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Bizare Electrical Problem


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The heater will attempt to light 3 times, if it does not light after the 3rd time it locks itself out of the ignition cycle. You will have to turn the thermostat on / off switch to off to reset the lock out. I do not think the fan stops running during the lock out. It will continue to run until the temp is turned to low or the on / off switch is set to off. The on / off is the slide switch at the bottom of the thermostat.
There is a reset sequence where you turn the temperature off and then the power at the bottom of the thermostat off and then it resets(I think). I did that and it dis not work.

See my previous post above!

Fuses can melt because of loose connections which will cause heat. Check all the screws on the fuse board.

The heater fan will fail to run for several reasons 1- no power, blown fuse, bad wire etc. 2- thermostat has gone bad. 3- fan motor itself has failed. 4- the control module itself has gone bad.

Start with verifying there is power being supplied all the way to the heater.

To test if its the thermostat remove it from the wall, pull the wires loose and connect them together. The fan should start up.

The fan motor and module tests are a bit more difficult. What brand / make is the furnace.

Now back to the generator switch to the right of your converter. A bunch of questions and scenarios have been brought forward in this discussion, some of them are serious safety concerns. I would advise starting at the beginning of this discussion and re reading everything everyone has written and see if any of these safety concerns are important.

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Danny you are going to drive us nuts work on one thing at a time a lot of this stuff is related do the big picture first then deal with the details. Messing around with 230 volts with posssible faults can be fatal. Buy or borrow a good battery.

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Danny you are going to drive us nuts work on one thing at a time a lot of this stuff is related do the big picture first then deal with the details. Messing around with 230 volts with posssible faults can be fatal. Buy or borrow a good battery.

With all due respect I Have followed the advice given on this forum to a T my replies are meerly responses to what has been proposed to me. I am meerly systematically eliminating itmes that could be causing problems.

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With all due respect I Have followed the advice given on this forum to a T my replies are meerly responses to what has been proposed to me. I am meerly systematically eliminating itmes that could be causing problems.

Danny

Have you traced the wires from the switch next to your converter, the switch that changes the generator pitch when you throw the switch? Maineah's and my concern is that the switch might be acting as some sort of transfer switch for the generator. And if it has been wired incorrectly, that when the generator is running and the switch is on, that you will have generator power on (supplied to) your shore power cord. Besides the possibility of death it could also cause a catastrophic short in the generator system if the shore cable was plugged into shore power and the generator switch thrown to the on position. The result could be a fire from the generator in which you would not be able to extinguish. Did I mention you could die from that also? No one has meant any disrespect. This particular subject seems to have been lost in the rest of the problems. Our concern is for yours and others safety. As I write this I do not believe there is any conclusion about what that switch really does. I had asked for a wide angle photo of the back of that switch as maybe we could get a better idea where the wires might go. Your feedback and as much information on the switch will help relieve our concerns about your safety.

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Everybody sorry if this topic has learned off track. OK before I go any further sorry if I have not heeded you advice straight away I am just 21 and I am trying to save some money and sometimes cut corners and this is not a good idea especially with electronics. I have broken things into topics so it is easier to read I appreciate your advice and I am learning a lot:

THE SWITCH

I followed the wires from the switch the one that puts a load onto the generator when it is turned on. left side goes off to behind the water tank and comes out in the external water heater compartment. Other side come through into the breaker box at the front bottom right black cable connected to a black cable. I think that when I flick the switch it is heating the water with electricity hence that is why you can hear the change in tone. I have attached a picture of my water heater compartment for your input.

BATTERY

Against your advice I used my old battery and found that it does not hold its charge well. after driving with just the fridge on for maybe 2 hours and then stopping I found that all of the lights did not work only a dim light and there was only enough power to allow the fridge to work. So now I am going to a buy a new battery sorry for not listening before would of saved some time.

WATER PUMP

My pump is leaking at the front underside I checked the screws and tightened as needed I also tried to tighten the stop adjustment but that did not do anything. If I leave the pump switch on it will leak drip drip a steady flow and after 16 mins the pump will fire up and pump some more. Somebody mentioned something about a pump repair kit is this worth while or is it better to replace the whole thing.

ENGINE

Before I start I have checked the oil and transmission fluid i have nearly 174,000 on the clock

Something is happening with my engine I have limited knowledge so I will try my best to describe in as much detail. I went for trip this weekend started the engine up and let it run for a few minutes I then drove slowly down and on my way after coming onto the flat and using minimal acceleration the engine sounded rough as if it was going to stall I thought that it was because I was out of gas as I was low at the time I carried on even slower to the gas station and filled the tank. I thought that it was maybe because I was out of gas but evidentially that did not make a difference it coughed and spluttered with minimal right foot input however with more gas it quietened down some now when the engine had warmed up it was less noticeable however when I came to climb quite a steep incline I could feel a drop in power of around 30% now im not flooring it here just gradually building the throttle to climb so my speed is held at 25 I floor the accelerator and it changes gear and wait until it changes up a gear then ease off this seems to help. Another thing I noticed was that when I had came to a stop and in park the engine sounded rough and the light on the dash seemed to flicker. Today when coming through town there was traffic so I was slowly creeping forward in drive on the flat and I it was jerking forwad not smoothly rolling. Could this be caused because I had the bad battery connected?

