Radio Power Feed Question

Like Vulcan Rider, my Winnebago C has the switch mounted to the right of the steering column and by the driver's right knee. I used it only once and that was by accident....couldn't understand why the radio would not go off when the engine was turned off. Got the book out and found out why..LOL

On our Winnebago C, it has the switch to choose from coach or chassis battery. Simple to use, but more complicated behind the dash. It controls where the main power comes from and also where the memory power comes from, both lines are switched. The memory line has a capacitor (or some electronic gizmo), to keep the memory during the switch over.

Ken

I've seen a switch in Winnebago's. On our first C, I re-wired from Chassis to House. The key switch in ACC caused commotion with the electric steps for one thing. That particular radio left the clock display ON even when the radio was Off, so I added a switch to that power line and mounted it in the dash. This coach had no house battery disconnect...
Somehow our present Jayco switches over. House can be Off and it'll play off Chassis. If House is ON, it plays with Key Off. Magic...

dan-nickie wrote:

My Class A came standard with a switch like that.

So did my C.

It's located near the driver's left knee and might be easy to overlook.

A modern design stock radio really doesn't pull much power.......unless it's turned WAY up. If you don't plan to use it more than a couple of hours a day it might be just fine.

Ductape Dave wrote:
I was thinking about installing a 2-way which would control the power to the radio either from the chassis battery or house battery
Dave

My Class A came standard with a switch like that.

ronfisherman wrote:
I added a switch and power from the coach batteries. In my Chevy there are 2 wires with power. One is ignition key powered. The other one is always on for memory. The key operated wire is the one you want connect to the new switch. The other side of DPDT ON OFF ON will to coach batteries. Current radio in dash has a remote to make it easy to use when on coach power.

You only need a SPDT switch here. The center off position would also be optional, but it would be wise to make sure that the switch is a break before make switch (so that the two batteries are not connected together through the switch as it's being flipped). Having a center off position is one easy way to ensure that the switch definitely is break before make.

Assuming you have a typical battery isolator setup that charges the house battery when the engine is running, there's really no need IMHO to switch the power source to the chassis battery, so I might do away with the switch entirely. (Actually, as a matter of fact, my RV came from the factory with the dash radio wired to the house battery only...this is one area where there is no standardization among the various manufacturers.)

I added a switch and power from the coach batteries. In my Chevy there are 2 wires with power. One is ignition key powered. The other one is always on for memory. The key operated wire is the one you want connect to the new switch. The other side of DPDT ON OFF ON will to coach batteries. Current radio in dash has a remote to make it easy to use when on coach power.

You could simply rewire to the house battery. Of course you would have to remember to turn it off.