Electrical gremlins, need pointed in general direction
My business partner just purchased his first RV, a 2005 Monaco Knight DP with 15,000 miles on it. I get to help keep custody of said RV, use it when he's not and work on fixing and keeping it running. Not a bad gig...except I have almost zero clue where to start.
Main issue has to do with starting the generator, and possibly a side issue with the battery cutoff switch near the door. The dealer we bought it from replaced all house batteries and supposedly went through it bow to stern maintaining everything.
Now, the only way we've found to start the generator is to have the chassis engine running, hold the Boost button down, and press the gen start button on the dash. Even then it struggles to start and you must continue holding the boost button down until the gen engine is warmed up and running smooth. Once it's warmed up, it works normal.
The other issue with the battery cutoff switch has all sorts of weird oddities that we have yet to figure out. At times, depending on which switches are where, the 12 volt house circuit will turn completely off when the door closes, other times the entry step will operate when the porch light switch is flipped, and other times...like right now for instance, even with shore power plugged in, there is no interior power anywhere. I had everything working perfectly on shore power, got cocky and unplugged the shore power and now I can't get any power to come on inside the cabin.
I am a pretty good car mechanic and have had my share of boats, but this is my first foray into a traveling house setup. I can't help but think this is somehow all 12 volt ground related. A Monaco rep told my partner to clean the genset cable connections and see if that helps. I've been under the coach and the connections look pretty good, not recently cleaned and not all corroded either. I plan to try that possibly tomorrow night. I'll take a Digital Ohm Meter under there with me and check for things before I start.
What should have power under there...and when? Is the chassis battery used to start the Generator under normal circumstances? Or does it have it's own battery that might be bad? Is there some other safety feature that I'm missing that may be causing my battery cutoff switch issues?
Lastly, I need to figure out a way to get the entry step cover out. I can hear a motor running when the switch is pressed, but it's locked in place and I can't see how to get it out. Read a bit about micro switches being an issue here, but how does one get to said switches to test or bypass them.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give a noob. I'm stoked to finally have a way to travel without wondering where I'm going to lay my head nor eat a meal...but I'm kind of in the deep end here while still learning how to dog paddle. Hopefully with your help I can get the issues straightened out and get to enjoying this beautiful RV.
Main issue has to do with starting the generator, and possibly a side issue with the battery cutoff switch near the door. The dealer we bought it from replaced all house batteries and supposedly went through it bow to stern maintaining everything.
Now, the only way we've found to start the generator is to have the chassis engine running, hold the Boost button down, and press the gen start button on the dash. Even then it struggles to start and you must continue holding the boost button down until the gen engine is warmed up and running smooth. Once it's warmed up, it works normal.
The other issue with the battery cutoff switch has all sorts of weird oddities that we have yet to figure out. At times, depending on which switches are where, the 12 volt house circuit will turn completely off when the door closes, other times the entry step will operate when the porch light switch is flipped, and other times...like right now for instance, even with shore power plugged in, there is no interior power anywhere. I had everything working perfectly on shore power, got cocky and unplugged the shore power and now I can't get any power to come on inside the cabin.
I am a pretty good car mechanic and have had my share of boats, but this is my first foray into a traveling house setup. I can't help but think this is somehow all 12 volt ground related. A Monaco rep told my partner to clean the genset cable connections and see if that helps. I've been under the coach and the connections look pretty good, not recently cleaned and not all corroded either. I plan to try that possibly tomorrow night. I'll take a Digital Ohm Meter under there with me and check for things before I start.
What should have power under there...and when? Is the chassis battery used to start the Generator under normal circumstances? Or does it have it's own battery that might be bad? Is there some other safety feature that I'm missing that may be causing my battery cutoff switch issues?
Lastly, I need to figure out a way to get the entry step cover out. I can hear a motor running when the switch is pressed, but it's locked in place and I can't see how to get it out. Read a bit about micro switches being an issue here, but how does one get to said switches to test or bypass them.
Thanks in advance for any help you can give a noob. I'm stoked to finally have a way to travel without wondering where I'm going to lay my head nor eat a meal...but I'm kind of in the deep end here while still learning how to dog paddle. Hopefully with your help I can get the issues straightened out and get to enjoying this beautiful RV.
