Suggestions for battery isolation
Hi all, I've owned a 2007 Class C Fleetwood Jamboree for about 3 years now and am having issues with keeping the batteries charged properly and not draining. There is no current set up to disconnec...
Forum Discussion
Typically you do have an isolator setup. One common setup is to have a fairly high current capacity relay (or solenoid--different names for the same thing) that ties the two systems together when the engine is running and leaves them separate otherwise. Often there's also an emergency start button that will also operate this relay in case the chassis battery is dead but the house battery is charged, acting as a sort of built-in jumper cables.
There are various more or less complex circuits that control the relay, ranging from manual switches (on older motorhomes mainly, I think) to tying into the ignition switch circuits to rather complex purpose-built circuits incorporating voltage sensing and time delays.
The house batteries should generally remain interconnected with each other. It's a single 12V battery bank; the fact that it may be composed of various combinations and permutations of physical units is immaterial from the electrical system design.
Note that there are often parasitic loads on both the house and chassis systems that can drain one or the other battery over time: the propane and CO detectors on the house battery, for instance, and the chassis computers, radio, remote locking receivers (if applicable), etc.
There are various more or less complex circuits that control the relay, ranging from manual switches (on older motorhomes mainly, I think) to tying into the ignition switch circuits to rather complex purpose-built circuits incorporating voltage sensing and time delays.
The house batteries should generally remain interconnected with each other. It's a single 12V battery bank; the fact that it may be composed of various combinations and permutations of physical units is immaterial from the electrical system design.
Note that there are often parasitic loads on both the house and chassis systems that can drain one or the other battery over time: the propane and CO detectors on the house battery, for instance, and the chassis computers, radio, remote locking receivers (if applicable), etc.
