Jumpstart from auxiliary battery
I had to call roadside assistance to jump start my 2008 Roadtrek 170 today. I understand there isa way to jump start from the auxiliary battery from the isolator in the engine compartment using a pai...
Forum Discussion
A lot of good suggestions here. Thanks everyone. I think I have a very slow current leak somewhere, so I want to make sure I'm covered.
I tried taking 1775's suggestion and ordered a Jump&Go online from Walmart. When I went to the store to pick it up, they wouldn't give it to me because they said it was under recall. So they refunded me. I emailed the manufacturer and asked about the recall, but haven't heard back yet.
I bought a 20 ft jumper cable set from Home Depot for a very reasonable cost as PSW suggested. It reaches from from the auxillary battery to the starting battery with length to spare - at least on the Roadtrek 170.
A long time ago I had one of the isolator bypass switches inside the coach of a Fleetwood class C and it was very handy.
I'm still toying with the idea of a terminal to terminal jump directly on the isolator. I've determined the terminal that the wire from the auxillary battery is from. The terminal that the auto battery is from is obvious. It seem that I could just connect those with a short jumper cable and it would work for jumping. It shouldn't need a ground cable. I think that's probably what wsfurrie did, and he said it worked. Right wsfurrie?
At any rate, the next time the starting battery gets weak, I plan to try the terminal to terminal jump with my existing jumper cables to see if it works. If anyone knows that it will blow up the neighborhood please let me know.
If that works, I'll just get a very short jumper cable or make one. The 20 foot cable and it's storage box takes a lot of room (relatively) in a Roadtrek 170 that I live in much of the time, so I will store it.
The idea is that the auxiliary battery will always be up, or at least can be charged with the generator if it's not. So it should always be available for jumping unless I run out of gasoline.
Thanks again!
I tried taking 1775's suggestion and ordered a Jump&Go online from Walmart. When I went to the store to pick it up, they wouldn't give it to me because they said it was under recall. So they refunded me. I emailed the manufacturer and asked about the recall, but haven't heard back yet.
I bought a 20 ft jumper cable set from Home Depot for a very reasonable cost as PSW suggested. It reaches from from the auxillary battery to the starting battery with length to spare - at least on the Roadtrek 170.
A long time ago I had one of the isolator bypass switches inside the coach of a Fleetwood class C and it was very handy.
I'm still toying with the idea of a terminal to terminal jump directly on the isolator. I've determined the terminal that the wire from the auxillary battery is from. The terminal that the auto battery is from is obvious. It seem that I could just connect those with a short jumper cable and it would work for jumping. It shouldn't need a ground cable. I think that's probably what wsfurrie did, and he said it worked. Right wsfurrie?
At any rate, the next time the starting battery gets weak, I plan to try the terminal to terminal jump with my existing jumper cables to see if it works. If anyone knows that it will blow up the neighborhood please let me know.
If that works, I'll just get a very short jumper cable or make one. The 20 foot cable and it's storage box takes a lot of room (relatively) in a Roadtrek 170 that I live in much of the time, so I will store it.
The idea is that the auxiliary battery will always be up, or at least can be charged with the generator if it's not. So it should always be available for jumping unless I run out of gasoline.
Thanks again!
