the generator to recharge the coach batteries yet one morning after using a ceiling vent fan overnight. So my coach batteries were low and when I went to start the coach the chassis battery had run down over the three days. So this may have been happening all along and I just hadnt had a situation where it showed itself.

Ill know more here soon hopefully. Might be tomorrow evening before I can get Lynn to give me a hand.

Mike

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

This situation really could have been happening the whole time that Ive had the coach and I just didnt realize it until we have started boondocking more. Almost all the time in our travels so far we have had access to shore power. So the coach batteries have always had a good charge when we have camped for a few days and then went to start the coach. Even if the chassis battery had gotten somewhat discharged, when the solenoid combines all three its been enough to always start the coach with no problems. I didnt realize we had a problem until a recent trip where we boondocked for 3 days. I hadnt started the generator to recharge the coach batteries yet one morning after using a ceiling vent fan overnight. So my coach batteries were low and when I went to start the coach the chassis battery had run down over the three days. So this may have been happening all along and I just hadnt had a situation where it showed itself.

Mike, what you stated above definitely makes sense. If you have a modern radio then it likely has some sort of draw. I moved the dash radio power over to the coach batteries just so I wouldn't have to worry about the memory draw from the radio.

Looking forward to hearing about what you find!

Brad

[mayco]

Yup Brad, when I installed the new head unit for the stereo I made sure to wire both the power feed and the memory feed to the coach batteries.

[mayco]

This is similar to my fuse block. Ran a couple wires from my battery compartment up to the dash so I could read my meter as I pulled fuses. The parasitic drain was coming from a wire that was plugged into the upper most receptacle labeled "c" on the front of the block and was fused by the 20amp fuse right next to it. The wire is spliced a few inches from the fuse block, one going up behind the dash near the gauges and the other side of the splice heading towards the passenger side and was part of the dash air conditioning system. The dash AC was removed by a previous owner. The cruise control shares the same fuse. When I pulled the connector out of the front of the block the amp draw went to "0". The wire headed towards the passenger side drops down under the heater core and through the floor I believe. Maybe headed towards where the compressor was? Havent got that far yet. The heating system and the AC are two separate systems, two different blowers and controls. Maybe one of you knows what that wire might be, or the one heading up towards the gauges but Im sure it has something to do with the now removed dash AC. Put everything back together and tested my systems, everything working fine. Ill investigate a bit more but for now the drain is gone, still need to take my battery back to the store for "load test".

Thanks for all the help fellas, what a great resource we all share here on the forums!!!!!


On a FUN note, got to meet up with Sheperd57 last night as he and his wife are headed from Ontario CA out to Sturgis. Had a great time, the four of us went out to dinner at a really good German eatery in a small town about 30 miles north of our home. Lotsofun! So cool to meet face to face with fellow Classic owners, great folks.

Mike


Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

Attachment 244266

This is similar to my fuse block. Ran a couple wires from my battery compartment up to the dash so I could read my meter as I pulled fuses. The parasitic drain was coming from a wire that was plugged into the upper most receptacle labeled "c" on the front of the block and was fused by the 20amp fuse right next to it. The wire is spliced a few inches from the fuse block, one going up behind the dash near the gauges and the other side of the splice heading towards the passenger side and was part of the dash air conditioning system. The dash AC was removed by a previous owner. The cruise control shares the same fuse. When I pulled the connector out of the front of the block the amp draw went to "0". The wire headed towards the passenger side drops down under the heater core and through the floor I believe. Maybe headed towards where the compressor was? Havent got that far yet. The heating system and the AC are two separate systems, two different blowers and controls. Maybe one of you knows what that wire might be, or the one heading up towards the gauges but Im sure it has something to do with the now removed dash AC. Put everything back together and tested my systems, everything working fine. Ill investigate a bit more but for now the drain is gone, still need to take my battery back to the store for "load test".

Good news for a change!

The wire that heads towards the passenger side could be part of your steps. Not sure if you have electric or vacuum steps but on the vacuum steps there is one wire that is used to energize/de-energize the solenoid to open and close the steps.

I'm not sure what else would be in that area of the coach that would be routed the way your wire is routed. What color is the wire? I'm vaguely remembering a yellow wire on the 310 that I had.

Thanks for all the help fellas, what a great resource we all share here on the forums!!!!!

Definitely a great resource!

On a FUN note, got to meet up with Sheperd57 last night as he and his wife are headed from Ontario CA out to Sturgis. Had a great time, the four of us went out to dinner at a really good German eatery in a small town about 30 miles north of our home. Lotsofun! So cool to meet face to face with fellow Classic owners, great folks.

