gene j Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 My newly purchased 92 Dolphin was starting fine for the first couple of weeks I owned it but then I started getting the old click-click-click-click that a low battery makes the starter solenoid do. I cleaned the cables and tried charging it but it would throw the breaker on the 10 amp deep cycle charger. After a couple of breaker throws I took the battery to Pep boys where I was told it was okay. I figured it being very low was the cause of the charger breaker throwing, at least I read on the Internet that this could happen. I reinstalled it and the Toy started, but after sitting out front for several hours it went back to the click-click. Next I took out the coach deep-cycle battery and took it to Pep boys where I was told it had a bad cell ( I did look and the cell was the only dry one). My question is would the bad coach battery affect the starting battery in any way? I disconnected the battery isolator wire that I think leads back to the coach battery...looking from the front, the isolator is on the firewall directly in front of the driver's seat, one wire on the left to the starting battery, I'm assuming one on the right to the coach battery which I disconnected, and one in the center coming from the alternator....information I picked up reading the site. Right now I trying to charge the start battery again and will let the breaker throw a few times if necessary. Can anyone help me here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Possible but not too likely. It should disconnect with the key off or in the case of a solid state isolator it is all ways disconnected except when charging. The only screw up would the bad battery stealing the the recharge from the alternator but they have to be pretty shorted to do that. Disconnect the negative cable from the coach battery and see what that does for you. Toyota starters have contacts inside of the solenoids that burn and you will get a click with nothing happening and often if you click it enough it will start, rapped clicking while holding the key is a sign of a weak battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene j Posted May 29, 2010 Author Share Posted May 29, 2010 Possible but not too likely. It should disconnect with the key off or in the case of a solid state isolator it is all ways disconnected except when charging. The only screw up would the bad battery stealing the the recharge from the alternator but they have to be pretty shorted to do that. Disconnect the negative cable from the coach battery and see what that does for you. Toyota starters have contacts inside of the solenoids that burn and you will get a click with nothing happening and often if you click it enough it will start, rapped clicking while holding the key is a sign of a weak battery. Thanks for the info. I will try what you said. Perhaps these rigs not being driven too much proves to be very hard on the batteries. I've seen solar trickle chargers....we have 340+ days of sunshine here in southern Nevada...might be something to try...I saw several at Northern Tool website and I imagine they come with instructions. I mentioned I disconnected the battery isolator cable to the coach...would that have the same effect as disconnecting the negative pole on the coach battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Yes if you are sure it was the cable going to the battery do your coach lights still work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene j Posted May 30, 2010 Author Share Posted May 30, 2010 Yes if you are sure it was the cable going to the battery do your coach lights still work? It was the correct cable. As it turns out the only thing wrong seems to be the starting battery was really discharged...I left it on the charger yesterday for 10 hours, put it back in and seems to work fine, of course time will tell. I will be doing regular battery maintenance from now on. Like i said earlier, this rig probably hadn't been driven much. When I bought in it had a pretty good oil leak which turned out to be valve gaskets. I'm getting a new coach battery and I should be okay. Appreciate the help, this site is like a pot of gold for owners of these rigs. My next step is to see if Jiffy lube can do some lubrication on it. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted May 31, 2010 Share Posted May 31, 2010 It was the correct cable. As it turns out the only thing wrong seems to be the starting battery was really discharged...I left it on the charger yesterday for 10 hours, put it back in and seems to work fine, of course time will tell. I will be doing regular battery maintenance from now on. Like i said earlier, this rig probably hadn't been driven much. When I bought in it had a pretty good oil leak which turned out to be valve gaskets. I'm getting a new coach battery and I should be okay. Appreciate the help, this site is like a pot of gold for owners of these rigs. My next step is to see if Jiffy lube can do some lubrication on it. Thanks again. If your starting battery was left dead for a long period of time it has probably been damaged also. Its called sulfation of the plates. It makes it hard for the battery to store and release a charge. Also you might look sources that constantly use energy from the battery such as the dash radio. Many radios use a small amount of current to keep their memories intact, such as preferences and station choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene j Posted May 31, 2010 Author Share Posted May 31, 2010 If your starting battery was left dead for a long period of time it has probably been damaged also. Its called sulfation of the plates. It makes it hard for the battery to store and release a charge. Also you might look sources that constantly use energy from the battery such as the dash radio. Many radios use a small amount of current to keep their memories intact, such as preferences and station choices. Actually the starting battery has a date on it of 2/10 and looks new.....hoping it was just a short term discharge...I will monitor it though...thanks for you help. I need to do some research on how the electrical is configured in a coach like this...I have some schematics that came with the rig but they are pretty hard to follow....I'll be doing some Internet research. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunneys Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 I use one of those solar trickle chargers... It woks great for me! I removed the coach battery for storage and just left the trucks installed. It's been stored for almost 1.5 years now (New baby boy) but I go and check on it often, it starts up every time on the first try. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 I work for a Sheriff dept. and all of the cop cars have a battery disconnect that shuts off the battery when it drops to a certain voltage because they have all kinds of parasitic loads like Greg said. They have recharge flash lights, radios, GPS, computers and all kinds of gadgits that kill batteries. A solar charger may be what you need if you can't plug it in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene j Posted June 13, 2010 Author Share Posted June 13, 2010 I work for a Sheriff dept. and all of the cop cars have a battery disconnect that shuts off the battery when it drops to a certain voltage because they have all kinds of parasitic loads like Greg said. They have recharge flash lights, radios, GPS, computers and all kinds of gadgits that kill batteries. A solar charger may be what you need if you can't plug it in. Thanks for the tip..I'll try one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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