emergency start has been hardwired?
I recently purchased my camper. It is a 1990 E350 Catalina. I have been having serious issues getting her started after sitting for even a day. If I drive for more than about 2 hours she starts to die...
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I believe your RV was made by Coachman. You should try contacting them with your VIN number and see if they can provide you with the electrical schematic for your rig.
On my 1990 Winnebago Warrior, the system is set up with 2 solenoids. On the dash there is a 3-way rocker switch. This switch is momentary to the right, and will stay in the middle or to the left.
When the rocker is held to the right with your finger, this temporarily gangs the engine battery to the house battery (now batteries, since I have expanded my house bank). This is an emergency start mechanism that allows you to crank the engine using the house battery. When you release the rocker it returns to center, and the house battery is disengaged from the circuit.
When the switch is in the middle, the house system is isolated from the engine system.
When you flip the rocker to the left, the engine will charge the house batteries. But I suspect the flow of electricity is one-way-only in this mode, so that the house batteries can be charged but not discharged.
I have to be careful with my setup because if you run the generator at the same time the batteries are ganged together and the engine is running it will damage the voltage regulators in the vehicle and/or in the generator. This is noted in the owner's manual so this was designed this way (which is nuts, in my opinion). I have gotten burned by this already in our 10 years of owning the rig.
I don't really understand electrically how my system actually works but there are a couple of relays at the front driver side of my engine bay that makes all the magic work. There is also a large fuse block there.
You will probably need a manufacturer's wiring diagram to make it work right again.
On my 1990 Winnebago Warrior, the system is set up with 2 solenoids. On the dash there is a 3-way rocker switch. This switch is momentary to the right, and will stay in the middle or to the left.
When the rocker is held to the right with your finger, this temporarily gangs the engine battery to the house battery (now batteries, since I have expanded my house bank). This is an emergency start mechanism that allows you to crank the engine using the house battery. When you release the rocker it returns to center, and the house battery is disengaged from the circuit.
When the switch is in the middle, the house system is isolated from the engine system.
When you flip the rocker to the left, the engine will charge the house batteries. But I suspect the flow of electricity is one-way-only in this mode, so that the house batteries can be charged but not discharged.
I have to be careful with my setup because if you run the generator at the same time the batteries are ganged together and the engine is running it will damage the voltage regulators in the vehicle and/or in the generator. This is noted in the owner's manual so this was designed this way (which is nuts, in my opinion). I have gotten burned by this already in our 10 years of owning the rig.
I don't really understand electrically how my system actually works but there are a couple of relays at the front driver side of my engine bay that makes all the magic work. There is also a large fuse block there.
You will probably need a manufacturer's wiring diagram to make it work right again.
