Tried to start the RV after not using it for a while and it won't start. It was connected to shore power (30 amp) the entire time with battery switches on and the charger on. The water level on the house batteries is fine, and the chassis batteries are no maintenance batteries.When attempting to start, it gets momentary current and attempts to start. Then it stops and the entire dash display goes dark.Tried to use auxiliary start (boost) and get power to dash display, but still will not turn over. According to the manual, chassis batteries should be charged by the charger when connected to shore power. I also ran the generator for three hours, but it didn't help.Not sure what to do next. Any ideas?

on mine the house batt are charged by the shore power if your house batt are charged use jumper cables to jump from house to chassie batt

Sounds like dead batteries. I suggest you put a charge on the chassis batteries. It might be your shore power may not be charging, or your chassis battery is bad. Try jump starting. That will give you a clue at the very least.

Clean all high amperage connections, report back.

Yes as stated above, clean all battery terminals and the ground to chassis. A lot of times the terminals will run the low power stuff like dash lights but when the high current draw of the starter is applied everything goes out because of high resistance. Lf the batteries are truly dead after being charged it is time to replace them.

Batteries dead...won't start | Good Sam Community

campingman55
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
on mine the house batt are charged by the shore power if your house batt are charged use jumper cables to jump from house to chassie batt
2bzy2c
Explorer II
Nov 09, 2014
Sounds like dead batteries. I suggest you put a charge on the chassis batteries. It might be your shore power may not be charging, or your chassis battery is bad. Try jump starting. That will give you a clue at the very least.
Tom_Barb
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
Clean all high amperage connections, report back.
trop-a-cal
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
Probably a bad ground.
olfarmer
Explorer II
Nov 09, 2014
Yes as stated above, clean all battery terminals and the ground to chassis. A lot of times the terminals will run the low power stuff like dash lights but when the high current draw of the starter is applied everything goes out because of high resistance. Lf the batteries are truly dead after being charged it is time to replace them.
fivejackie
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
I agree, dirty terminals. cleaning the terminals a good starting point.
Tinstar
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
If it's not the battery post, the battery could be sulfated and shorted out. After trying to start it, check the voltage on the post,,,, not the terminals on the post.
Matt_Colie
Explorer II
Nov 09, 2014
Sloan,

The fact that you can get the IP (dash) power up with the boost switch means that the system is working. The problem is that most of the boost switches are current limited and will not pass enough current to crank an engine. But, as it is working, leave it on for 10~15 minutes and then try a crank.

As others have suggested, you may have a bad chassis (engine) battery or just real bad connections in the system and that should all be investigated.

I could ask questions that would narrow the cause, but I figure if you had better information you would have included it. This is why I gave the owners that I did boat work for a meter if they did not have one. Even a cheapee would do. Before the depression, I gave away a dozen a year with my phone number on the side.

Matt
fischer
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
Your fleetwood has a battery control centr (BCC) Inside is charge relay/boost . If that relay goes bad your coach battery will not charge when plugged in . It is the same relay that is used for the boost switch. mine is a square black box with a sticker . The cover comes off with no tools , inside is both buss bars , you can use a jumper cable to tie the buss bars together.
iradi8
Explorer
Nov 09, 2014
Thanks everyone. I am not off of work during the day again until tomorrow, so I won't be able to check it out again until then. I will report back when I do.