Battery Control Center solenoid dropout voltage

will BitCoins work....

Dale.Traveling wrote:
I think you owe Doug $100.;)

No, He Checked and found the problem by himself. I just pushed him a little. Doug

I think you owe Doug $100.;)

Thank you Dale for the links and all others who commented. I hate to say it but it turned out to be an "incomplete" battery hook up on the ground side and then a short throwing a CB in the bedroom panel. Thank for goodness for CBs. (It was educational checking all the fuses in the Power Distribution Box.)

Joe

dougrainer statements are correct. Both solenoids require momentary power to open AND close.

The coach disconnect indicator light can be misleading. If the charger/converter is active the light will not go out even though the batteries are be disconnected. Same for the chassis as dougrainer described.

The cross connect, aka Aux Start, solenoid is controlled automatically by the BCC for charging of both battery banks or momentarily cross connecting with the Aux Start switch.

The cross connect will activate if either battery bank voltage goes above 13.3 volts for 14 seconds and will open if the chassis power drops below 12 volts or the coach dropping to 12.8 volts for 4 seconds.

If the chassis solenoid is not closing you would not be able to start the engine. Discovered myself the hard way. For cross charging (chassis to coach or the reverse) all three solenoids must be closed.

My recommendation, check the fuses at the charger/converter. Easy to blow them when changing batteries even if you connect the leads to the battery correctly. Another way to check is with the coach plugged into shore power or with the generator running AND with the engine off hit the switch to disconnect the coach batteries. If coach goes dark the fuses on the output of the converter/charger are blown.

Here's a copy of Intellitec Mini Gas BCC service manual and a Trouble Shooting guide. The trouble shooting guide also lists the various changes for the revisions to the BCC.

JD38 wrote:
Doug,

Thanks. Prior to replacing the batteries for over a year I had problems with this same soleoid "powering down". The switch would glow green and after repeated attempts would go off. After that I would sometimes hear a clicking sound in the engine compartment as though a solenoid was trying to latch or unlatch. That has never happened with the new batteries. I have not checked to see if this version of the board has fuses at the solenoids as I have to take the board off to get to the solenoids. I don't know why the solenoid would work after starting the engine if a fuse is blown and I also measured voltage across the S and I test points during the latching process when the engine was running. Thanks for the comments.

Joe

Some of the Intellitec Red/Green LED ON light will stay ON for up to 5 seconds after the switch is turned to Store mode. It will stay on for about 3 seconds and then get slowly dim then off after the 5 seconds. I would suspect you have a BAD solenoid. Doug

Doug,

Thanks. Prior to replacing the batteries for over a year I had problems with this same soleoid "powering down". The switch would glow green and after repeated attempts would go off. After that I would sometimes hear a clicking sound in the engine compartment as though a solenoid was trying to latch or unlatch. That has never happened with the new batteries. I have not checked to see if this version of the board has fuses at the solenoids as I have to take the board off to get to the solenoids. I don't know why the solenoid would work after starting the engine if a fuse is blown and I also measured voltage across the S and I test points during the latching process when the engine was running. Thanks for the comments.

Joe

1. It takes voltage to latch and unlatch the Intellitec solenoid
2. Intellitec solenoids are "latching" which means NO power is consumed once they latch or unlatch
3. IF the system worked before you replaced the batteries then you missed a wire or cable somewhere. I would be a rich man if every customer gave me $100 for every time they state they connected all the cables and correctly. They come in and I find that one cable not connected or connected wrong.
4. Have you checked the 5 amp fuses on the Solenoids? There are 2 solenoids---Chassis and Coach. Each has 2-5amp fuses.
5. They will operate down to about 11.2 volts so voltage is not your problem.
6. "I read somewhere that 12.8 volts are required to keep them latched". No they do not need voltage to stay latched. see item 2 above. Doug

Wired something wrong or bad connection.
Should pull in and latch around 11.0 volts

It could be a weak Solenoid.