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Missing coach battery

Denver9
Explorer
Explorer
I just picked up a 1993 Majestic motor-home. It has a Ford Chassis. The Coach battery is missing and the two leads just taped off to prevent a short? Naturally, none of the inside coach lights work. I want to replace the battery but do not know what size and capacity battery I should get. The battery holder looks considerably smaller than the chassis battery. Both cables leading to the coach battery are red with no identification marking to help with polarity.
Where can I find a wiring diagram for the motor-home?
-Denver
44 REPLIES 44

coolmom42
Explorer II
Explorer II
You will probably find the information on this site very helpful:

12 V SIDE OF LIFE
Single empty-nester in Middle TN, sometimes with a friend or grandchild on board

Bordercollie
Explorer
Explorer
Measure your battery compartment. Two six volt Trojan T-105 batteries may not fit the battery compartment. Test the converter charger, it may not be working. It would be a good idea to replace an old outmoded converter charger with a modern one that will not boil out batteries when left on shore power.Recommend a Progressive Dynamics PD-9245 or equivalent If you use two six volt batteries in series for 12 volts, you will need a short interconnect cable. Replace the negative cable that goes to the frame with a black one. Suspect other amateur wiring fixes, etc. common on older rigs.
Make sure that tires are less than 5 years old by date codes on tires for your safety. Have brakes inspected and repaired as needed for safety. Have cooling system checked including, radiator, water pump, clutch fan, and all belts and hoses.

tenbear
Explorer
Explorer
Glad to hear your problem has been solved, thanks for bringing us up to date.
Class C, 2004/5 Four Winds Dutchman Express 28A, Chevy chassis
2010 Subaru Impreza Sedan
Camped in 45 states, 7 Provinces and 1 Territory

Denver9
Explorer
Explorer
Thank you all for such good suggestions and ideas. I went to a local RV parts/repair place and they sold me a battery and properly installed it. Been working great.
Thanks again,
-Denver

mowermech
Explorer
Explorer
ksg5000 wrote:
Denver9 wrote:
One last question on this topic from me. The seller told me he hooked the generator wire to the chassis battery positive terminal. He said it was previously routed over to the coach battery but he made the change so he could start the generator. does that sound reasonable?
Where should the generator wire be connected? To the coach or to the chassis battery?
Thanks


Some rigs come that way .. some don't. I think hooking the generator to the chassis battery is a poor idea - generator takes a lot of juice to start and you may end up with dead chassis battery and stranded in the middle of nowhere (been there/done that). I moved both electric steps and generator from chassis battery to coach battery - I also added Trik L Start which allows shore power and generator to charge chassis battery (inexpensive and popular add-on product). I also suggest you start the rig before you start the generator - puts both chassis and coach battery online which helps generator start and avoids dead battery issues.


Well, not always...
My first Class A had the generator cranking from the house battery.
On our first trip (Wood Lake, in the mountains behind Augusta, MT) it was quite cold at night, so we turned the furnace on. At 3 AM the house battery didn't have enough juice left to run the furnace, and I had to get up and start the engine to get enough juice in the house battery to start the generator. That was NOT FUN at 35 degrees F.!
No, the emergency start switch would not start the generator with a dead house battery.
The house battery was a single 12 volt...8D battery! Those things are HUGE!
CM1, USN (RET)
2017 Jayco TT
Daily Driver: '14 Subaru Outback
1998 Dodge QC LWB, Cummins, 5 speed, 4X2
2 Kawasaki Brute Force 750 ATVs.
Pride Raptor 3 wheeled off-road capable mobility scooter
"When seconds count, help is only minutes away!"

tenbear
Explorer
Explorer
Denver9 wrote:
Thank you tenbear. Maybe I did paste it in the wrong place. Your answer clears things up.Will be more careful next time.


You can do it again and post the pic here. Look at it as a learning experience. :h
Class C, 2004/5 Four Winds Dutchman Express 28A, Chevy chassis
2010 Subaru Impreza Sedan
Camped in 45 states, 7 Provinces and 1 Territory

Denver9
Explorer
Explorer
Thank you tenbear. Maybe I did paste it in the wrong place. Your answer clears things up.Will be more careful next time.

tenbear
Explorer
Explorer
Denver9 wrote:
Tenbear:
Is that where all pictures go? should I have gone to the sub forum instead of posting it to the thread where the picture was requested??


You had originally posted the picture in the same thread that you copied the string (URL) for the picture from. Anyway, that's where I saw it last night.

You have to go back to the thread that you want the picture to be in, the one that the poster had asked you for the picture, and make a new post and type in any text you want and on a new line, place the string that you had copied. Then add any more text you want.
Class C, 2004/5 Four Winds Dutchman Express 28A, Chevy chassis
2010 Subaru Impreza Sedan
Camped in 45 states, 7 Provinces and 1 Territory

Denver9
Explorer
Explorer
The link took me to a sub forum which had the instructions for posting pictures. I followed the instructions and pasted the URL for my picture in the forum where I wanted it and the picture did appear there. This morning I found it had been moved. I still don't understand why it was moved, I just want to do it properly.

pianotuna
Nomad III
Nomad III
Hi Denver,

All that exists on RVnet is a link to where ever the picture is.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

Denver9
Explorer
Explorer
Tenbear:
Is that where all pictures go? should I have gone to the sub forum instead of posting it to the thread where the picture was requested??

tenbear
Explorer
Explorer
Denver9 wrote:
I found the picture. It had been moved by the moderator with the following message.

Moderator note:This post has been copied and pasted from the "Good News about Photo Posting" thread as it did not belong there.

I had followed the link supplied by Tenbear. So now I am confused. What is the correct method to post a picture to the thread where the picture was requested?
-Denver


You did it right, almost.

You should go back to the sub forum and thread that you want the picture to be posted in, and put the string that you copied into a post along with any text that you want to add.

Hope that is clear. ๐Ÿ™‚
Class C, 2004/5 Four Winds Dutchman Express 28A, Chevy chassis
2010 Subaru Impreza Sedan
Camped in 45 states, 7 Provinces and 1 Territory

tenbear
Explorer
Explorer
Your post is in the "Do it yourself modifications.." sub forum, in the "Picture Posting Test Thread".

I saw it last night in the "Good news for Picture Posting" thread.
Class C, 2004/5 Four Winds Dutchman Express 28A, Chevy chassis
2010 Subaru Impreza Sedan
Camped in 45 states, 7 Provinces and 1 Territory

Denver9
Explorer
Explorer
I found the picture. It had been moved by the moderator with the following message.

Moderator note:This post has been copied and pasted from the "Good News about Photo Posting" thread as it did not belong there.

I had followed the link supplied by Tenbear. So now I am confused. What is the correct method to post a picture to the thread where the picture was requested?
-Denver