Aldo Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 (edited) Hi Everyone, Firstly, thanks for making this forum a wealth of information on these funny vehicles we all enjoy. I can’t seem to get this old girl running of the aux battery. Did some tests: - new battery holds 12v all the time - not charging when plugged to shore power - not charging when vehicle is running - everything in the coach works fine when plugged to shore Could it be this auto switch from page 10 of this manual? Photo attached too. I’m not running the generator currently for lack of carburetor, not my focus right now. I really only need the aux battery for a night here and there to put some lights on and keep the fridge cold when driving. Pete SeaBreeze and I appreciate any guidance and help folks. Thanks, Aldo Edited December 27, 2021 by Aldo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewanderlustking Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 By "running off of" the auxiliary battery, are you trying to start the engine on the auxiliary battery? If so, it won't do that. There are a couple oddities with our charging systems. First off the battery light inside tends to stay on until you blip the throttle a time or two. Not sure if this is a Toyota quirk, or a Toyota RV quirk... Until you do that, the main engine battery won't be charging. Pretty sure the house battery wouldn't be charging either... The isolator works like a voltage switch. The main battery needs to charge up first, then once it is charged it switches over to the auxiliary battery. This odd behavior has gotten at least a few of us. Pretty sure I ended up replacing a perfectly good alternator when I got mine. And it seems to be the most common question newcomers to these RVs ask lol. Really want to hurt your brain? Add solar to the mix haha! So what does "not running" mean? If nothing in the house is running off of the 12v when not connected to the grid, look at the positive side connection to the auxiliary battery. It sounds like it is not connected to the house converter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldo Posted December 27, 2021 Author Share Posted December 27, 2021 (edited) Thanks for the reply sir. Totally going to pick your brain on solar once this issue is addressed. “Not running off of” = Aux battery not powering the house. No battery light is on ever. Truck battery puts out 14.4v when running. Aux battery only puts out 12v and does not ever charge, when truck is running or powered ashore. Truck runs great, only 91k on this girl and I’ve the mechanical side of things perfect. Airbags work too, those are awesome. House will not power when truck is running, even with a full battery. Truck battery is new. I’ve run the truck for hours, checked the aux battery for charge while the truck was running, still at 12v. Truck battery was charging correctly. Converter is working as all the 12v stuff powers fine when ashore. Breakers and fuses all in in working order. Positive and negative poles are connected at the aux battery. Could the isolator be bad? That’s the little guy mounted to the firewall correct? Attached a photo of the panel. Where else would I check a converter connection? It seems it’s not getting power or sending power. Any troubleshooting workflow advice would be sincerely appreciated too! Edited December 27, 2021 by Aldo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extech Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 the isolator is the key to charging your house bat. should not charge house unless chassis bat is up. maybe bad, maybe connected incorrectly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewanderlustking Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 27 minutes ago, Aldo said: Thanks for the reply sir. Totally going to pick your brain on solar once this issue is addressed. ... I am afraid I won't be too helpful there! After abusing these guys badly with my questions over the years, I still don't have an expert grasp on combining everything, especially solar. Maybe a 3rd day apprentice. Maybe... 😆 I am not the only one though. The Russian that had mine before solved this dilemma by adding in a third battery and a third solar panel and isolating the solar system from everything else. Oh and before that, two solar panels were put up initially going to a simple 5v USB charge controller. There is a long cord that plugs into something somewhere. I suspect it could even reach the front engine battery. But I never found a mating end for it. Anyways my point is sometimes, well usually, people have come in not knowing what they are doing and altered or disconnected things. These systems are just different enough from an automotive setup to confuse. Verify two things. Verify that the positive side of the aux battery is connected to the correct spot on your engine bay isolator. And verify that it is also connected to the 12v buss on your power converter. The diagrams above should tell you this. If not, also look for a disconnect switch. Not sure if there ever were installed from the RV manufacturers, but most of these old chargers/converters will fry a house battery if left plugged in for too long. I think you have two separate issues. 1) Isolator is bad or not connected to the house battery. 2) The house battery isn't connected to the converter/charger, or there is a kill switch somewhere. You will have to look at the diagram on your unit, or dig out a manual. But verify that the house battery is connected to the power distribution/converter/charger 12v buss. Quick test. Take positive terminal off house battery. Plug in the RV to shore. Verify your 12v lights and systems work. See if you have 12v at the house positive when not connected to the house battery. If not, figure out why. Something is either turned off, or disconnected. Unplug shore. Ohm the positive house terminal to the isolator. If not connected, figure out where it is connected to. Should be a pretty sizable power feed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aldo Posted December 27, 2021 Author Share Posted December 27, 2021 14 minutes ago, thewanderlustking said: 1) Isolator is bad or not connected to the house battery. 2) The house battery isn't connected to the converter/charger, or there is a kill switch somewhere. You will have to look at the diagram on your unit, or dig out a manual. But verify that the house battery is connected to the power distribution/converter/charger 12v buss. Quick test. Take positive terminal off house battery. Plug in the RV to shore. Verify your 12v lights and systems work. See if you have 12v at the house positive when not connected to the house battery. If not, figure out why. Something is either turned off, or disconnected. Unplug shore. Ohm the positive house terminal to the isolator. If not connected, figure out where it is connected to. Should be a pretty sizable power feed. Excellent advice my friend. thanks! I'll give it a go this afternoon when I can get away from work. After troubleshooting everything I can see, your reply, and testing continuity to the 12v stuff, I have a feeling it's it's something silly. Like a switch or something disconnected I haven't found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted December 27, 2021 Share Posted December 27, 2021 Check house battery cables when running and when off but plugged into shore power. Those are separate cables. Smaller wires usually coming from converter. Also check water in house battery. You can also check the terminals at your isolator to be sure it's working. Might be worth it to separately charge your house battery from a stand alone charger or take it to an auto parts store and have them check it. Can't figure out what's wrong until you know what your dealing with. My battery wasn't charging from the alternator for a while even though the isolator was good. Found a split in the wire from the isolator just before it went into the battery compartment. Ran a new wire the whole length. Old wires are always suspect. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90Warrior Posted February 4, 2022 Share Posted February 4, 2022 I see where you mention the house battery is not charging while plugged into shore power. Your power converter 6325 is the same as in my Warrior. I just pulled the converter out of mine and rebuilt it; it had the same issue along with a couple others. Its back factory fresh again, all the components inside can be sourced or equivalent replacements. What went bad on mine that prevented it from charging the house batt from shore power, was the internal "circuit breaker" on the output of the charging circuit. Its not resettable, and does not have a replaceable fuse. I cut this breaker out of the circuit and replaced it with an ATC fuseholder. The original part is rated for 10A, the fuseholder I used is wired with 12awg and 10A ATC fuse. That fixed it, and there are some other items I replaced, for replacing sake (capacitors and rectifier). I have included a schematic for the 6300 series power converters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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