Can’t turn house battery on after using generator

Did you ever figure out what the mystery switch on your dash was?

Nikki, I hope I'm not stepping out of bounds here, it just seems you need some help and that's what I'm trying to do. If you read the posts by DrewE and BFL13 on page 2 of your post, the mystery switch may be explained. I said, "MAY BE" explained. It is really simple to check. Change the mystery switch from it's current position to the other position, before you do that, open the Solenoid, Relay box. Then flip the switch, if you hear a click from the solenoid or relay, you may have just found the purpose of the mystery switch. If no click, turn the ignition switch to the run position and try the switch again.

The clue is in BFL13's reply, you said there may have been a solar system that the seller removed and that switch is the one he is referring to. here is a link to how the disconnect switch works, LINK.

The AUX switch in the stairwell is a polarity reversing switch. Its outputs go to terminals I and S on the disconnect relay. The above link explains how the latch works. In one position it causes the core to be positive and in the other its reverses the polarity of the latch coil. you know the old opposites attract, and likes attract. thats what the Aux switch does. If I'm going to far here, let me know and I'll stop but for me it's fun and gives me something to do.

Good luck, David

DrewE--"It's hard to think of very many circumstances where one would not want it to charge from the engine while underway. "

With AGMs on solar off-grid, they need a proper cycle to true full once home, but that means they need to first be run down to a lower SOC, being near full from all that solar.

Having the alternator charge them up on the way home gets in the way of getting them lower. Heading from home to the off-grid site is ok though. A switch on the alternator to house bank would be handy to have for that.

I gather that Li batts should be floated at some SOC lower than full, so you would not want them too full on arrival home to start a float time.

Nikkiyork wrote:
I still have a mysterious switch that nobody knows what it’s good for next to the steering wheel, hahahaha. It’s above the jump starter that lets you start the motor off of the house battery.

My previous RV had a switch identical to that. It shifted the power for the dash radio from the chassis battery to the house battery. That enabled you to listen to the radio while camping with the engine off. While not camping, you switched it back to the chassis battery, so the house disconnect switch didn't erase all of your presets. It was a 2007 Winnebago Outlook.

The house (coach) battery should be charged off the engine when the engine is running. There's some sort of an isolator system that connects them together when appropriate; often but not always it uses the same solenoid and wires as the emergency jump start button, activating them when the engine is running.

I had to replace that solenoid in my motorhome earlier this year, as a matter of fact. There are other things that could fail in the system, blown fuses or broken wires for instance. Occasionally I guess there are switches to manually control if the coach battery charges or not, but that's very much the exception rather than the rule these days. It's hard to think of very many circumstances where one would not want it to charge from the engine while underway.

D.E. Bishop, yes! I bought one of those Dmms :)
I actually did read the manual, but it’s not very detailed. Now that I know the disconnect switch is the aux switch, well that switch didn’t work anymore. You couldn’t turn it on.

I still have a mysterious switch that nobody knows what it’s good for next to the steering wheel, hahahaha. It’s above the jump starter that lets you start the motor off of the house battery.

The previous owner added a lot of things that aren’t in a manual.

The manual by the way does not tell you where the hazard lights are. Isn’t that funny? It took me a month to find somebody who could show me.

I’ll fill out my profile now, so it’s easier to see what I have and such. I’m very grateful for all the insights. Thank you.

Thanks everybody.
It was a reset switch in the solenoid box, that needed to be popped back in.
I also found out that driving doesn’t charge my coach battery. I ran the generator for 7 hour hours straight and now I‘m plugged in, and then all should be good.
Safe travels to all!

Here's a link to the Winnebago website where you can download the manual. Just click on Minnie Winnie - (PDF) and it will open. As stated above I would pay close attention to chapter 9 pages 6, 7 and 8 (9-6,9-7,9-8) as it will probably help you get everything going again.
Manuals

If the setup is like it is on my motorhome, the generator (which needs 12V power to operate) is connected to the house batteries more or less directly--as starting it takes a lot of current--while often the converter connection is on the other side of the disconnect switch. If the generator is running and the battery disconnect switch gets activated, the generator will discharge the batteries and nothing will recharge them.

(Actually on my unit the converter is also connected on the battery side of the disconnect, meaning with the generator running and the batteries disconnected they would still be charged but there would be no power for lights etc. in the RV. I suspect that's not especially common, and more to the point doesn't appear to be the case for you.)

Sure sounds like the house batteries are turned off. Most Winnis have the battery disconnect switch near the entrance steps. It is easy to bump and accidently turn the house batteries off. Another possibility is a bad connection at the batteries. (eg.- corroded terminals, bad ground wire connection to chasis, bad house battery solenoid, etc.) Good luck