I got to meet John a couple of years ago during a parts swap. I'm not sure I believe that he's as old as he says he. He certainly doesn't look (or act) his declared age

[mayco]

I couldnt believe it when he mentioned his age

[mayco]

I better check my stairs, they are vacuum still, that wire is a #12 and orange

[mayco]

Well Brad that makes total sense that the wire could be related to the steps, especially the way its routed. Checked them out and they are operating as they should be.......thankfully. I hadnt even thought of the steps though when checking things out after I had removed that wire. Thanks for the consideration though. Ill get underneath and see if I can find where that terminates. (Or DID terminate)

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

I better check my stairs, they are vacuum still, that wire is a #12 and orange

Yep, #12 is what I remember as well. I'm thinking it should be energized only when the ignition switch is on (or accessory as well?).

If this is the wire in question I think it first goes to the switch that is inside the wall. You can access it by pulling the switch out from the door jam.

I found out the hard way that this wire was powered from the ignition on my old 310 because I had installed new electric steps and used that switch to control the step retract feature. Unfortunately the step retract feature was expecting a ground signal from the switch and not +12vdc. This caused the steps to act very strangely

Brad

[mayco]

I left the chassis disconnect on over night just to make sure I had solved the problem with the battery drain....perfecto, no more parasitic drain. No voltage drop. I think Im all good. For TODAY! Thanks for all the input fellas.

Mike

[bkahler]

Great! Now you can sleep without worries tonight...

So the final results were a drain from the vacuum steps and the cruise control?

Cruise control is easy if you remember to leave it turned off, or better yet connect it to the hot side of the ignition switch.

What did you do about the steps?

[mayco]

No Brad the steps weren't part of the problem. That orange wire was connected to the Dash air conditioning. It split again under the middle of the dash and went to the the ac blower switch. But was disconnected from the switch. The other side of that joint went under the heater core to a connector. Not sure from there. The dash air system was inoperable when I got the rig. The compressor and bracket had been removed. The steps are/were operating just fine after I removed that wire from the fuse block. All systems are operating as they should, unless Ive forgotten something while testing things. Thanks for all your help......just out of curiosity, are you in some type of electronic production/manufacturing. You seem to have a strong knowledge base in electronics and have resources at work to bounce ideas off of. Im assuming some type of top secret military operation with ties to The Cheyenne Mountain base and NORAD.......

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

No Brad the steps weren't part of the problem. That orange wire was connected to the Dash air conditioning. It split again under the middle of the dash and went to the the ac blower switch. But was disconnected from the switch. The other side of that joint went under the heater core to a connector. Not sure from there. The dash air system was inoperable when I got the rig. The compressor and bracket had been removed.

Is the issue resolved with the orange wire or is just disconnected for now?

Also, do you need a compressor bracket? I have several different 454 compressor mounting brackets stashed away in some boxes that are available if needed.

The steps are/were operating just fine after I removed that wire from the fuse block. All systems are operating as they should, unless Ive forgotten something while testing things.

Which tells me you got the issue resolved with the orange wire.

Thanks for all your help......just out of curiosity, are you in some type of electronic production/manufacturing. You seem to have a strong knowledge base in electronics and have resources at work to bounce ideas off of.

For the last 35 or so years I've been writing software, designing control systems and doing startup work on industrial plant equipment and industrial plants. Over the last 25 years I've been involved in building, starting up and then operating facilities that are destroying the US stockpile of chemical weapons. I'm currently working at my third and final such facility. The Automation group that I work with has a lot up guys that all have similar backgrounds to mine, although most are better educated I'm more of a seat of the pants type.

If I don't know the answer to an electrical question I can just about guarantee that someone I work with can probably answer it

Im assuming some type of top secret military operation with ties to The Cheyenne Mountain base and NORAD.......

The place I work isn't necessarily secret but they do like to keep a low profile

[mayco]

Whoa, I was joshing ya, I know nothing, I know nothing

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by mayco

Whoa, I was joshing ya, I know nothing, I know nothing

Well...it's not too secret, we have a website

[Kota]

My last job was so secret they told me if I knew what I was doing they'd have to shoot me!

[mayco]

Hahahaha......you just got a good chuckle out of Lynn too

[bkahler]

Good one, that one almost brought tears to my eyes!

[Isuzusweet]

Great work guys. It's the electrical that's going to drive me to drink.

John's a good mate in his 70's that has faced more than a few battles with steely determination, Clint Eastwood grit but with a healthy dose of humour. It comes from doing years of Texas shootouts.

Definition of secrecy, is when your husband flies Pathfinder Lancaster/Mosquitoe missions for three tours in WWII, retires a RAF Wing Commander for nuclear Vulcan bombers in 1963; dies in the mid seventies, and you his wife, never tells him that you were a Bombe operator and instructor in Bletchley Park decoding Nazi and Soviet communications for the British government. Their daughter didn't even find out until her mid 50's.

Thanks Uncle Harry and Aunty Sheila Heal (who is still alive in her mid 90's, probably counting cards in her Bridge club)

Haven't even told my family of my service.......waiting until kids are older and will understand.

Cheers
Tony