Battery disconnect

Flat top

Flat top

Senior Member
Joined
May 8, 2014
Posts
159
Location
Lodi, California
Well it seems that the 12 volt battery disconnect switch down in the basement of our 303 doesn't disconnect anything. Every time we put it back in storage we turn the switch off. Went to pick it up the camper the other day and battery was dead. Charged it back to up and turned the switch to off and everything still operates, from lights to slideouts. I do not believe that this is correct. Anyone else having this problem?
 
Hi Steve,
I just went out to our 303 to check . . . expecting to give you a different answer . . . and ours is EXACTLY the same as yours ! The battery switch does not seem to turn anything off. I "think" it used to, so maybe the switches are faulty ? I installed a second battery and a 1/2/both/off switch that I use to disconnect so can't say that I have tried the OEM switch in a long time. Anybody else able to check theirs ?

Rob
 
I wonder if the switch contact is fusing together like relay contacts sometimes do.
 
In the absence of wiring diagrams . . . let's start guessing :confused:.
The large gauge wire to the left in the picture comes from the battery.
I "think" the other larger gauge wires go to and from the battery switch (I will confirm this later today)
Thus, the left breaker is a master "whole coach" protection ?
The right breaker is for ???

Rob
 

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Curiouser and Curiouser

The 6 gauge red and black wires appear to go to and from the disconnect switch.
But . . . with one wire removed from the disconnect switch, everything in the coach seems to still be functional! (See picture)
Thus, the blue/white (lower left terminal on the two breakers in the previous picture) must be feeding the main panel.
Or the 6 ga red wire goes somewhere else before it goes to the disconnect switch ??

Still curious as to what the right breaker controls. Something (that I didn't try) must be disconnected ??

In any case . . . confirmed that the disconnect switch does nothing.
BTW, the nuts on the disconnect switch were only finger tight.

Rob
 

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Rob,

Something definitely doesn't seem right there. If 12V panel is getting power from the blue/white wire, it seems a little light (hard to tell size from photo).
 
offtohavasu said:
Rob,

Something definitely doesn't seem right there. If 12V panel is getting power from the blue/white wire, it seems a little light (hard to tell size from photo).
Click to expand...

Agreed. The blue/white wire looks to be only 14 or maybe 12 ga.
But, I don't recall anything like a 6 ga coming up to the main fuse panel.
I am going to poke around behind the main panel to see if I can figure out what feeds it.

I know that the 6 ga on the left in the first picture is the only connection to the battery.
Protected by that left breaker are 3 circuits.
One to the landing gear (with the fuse)
One 6 ga red to the main disconnect switch (I think).
On smaller ga blue/white going somewhere.

Rob
 
You got me curious so I went and tested mine. It looks just like yours. Mine does kill the power when the disconnect switch is set to off.
 
Figured it out . . . had the shore power still connected so converter was powering everything with main battery switch off. Duh :confused:.
Should have that second coffee before charging into these investigations :).
With shore power disconnected, the main battery disconnect works as it should.

BTW, if one wanted to keep the landing gear off when the main battery switch is off, it would only take moving the fused red wire from the left breaker to the right breaker.

The main 12V fuse panel is fed by two 6 ga white wires. One from the converter and one from the battery (somehow). Where the white wire from the battery connects in, is still a mystery.

Rob
 
Rob--funny, funny, funny !!!......nice to see that you are human.....was beginning to think that you were a well tuned machine !!! Thanks for the tidbit on switching the front jacks wire.......just what I am going to do in the spring when our 303 comes out of storage to keep those unwanted fingers from playing with the switch especially when set up at camp and we are not there.

Dan
 
This shows what I had determined for my set-up but wire color may be different on your camper.

Dave
 

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Last edited:
Hi Dave,

The main difference between your labeled picture and the first one that I posted is that my 303 does not have the second black 6ga wire going to/from the main panel. I'm still trying to figure out how power gets to the main panel on mine. Beginning to wonder if there is a junction point under the belly pan somewhere ?

Rob
 
Nice labeling job, Dave, but curious about the 12v TV lug. Do the 337's have a 12v outlet at the TV?

Thx
John
 
I tore into the disconnect switch and found that there is no power to the switch. I pulled the cover for the relays and could make no sense of it what so ever. ? Common sense would say that there would have to be power there, stupid me said jump power over to it and see what happens, but then the realist me said are you out of your freaking mind leave it alone and talk to a professional. I know just enough about electricity to start a big fire. Any thoughts out there?
 
Flat top said:
I tore into the disconnect switch and found that there is no power to the switch. I pulled the cover for the relays and could make no sense of it what so ever. ? Common sense would say that there would have to be power there, stupid me said jump power over to it and see what happens, but then the realist me said are you out of your freaking mind leave it alone and talk to a professional. I know just enough about electricity to start a big fire. Any thoughts out there?
Click to expand...

Hi Steve,

With shore power disconnected (converter off), do you have 12V at the main panel ?
In either/both main disconnect switch positions ?

Rob
 
No 12v power to switch in on or off position and not plunged into shore power. There must be power to main panel because everything still works. Only way to kill power is to physically disconnect battery at terminal. I will be the first to admit, I'm as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to electricity. ���:(:(
 
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