Thanks

Danny

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OK the switch makes sense it does appear to have an electric heater so your switch is not a transfer switch it's a water heater switch. Good plan with the battery now we can move on to what ever problem comes up after the battery replacement. I would price a kit before I replaced the pump either the plastic is cracked (froze maybe) or the diaphragm is bad. As far as the engine there are so many things that could give you problems I would not know where to start perhaps I would remove the air filter and make sure no one has taken up residence mice are very fast. Now have you tested the plug for power with the generator running? We would like to know how the power is transferred from shore power to generator power. Danny we are trying to help you so you have got to help us help you. Greg sent you a picture of a battery switch have you found some thing like that yet?

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Sorry Greg it was post 29

What I meant was that I do not see the isolator in any of your engine pictures. It could be somewhere els but usually it is in the engine compartment.

If you have a place nearby where they salvage autos, we call them wrecking yards here, you could ask if they have a battery for cheap price. Make sure they know what you want, the correct type of connections.

Also if you run the refrigerator on battery you can only do so when you are running the engine at a higher rpm than idle such as when going down the road. The alternator can not put out enough electricity (current) at idle. And if the engine is not running the refrigerator will run down the battery (even a good one) in a short time. When not running the engine you need to run the refrigerator on gas (propane).

Its unlikely that your bad coach battery will cause your engine to run bad. As Maineah says, there can be many reasons why there would be problems. It does sound like you might have a fuel supply problem. Open the hood and just sit and look at everything. Follow the spark plug wires and make sure they are all connected. Follow all the small hoses and make sure they are all connected.

You have done a great job with all this so far.

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Ok a new twist and a miss understanding on my part I took the old battery to a battery centre. They told me that the battery had no charge inside. I left it with them while they charged it over night when I returned the next day they told me that thr battery was fine and that it was opperting at 93% capacity I can live with that. Becaue my charger said fast charger in the side I thought that it would charge in 2/3 hours when in reality it takes 8 hours I did feel a little stupid.

In regard to the problem with the engine I am going to replace the spark plugs to see if that makes and difference are they quite easy to replace. Is it simply a job for the socket set? is there anything I need to be careful about or any big no nos?

For my water pump part I contacted shurflow who have now reruted me to a center in Russia I chased them today and they should have a contact for me to buy the part from early next week.

Danny

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First, I love the attention to detail and the patience of the Swiss. Anyone that has used a Wild-Heerbrugg T-2 can attest to this.

Ok a new twist and a miss understanding on my part I took the old battery to a battery centre. They told me that the battery had no charge inside. I left it with them while they charged it over night when I returned the next day they told me that thr battery was fine and that it was opperting at 93% capacity I can live with that. Becaue my charger said fast charger in the side I thought that it would charge in 2/3 hours when in reality it takes 8 hours I did feel a little stupid.

It is typical for a battery to have a capacity of 100 ampere*hours. So for a "completely discharged" battery (which occurs around 11.9 volts), you would need to charge at 10A for 10 hours... or 5A for 20 hours. But the safest way is to charge at 2A for 50 hours. The faster you charge, the more heat builds in the batter, and the shorter its life will be. But batteries rarely last more than 5 years.

The best way of measuring the charge level of a battery is with a hygrometer. You simply draw electrolyte from each of the 6 cells and the device shows the density of the fluid. A density of 1.265g/ml is fully charged. A density of 1.120g/ml is completely discharged. See http://www.schumacherproducts.com/applications/?id=0007

In regard to the problem with the engine I am going to replace the spark plugs to see if that makes and difference are they quite easy to replace. Is it simply a job for the socket set? is there anything I need to be careful about or any big no nos?
You will need a rubber padded 5/8" spark plug socket. Examine the plugs and compare them to this chart: http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/...aqs/faqread.asp

When you install new plugs, be sure to set them to the proper gap of 0.8mm (.030"). Before installing them, coat the threads with a graphite or copper anti-seize compound. It is like silver or gold grease. http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&am...mNumber=8058257

It can be found in any auto parts shop.

But you should probably remove the distributor cap and rotor button and carefully polish the contamination from the electrodes. Also, check each spark plug wire - measure the resistance from end to end. It should be 1kOhm-20kOhms.

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Ok a new twist and a miss understanding on my part I took the old battery to a battery centre. They told me that the battery had no charge inside. I left it with them while they charged it over night when I returned the next day they told me that thr battery was fine and that it was opperting at 93% capacity I can live with that. Becaue my charger said fast charger in the side I thought that it would charge in 2/3 hours when in reality it takes 8 hours I did feel a little stupid.

