Auxillary battery problem

[hawk]

Hello, folks, I'm new to the site, having just recently buying a '90 Toy/Winnebago with 74K on it. The coach battery was shot, so I installed a new one. I ran in to the wiring mess that others have described on this site. There were eight wires with crimped, ring terminals all clamped onto the positive old battery post. It was a mix of lamp cords, wire nuts and one splice just twisted together and taped. I'm not much of an electrician; I can use a multimeter. I took the eight wires and brought them all together by clamping them with a bolt and nut; then I ran a single lead to the positive battery post. Everything worked for a short time. But, after a bit of usage, no inside lights, no water pump and the control panel in the galley has no power. The battery shows a full charge. None of the five 15 amp fuses in the coach is blown, and the two circuit breakers weren't tripped. I have power from the battery to the clump of eight incoming wires. There is an inline fuse on what I figure is the main wire, and it is not blown as far as I can tell. So, that's the background. I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping someone can help me with.

First, where the heck is the inverter on a '90 Toy/ Winne? Does the power wire from the coach battery go to the inverter and then to the fuse/circuit breaker panel, or does it go directly to the fuse panel?

Is there any other fuse or breaker somewhere else in the power circuit that I'm missing?

I'd appreciate any thoughts you guys and gals might suggest. Thanks, Hawk

Edited May 25, 2012 by hawk

[Derek up North]

You're lucky to own a Winnebago Warrior in that Winnebago is about the only manufacturer still in business AND they have some very useful information online:-

http://www.winnebago...ources/manuals/

In your position, I'd disconnect all of the 8 'mystery' wires in your system and then add them back, 1 at a time. Watch for smoke!

[Dolphinite no longer here]

Hello, folks, I'm new to the site, having just recently buying a '90 Toy/Winnebago with 74K on it. The coach battery was shot, so I installed a new one. I ran in to the wiring mess that others have described on this site. There were eight wires with crimped, ring terminals all clamped onto the positive old battery post. It was a mix of lamp cords, wire nuts and one splice just twisted together and taped. I'm not much of an electrician; I can use a multimeter. I took the eight wires and brought them all together by clamping them with a bolt and nut; then I ran a single lead to the positive battery post. Everything worked for a short time. But, after a bit of usage, no inside lights, no water pump and the control panel in the galley has no power. The battery shows a full charge. None of the five 15 amp fuses in the coach is blown, and the two circuit breakers weren't tripped. I have power from the battery to the clump of eight incoming wires. There is an inline fuse on what I figure is the main wire, and it is not blown as far as I can tell. So, that's the background. I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping someone can help me with.

First, where the heck is the inverter on a '90 Toy/ Winne? Does the power wire from the coach battery go to the inverter and then to the fuse/circuit breaker panel, or does it go directly to the fuse panel?

Is there any other fuse or breaker somewhere else in the power circuit that I'm missing?

I'd appreciate any thoughts you guys and gals might suggest. Thanks, Hawk

Inverters (12 volt to 120 volt) didn't come standard on Toyota Motorhomes as far as I know. You probably have a converter (120 volt to 12 volt) and it should be behind the fuse panel you mentioned.

John

[waiter]

I'd venture to guess if you went to your bolt and nut splice and gave each wire a couple good tugs, you'd find the problem.

There should also be a self resetting circuit breaker in line, give these wires a tug also.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[hawk]

I'd venture to guess if you went to your bolt and nut splice and gave each wire a couple good tugs, you'd find the problem.

There should also be a self resetting circuit breaker in line, give these wires a tug also.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

Thanks, Guys, for the suggestions. It turned out to be one of the in-line 30 amp circuit breakers that had fried. I replaced both and it seems to be working fine. I also replaced some of the lightweight cords that were used for wiring patches. John, I think you're correct that I have a converter, not an inverter. I appreciated your help. Take care. Hawk

[Boots]

I am just about to work on the electrics in this area. There are two resetable circuit breakers in my 92 Ithasca, and they are hard to get at and not obvious. The second part of the upgrade is to replace the old charger located under the seat. So I am bringing the main wiring harness up into the coach, installing a master fuseable link, an isolation switch, possible A Xtrantrex digital meter (measures charge, consumption, state of charge etc) and the new Xtrantex converter / inverter (2000 watt pure sine wave output). In addition, I have upgrade the main wiring from the positive and negative to the space under the seat (where the new charger will be installed) and finally upgraded the ground connection to the frame. All original wiring is being brought from the coach battery box to a marine grade fuse box for monitoring and access. Should be a fun project.

Boots

[hawk]

Boots, that sounds like a big project, but one that I also need to consider. Since I'm new to this rig, and a bit of a novice in the electrics area, I have to approach it methodically, thinking through each step. In the end- because I think I will keep this rig- it will pay me big time to make the various changes. Thanks for your description of your project. keep us all informed of your progress. Hawk.