Let me start by saying that I am no way complaining. I am just sharing information.Background: Ive only owned 2 Motorhomes. The "old one" was a 1995 Damon. The new one is a Holiday Rambler.On my new rig I have noticed a few things that run off the house batteries that seem odd to me. The first is the radio. If I forget to turn on the house batteries before I start driving, I am then driving with no tuneage. Not the case with the old RV. I guess the new way is better for when you are parked. That way you can listen to music without draining your chassis battery. I happen to have installed a Bose system so I don't need the dash radio except for when driving.Yesterday I noticed that my power seat was not working. I turned on the house batteries and tah-dah the seat was working. I am not sure why that one is set up the way it is. I cant really come up with a good reason for that one.On my old MH the house batteries did NOT charge when the gen was running. If you wanted to charge them you had to either run the motor, plug into shore power or plug in a battery charger when the gen was running. Not the case with the new one. This one seems to charge when the gen runs. That is a very good thing.So here is a question for you......if you have the "salesman switch" off, will the batteries charge from the alternator? Will they charge from the Gen if that switch is off? Will they charge if the switch is off while plugged into shore power?I am not looking for people to get into a debate on turning the switch on and off. I just want to have a better understanding of how it is wired and set up to operate.

You are asking for the impossible since all RV's are wired differently. I've owned enough to accept the fact that what they did in the factory does not always make sense. On my Monaco coach, the "salesman's" switch is marked "ceiling" and is momentary to energize a relay. The very next year, the switch is still labeled the same but is an on-off type switch that energizes the same relay. When the engine is running on my coach, the isolator controls what the engine alternator is charging. If both the house and the chassis battery needs charging, they will both get charged, regardless of the position of the salesman's switch.ON shore power I believe 12 volts is needed to control the monitor screen on my Xantrex inverter/charger, it will not charge the batteries if the salesman's switch is off. There will still be 120 volts at the outlets since they are bypassing the inverter. As I said, all RV's are different as I have seen different wiring on coaches like mine and built the same year. The factory wiring diagram is just fiction, as are the fuse labels.

It sounds like they just grabbed 12V from where ever it was the most handy.

my salesman switch is momentary too. It took me a few clicks to figure that one out because it looks just like all the other rocker switches that are not momentary.

Interesting, I was planning to rewire my radio and connect it to the house battery.Other wise I have to have the ignition turned on in the truck and all the things connected to it are energized

MagillaGorilla wrote:. . . On my old MH the house batteries did NOT charge when the gen was running. If you wanted to charge them you had to either run the motor, plug into shore power or plug in a battery charger when the gen was running. Not the case with the new one. This one seems to charge when the gen runs. That is a very good thing.. . . Check the user manual for your inverter/charger. On mine, I can control whether the inverter/charger charges the house batteries or not. Inverter is a Heart (Xantrex), 2000 watt, I forget the model #. Not set up to also charge the chassis batteries on mine.Anyway, on the indoor remote for the inverter, I can flip one of the DIP switches on the back and change it from continuous charge when AC is applied (genset or shore power)to charging only when the inverter is turned "ON" using the system switch on the remote. I have mine set at the latter. That way a charge is not continuously applied from the inverter when plugged in to shore power. Solar is enough to keep the chassis batteries topped off, plus I have BatteryMinders for both sets of batteries when on AC.Both chassis and house batteries are charged from the alternator when underway.Wayne

Odd things connected to the House Batteries | Good Sam Community

19 Replies

cbr46
Explorer
Jun 16, 2015
MagillaGorilla wrote:
I learned that these old Brit bikes have a positive ground (they call it positive earth) . . .
I had a '66 Austin Healy with positive earth. Only once did the radio pulled from my '64 Merc Comet short out under the seat . . . . WOOHOO!

