No power to battery isolator and ignition

[flash]

Hi,
I just pulled my 86 345 from two years of storage. After putting new coach and engine batteries in I found that I had NO power to the ignition switch and no power to the isolator on the firewall. I would expect the isolator to be hot as it is a direct line from the battery solenoid.

I do have power to the generator and the starter and all grounds are clean, tight and in good condition.

So, I think the problem is the solenoid on the back of the battery compartment. Before I start tearing thing apart I would hoping for some feedback thoughts on this problem.

thank you
Patrick

[bobmiller1]

Pull the toggle switch in the glovebox to couple all batteries together and see what happens. Regards, Bob

[mayco]

Check to make sure you didnt switch off your battery disconnect switch. (if so equipped) its happened to me more than once. My battery disconnect switches are in the stepwell of my 310, dont know location on a 345.

[flash]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

Pull the toggle switch in the glovebox to couple all batteries together and see what happens. Regards, Bob

I tried that before I stared checking for power from the solenoid and got the same results. I checked the isolator for juice with the toggle switch pulled(helper needed) and still no power to the isolator.

So, no power to isolator from engine or coach batteries has me thinking the solenoid is the issue. Starter and generator power a wired direct from the input side of the solenoid and they are hot.

thanks
Patrick

[bobmiller1]

I would go over the wiring you disturbed while you changed the batteries and check your grounds with a test light. You will find your problem. Regards, Bob

[flash]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

I would go over the wiring you disturbed while you changed the batteries and check your grounds with a test light. You will find your problem. Regards, Bob

All the grounds are good. Cleaned and tested while tracing NO power to isolator.

[Waipio Rim]

I imagine that you have checked this, but we had a broken cable terminal at the solenoid that caused all kinds of problems. It would shift around every time the battery drawer was opened and closed.

[la nomade]

i am trying to help my friends (dah) who just got their 310 figure out why,on shore power,light near sink showing power comes in..there is no power in the A.S.
when i run the motor for 15 minn,everything goes on and works fine,then fades out....there are 2 new coach batteries,one new motor battery ,fuses are o.k. what can be draining the batteries???on shore power all should work fine???i have no answer for them..do you???m.v.

[flash]

Originally Posted by Waipio Rim

I imagine that you have checked this, but we had a broken cable terminal at the solenoid that caused all kinds of problems. It would shift around every time the battery drawer was opened and closed.

I pulled the solenoid as I have no other idea on what the root cause is. I found a crack behind one of the posts so perhaps this is the issue. I headed to the local Napa to see if they could find me a replacement. After an hour of looking at their catalogs and online stock I gave up. I found an Intellitic accessory relay part # 77-90000-100 in my search online at Airstream supply. I am going to order this solenoid and see if it fixes my issue.

Patrick

[flash]

Originally Posted by la nomade

i am trying to help my friends (dah) who just got their 310 figure out why,on shore power,light near sink showing power comes in..there is no power in the A.S.
when i run the motor for 15 minn,everything goes on and works fine,then fades out....there are 2 new coach batteries,one new motor battery ,fuses are o.k. what can be draining the batteries???on shore power all should work fine???i have no answer for them..do you???m.v.

great,
why don't you start your own thread on your specific problem.

thank you
Patrick

[bobmiller1]

Just curious, inside your entrance door to the right, do you have the wall panel with the two red lights and switches to turn the coach and chassis batteries on and off ? If you do did the switches work before you changed the batteries ? what happens now when you press the switches ? Any clicking noises from either switch ? As you probably already know there are three solenoids mounted to the backside of the battery tray. You should be able to see which solenoid goes to each battery and the third is for the switch in the glovebox. I would remove the grounds from the batteries and make sure the Airstream is "NOT" plugged into shore power then switch the solenoids, IE engine battery solenoid to house battery solenoid and vise versa and see if your problem moves by switching the solenoids. If the problem moves then you are correct and you have a bad solenoid Let me know how you make out. Regards, Bob

[bkahler]

What type of clamps do you have on the batteries, i.e. are they leaded clamps with the cables embedded in the lead or are they the clamp on style with a stud sticking out and the cable has an eyelet that goes over the stud?

I had a problem with the clamp/stud style where the stud wasn't making contact with the rest of the clamp! Replaced the clamp and all was good.

Brad

[la nomade]

they are lead,i made sure they are tightly on....will check the selenoids ,thank you,will keep you posted.

[Boom Sounds]

Just measure the voltage each side of the battery solenoid and at the heavy duty junction block further downstream from that. Fault find from there


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[flash]

My 345 is back in business. I ended up changing the Solenoid behind the battery compartment as the original one was cracked and fell apart when I removed it. I also found a bad connection at the starter and lastly I replaced the ignition solenoid in the engine bay as it would not cut power to the starter once the key was turned off. I wonder what is next?

Patrick

[rmkrum]

Never ask that. The Airstream gods will promptly smite you with something more difficult😀😀😀


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[Isuzusweet]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Never ask that. The Airstream gods will promptly smite you with something more difficult😀😀😀


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Somebody's learning.

Never ponder where trouble is, as trouble will always find you first.

Cheers
Tony

[rmkrum]

I'm an engineer. You never, ever tempt fate...

The universe just loves to smack you upside the head if you give it the opportunity or even mention the thought. Murphy was, in fact, an optimist.

My engineering career spans 5+ decades. I learned a few things along the way. I'm the guy they always call when the going gets weird.

(That's when the weird turn pro. Guilty as charged, your honor)

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[la nomade]

it turns out that the no power had to do with the circuit
breaker....we had to trip it and reset it several times,then oh,miracle everything worked,power was back on...but then,on a short week end trip,the convertor went.....this 310 needs a lot of replacements!!! and tlc...also the step motor gave up....but better now then on a long trip...

[bkahler]

If you had to trip the breaker several times like that to get it to work then if you haven't already I would suggest replacing it!

Glad to hear you found the problem.