mgrijalva

well here i am again. i went on my maiden voyage and returned w my tail between my legs. i overweighted the coach on my return trip. i was 15 miles frm home when my rear passeger dullies snapped off and took off w out me. my coach dropped to the road and i slid to the shoulder. boy, what a lesson. no injuires, just a deflated ego. i posted pictures to share. it took me this long to lick my wounds and now i'm ready to go again. lol lol http://toyotamotorhome.org/forums/index.php?app=gallery&image=2889

yes, i get things backwards, especially when it sounds scary. That multimeter really intimidated me. I didn't get a new relay because the previous one was always hot because of a short somewhere. This is an indicator that unless i find the source of the short, the latest new relay will burn out too. i figured.....So i charged the aux battery at autozone: the relay stopped overworking. No more noise. The lights flickers very sporadically now. I took off as is. Spend my first real night 'camping' in the middle of nowhere. 9Mile Canyon, Utah. Now I know why people become addicted to motorhomes. I also found out i get more mileage if traveling slow.

i got the $5meter. i don't have the simple meter that lights up anymore, but this one looks intimidating. I don't know where to put the leads when in ohm mode. So i placed the leads on the top and bottom holes. I selected 10a per meter instructions. With the motor off, i placed the black lead on the motor block, and took turns placing the positive lead on all the terminals. Nothing. I turned oOn the motor and the #1 went up to 14.9 (varying) dropping to 12 when it makes the clicking sound. The red lead ire on the meter got very and soft.

wow this is good. i'll start w the multimeter, i saw a harborfreight here. this relay is new. the old one was always hot, this relay is about 3-4 mo old. the relay runs harm now. the problems started when i installed the aux battery. Power wasn't reaching it. Yet,prior to buying the battery the positive terminal was live. When i bought this rv, I was exploring the aux battery enclosure and almost got shocked when moving the battery terminals around. i install the battery and it is not being charged (maybe the circuit breaker replacement will make a difference).

lok, i will pick up a multi meter today. this makes sense. this is very good. Although the ark remains, the circuit breaker did need replacement i think because, Terminals 2 & 3 didn't light up when energized when the motor was running,prior to replacing breaker. Now they light up when energized. I am driving home monday. In the worst case scenario, if i dont figure this out, i will still b able to drive, right? i made this far.

this was the original problem...i bought the secondary battery, installed myself (wrongly though), and the coach lights didn't work. My younger inexperienced son re-installed it. The current wiring to the secondary battery is 2 red wires & a white wire on the positive terminal. The negative terminal has 2 black wires. The fuse box at the battery has a 25amp fuse please see pictures.

the relay is the silver bell shaped part, right? the little dark box is an autoresetbreaker which i replaced w the same size breaker. The silver bell/relay is brand new, this is making the clicking resetting sound. Should i get another relay but with full-time relay?

how will i know if 'my 30 amp breaker that is worn out and cannot even carry 10 amps. Or - it might be a 30 amp breaker with a 50 amp load'? Now that i know how to use the meter reader...i can go around stabbing the red wire to fine out where the power stops. If i stab a red wire, wont' that break the structural strength of the power that is circulating??? But breakers? don't know. Isn't it easier to just buy new breakers since these are probably originals (1985)? they r easy to replace.

the cord is not too warm or hot, it is a normal temperature to touch

it seems to work fine. my space heater is 1500watt max.....it has tripped the coach breaker once. i noticed the 4th vertical fuse that was blown appeared empty. i shook it and heard no sound. i didn't think it the heater tripping the inside coach breaker box was is related to the DC problem. I knew there were 2 systems, i just didn't understand them....still don't. It makes sense to add a separate strip for direct AC power. Yet these system come together at the coach breaker box (i think). I am concerned that the only horizontal fuse inside the coach breaker box blew yesterday. I will assume it blew when we were using the meter reader. the fuse that blew was a 20, i replaced it with a 25 because it was the closet to 20. i had a 15 or 30 available. i am concerned because i see a red wire. Last night i had 3 grandkids sleeping in here and they taught it was a great adventure to sleep in a motorhome (even though we are parked in the driveway). i kept the cold out from the front bubble window by placing 5 pillows upright against it. It made a difference. Even w the space heater, i feel a constant draft. I have a blanket creating a wall between the driver area and the coach. Truth be told, i don't get tired of exploring to see what is the matter. i love learning all this stuff....if you think about it...it all adds up mathematically

i didn't think the DC problem was mixed w the AC system. Bear w me as i learn, but don't assume i know anything. too many times i feel like a 'child w a weapon in my hands' and probably lucky to b alive.

i stand corrected, i am using a #12 (12 gauge) extension cord. not a 16, sorry for confusion. the cord is yellow, very thick. I meant to distinguish that it is not the common orange extension cord. Maybe the math will add up now. i followed the red wire coming out of the little breaker too, all the way to the secondary battery's enclosure.

ok, my power cord coming out of the motorhome is the big one, 2000watt. It has an adapter that results in a the parallel one. it appears i lose power capacity when i add the adapter. i must confess, i have an extension cord, #16, the yellow thick extension cord that is hooked to my cord in order to reach the power outlet to my son's mobile home. a fifty ft extension cord. hence, i am losing even more capacity. my other option is to add an exterior power outlet to my son's mobile home. in fact, eventually i will have to do this because i will be visiting here often to see my grandkids inside the coach i use the space heater 1500watt, lap top and charge up a cell phone.

When i removed the positive power terminal to the secondary battery the cycling sound and ark continue. Problem 1, the little dark box, the auto reset circuit breaker, has been replaced ($3.89 autozn). The problem remains to a degree. Prior to replacing the resetbreaker, a power meter was used on the breaker and on the battery terminal switch. The power meter is the portable gadget that lights up when u hav power upon contact & with proper grounding. When the little breaker was tested there was no power at the red wire contact/screw. The battery terminal switch had power at the red wire contact. The secondary battery's power terminal had no power. The little breaker was replaced. Now the little breaker powers up the power meter upon contact. There appears to be power running to the secondary battery now, I think. Upon initial contact to the battery terminal the gadget does not light up, when the autoresetbreaker makes its 'cycling' sound it lights up the gadget (power arrives for a second). The light does not stay lite, the power is not continuous. The sound continues consistently and so is the ark (spark). The ark is smaller now. I drove around and the dashboard lights (Charge, Brake) flicker, and so do my headlights now. I didn't notice the headlights flickering before. In fact, I think the headlights didn't flicker before, as this would have been a major concern while i drove over here. prior to replacing the little breaker, I followed the main power wire from the battery throughout the body frame, to the generator. At the generator the power wire was exposed at the junction where it becomes a white wire. Black tape was applied at the exposed area. The power wire showed signs of having touched the metal wall of the generator's enclosure. The wall was burnt a bit ???how do i know if the secondary battery is installed correctly. there are 2 reds wires and 1 white wire hooked up to the positive + terminal of the battery. there are 2 black wires on the negative terminal. the fuse that was replaced was inside the coach, not an engine fuse. the fuse was the 4th of 4 vertical fuses inside the breaker box inside the coach. I just noticed the only horizontal fuse (20amp) was blown, i replaced w a 25 (i didn't have a 20). This fuse has a red wire running up to it. i will check it later tonight again. i am shored for the evening i will address the space heater in a minute. the space heater labels states: 1500watt 120v 60hz thank u