Best,
- bob
Dale_Traveling
Explorer II
Jun 16, 2015
My coach -
Dash radio power from the house batteries. Manual seats. All batteries will charge from either the engine alternator or the converter changer when plugged in or on generator power. Once the chassis battery level exceeds 13.2 the Battery Control Center (BCC)will close the cross connect (AUX Start solenoid) and allow the alternator power to charge the house bank. Works in reverse when 120VAC is available. If a disconnect switch is active the batteries that not in the circuit do not get charged, house, chassis or both. The BCC will open the cross connect if either bank drops below 12.8 VDC to prevent something from depleting both banks.
MagillaGorilla
Explorer
Jun 16, 2015
jwmII wrote:
Depends! It depends which untrained poorly paid illegal was assigned to your rig the day it went down the line. When you start making comparisons there are no two done the same.

No two the same? That means that I have a custom made RV. I must be rich. i wonder if Robin Leach will be coming out to my house soon. :)
MagillaGorilla
Explorer
Jun 16, 2015
jplante4 wrote:
Well as long as the topic has come up, I might as well confess. I couldn't get the dash radio to work on the Sahara this spring. I know it was working when we picked it up from the last owner last fall. So I went to Wally World and picked up a cheapo Pioneer and threw it in. It also solved the problem of having to hook up the 10 disc CD changer, because the new radio has a USB port.

I swapped all the wires over and by golly the new radio didn't work either. Out comes the multi-meter and I discover that I have no DC to the radio connector. I run a new power wire to the switched chassis fuse box and all is well.

One day a few weeks later, I'm sitting in the driver's seat exploring things and I see this switch with musical notes on it.

DOH!

I have an Old Norton motorcycle. I decided to wire in a newer, brighter LED taillight one day. It worked great and the light was super bright but after I did it the bike would not start. Now remember this is a 1970 British bike so there is NO electrical starter and you have to kick start it. After about 300 kicks I pull out the multi meter and I cant understand what I am seeing at all. It makes no sense to me. After a long trip to a British bike shop and a few hundred dollars later I learned that these old Brit bikes have a positive ground (they call it positive earth). Think of it like this Red is Negative and Black is positive. DOH!!!!!!!

I will never make that mistake again.
prstlk
Explorer
Jun 13, 2015
After doing all the wiring on two of my homes...rv wiring confuses me very quickly. My 07 Hr ambassador which I assume used the same harness as other Monaco rigs has lots of wires that go no where, clips, connecters and so forth are everywhere there are other wires. I have coils of wire under the dash going?
It ran today so we're OK is our motto.
we are FT presently in AK.
jwmII
Explorer
Jun 13, 2015
Depends! It depends which untrained poorly paid illegal was assigned to your rig the day it went down the line. When you start making comparisons there are no two done the same.
Empty_Nest__Soo
Explorer
Jun 12, 2015
jplante4 wrote:
. . .
One day a few weeks later, I'm sitting in the driver's seat exploring things and I see this switch with musical notes on it.

DOH!

If it is/was like my Safari, the radio runs/ran off of the chassis batteries. Works even when the engine is not running.

I would rather the radio run off of the house batteries. Actually, I wish I had a separate radio/MP3 player for the house, rather than the dash radio doing double duty through two sets of speakers.

Wayne
Hank_MI
Explorer
Jun 12, 2015
The Bounder we just sold and the Winnebago that replaced it both have a switch on the dash to change radio power between house and chassis battery.

Bounder had 2 switches, momentary, to disconnect/connect house or chassis batteries. Winnebago has rocker switch to disconnect house batteries, can't disconnect engine battery. That sucks because the ECM will drain the engine battery over time.
wa8yxm
Explorer III
Jun 12, 2015
On of the other things you need to know.

IF you drive with the house batteris "OFF" (Disconnected) they do not charge.. Turn that switch on and LEAVE IT ON unless you are parked storage style w/o shore power THEN turn it off.. and life a lead.

But as long as you have either shore or engine power.. KEEP IT ON.
Canadian_Rainbi
Explorer
Jun 12, 2015
Interesting. Ours had a rocker switch on the dash for the radio/surround sound to switch between chassis and house batteries.

The steps use the chassis batteries, the gen start is from the house batteries.

All the alarms seem to be from the chassis batteries.