Danny

Here is the deal with lead acid batteries. If they are left below 11 volts for along period of time, say 2 weeks or a month, what happens is a thing called sulfonation of the plates. It basically kills the battery's ability to hold a large capacity charge and it makes it harder to achieve a full charge. I am going to assume the test they did was a test for starting batteries and not deep cycle batteries. A starting battery is designed to drop a huge amount of amps (discharge) to the starter in a short period of time. A deep cycle battery is designed to maintain a moderate discharge for a long period of time. So long story short if all they did was a starting battery test then yes it probably did pass the test. The real test will be to leave some lights on for a length of time say 3 hours or more. Then test the battery's voltage and see what you got. It should be at least 12 volts or higher. A battery that is around 11 volts I believe is considered only half charged or half discharged. A battery at 6 volts is considered a dead charge. So do not confuse the voltage in that 6 volts would be considered half charged. Batteries do not work that way. Anything below 11 volts for a considerable length of time will damage the battery's ability to supply or hold a large capacity charge. Anyhow just my opinion. Check this link out for some battery facts http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

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I started to read thru the thread but I did not read all of the posts I do have a guess on the switch though. It looks like the same place my hot water heater switch is placed, so maybe that is it.

I have three setting on my fridge; GAS, ELEC and 12v. and it has to be on the correct setting when parked or my converter will chirp and click a real funny noise. I prefer using gas when stopped.

If you need a coach battery be sure it is a deep cycle or marine type in case no one mentioned it.

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You can charge a bad battery and it will show great voltage but it will have no reserve as soon as you load it down it will drop like a rock. So like Greg said it needs to be loaded to properly test it not just load it to 200 amps for 5 sec. and call it good. A repeated deep discharge is one of the better ways to kill a battery.

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Something bad has happened when I thought things were starting to get better. I was under the impression that my battery was fine as it was giving a strong reading I thought that it was that it was under charged So I connected back into the motorhome. The lights fridge everything works. I leave the fridge on the gas setting for 24 hours as it is warming up here nicely. I come back the next day I start driving after driving on the highway for an hour in heavy traffic stop start stop start I see smoke coming out of the battery compartment. Something has melted through one of the cables and the strap that holds the battery in place has been melted through. I do not understand how this could happen. and why the fuses did not burn out first I have attached some pictures of the battery and the state of the wires. Your advise and experience will be greatly appreciated.

Danny

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Leave the one that burnt disconnected hook the battery back up and see what does not work. It looks like it was one of the wires that was not fused some in your picture are some are not. Can you follow the burnt wire back into the coach? it has to lead to some thing and when you find it it will be a dead short to ground. You are lucky it did not set fire to some thing. It looks as if some one went to the effort to at least mark some of the wires as to where they go.

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That's a complete short circuit. Like Maineah says follow the wire to where ever it goes because somewhere along the route or at its destination point you have a short circuit, in other words that wire somehow has become connected to the negative side. You have to replace the wire anyhow so you have to trace it.

I have to say I am sorry to see all this happening to you.

As a side note you better check the voltage on the battery and get a charge on it soon because the longer it sits at a low voltage the more it will be damaged. Also the battery you show is a starting battery and not a deep cycle. Just so you know a starting battery will never hold a charge as long as a deep cycle for your lights and stuff.

When you replace the wire put a fuse on it at the battery like your other wires.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Been awhile, still working on it?

yeah things have been quite hard lately I had a garage take a look at everything before I put it in for its test. There was a few problems:

Timing belt thread bare

front suspension totalled

Exhaust rotten

Brakes in the back down to the callipers

Now for my defence there was a shake in the front I thought that it was simply the tracking but evidently it was more severe. I thought that when the brakes in a car or truck are low they sequel so you know that they are approaching the end of there life. The timing belt well it looked fine to me. Now because I am in Switzerland they don't really like old vehicles it is hard to be able to do anything your self I have not seen one auto spares shop in Switzerland. To do the above work it has cost me $1,700. I am in the process of sorting out the wiring I traced the wiring back and there is no problems. I think it was because I did not tighten the battery terminals and they touched. I am going to replace the sections that burnt out so it should be ok. I brought a batterz charger and I am ensuing the battery maintains full charge. I am looking for a Shurflo trail king 10 water pump I think it wise to swap it like for like. I think I will order one for the US soon. I am thinking ebay but if anyone has any other ideas that would be great. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer.

Danny

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Any of the shurflo pumps will bolt right in.

I hate to hear of such problems. It will be a nice road safe rig when you get done!

I developed a strange electrical problem myself. I have lost power to my brake lights, taillights and heater blower motor. I have no blown fuses, just no power. Here in California it is a law that a repair shop has to ask and give you the old parts they replace so there is no question that the parts are actually bad. Not saying your repair shop is crooked but something to always be aware of. I am glad to hear you may have the electrical sorted out and no longer shorted out.

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