15 Jayco Greyhawk - Need help.

[15GreyhawkDuo]

No power to the house. This week I went to start up motorhome after replacing house battery. All connections to battery checked and rechecked. Tried to start chassis but it was weak and would not stay going for more than a second. So I figured I would use the aux start switch that went better but engine ran rough and after a few seconds I smelled something burning. Turned out to be 100amp solenoid attached to auxiliary start. Shut everything off. Replaced solenoid and checked every line and fuse all the way back to house battery. Replaced chassis battery and disconnected house battery. Started up fine. Reconnected house battery to start genset but no power to gen start switch. No power to house main switch. Looking for suggestions or anyone else who may have had this problem. Like I said I've checked fuses connections for good contact and corrosion but nothing seems to help. I'm considering replacing battery disconnect solenoid but not sure if that is a fix.

Thanks for suggestions.

[dxrobertson]

A multitude of electrical problems, no doubt; hopefully a single point of failure.

The genset not having power is totally isolated from everything else, it has its own direct cable; so replacing the 12V disconnect has no effect on this problem. "no power to gen start switch" means you tested for V at the gen big cable?

"No power to house main switch"; what does this mean? If the main 12V switch has low or no power, the light is dim or off and it cant be "switched"; this can be a low/dead battery to the point where there inst enough power for the solenoid to switch, no click.

The camper battery is indeed charged?

[15GreyhawkDuo]

DX: As to the main power switch "labeled battery disconnect" in the schematic I have, has no light and there is no click. The battery is fully charged when connected. (Brand new and core was checked at purchase this past week). I did not check Generator Switch just main cable coming off battery.

I have spent most of my time underneath trying to follow electrical lines to make sure no mouse/rat got ahold of them. Haven't seen any evidence of that. I've pulled every fuse I could find and they all look good.

I am a novice when it comes to electrical; however I'm determined to track the problem down with some guidance. I also do have a multimeter.

Thanks again.

[bucko]

I have to ask this, so please do not be offended. By chance, is the house battery you replaced reversed (positive and negative cables reversed)?

When the motorhome is started, it is supposed to charge both batteries (engine and chassis batteries). If the chassis battery cables are reversed, it might explain the solenoid burning up, as well as the genset switch not seeing power.

[15GreyhawkDuo]

Originally Posted by bucko

I have to ask this, so please do not be offended. By chance, is the house battery you replaced reversed (positive and negative cables reversed)?

When the motorhome is started, it is supposed to charge both batteries (engine and chassis batteries). If the chassis battery cables are reversed, it might explain the solenoid burning up, as well as the genset switch not seeing power.

Thanks, not offended. I was very careful to make sure I had the correct hookup as the battery had been disconnected for sometime. I followed the negative cable to the ground on the frame before hooking it up. So, I'm pretty confident of that. I'm going to pull the 100amp Bussman fuse and check that. May go ahead and replace the battery disconnect solenoid too.

[pconroy]

Yeah, I'm with bucko. Triple or quadruple check. This comes up from time to time and very often the cables got re-connected incorrectly, or maybe bumped and blew the reverse polarity fuses.


Especially so after replacing the house. This is the photo I took of mine before I replaced the battery and before I spray-painted the positive cables red.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by 15GreyhawkDuo

Thanks, not offended. I was very careful to make sure I had the correct hookup as the battery had been disconnected for sometime. I followed the negative cable to the ground on the frame before hooking it up. So, I'm pretty confident of that. I'm going to pull the 100amp Bussman fuse and check that. May go ahead and replace the battery disconnect solenoid too.

Being disconnected for sometime, did you fully recharge it prior to reinstallation and is it possible it has sat around discharged for a long time? If so, that could be the reason for what you are seeing. ~CA

[15GreyhawkDuo]

It is a brand new house battery. Checked the charge. I'm going back under in a couple of days to continue following the wiring. Thanks

[craigav]

Originally Posted by 15GreyhawkDuo

It is a brand new house battery. Checked the charge. I'm going back under in a couple of days to continue following the wiring. Thanks

While you are there, it would (may) be helpful to grab a few pictures of the chassis battery and cables connected to it. One item to note on those cables, generally speaking a black cable is negative for cars and trucks, and commonly the red is always positive, however on an RV it is common to have the black wire for the positive (and a white as negative), so it is easy to have a wrong cable connection at the battery in some cases, as a black cable could be intended to have a positive or a negative connection depending on what the cable connects into. If you notice on Pconroy's photo the black wire is on the negative (perhaps an additional ground). If there was a white and black though going to the same component, then the black would (should) be positive and the white negative.

In any case, point is to be very sure that you don't have any wires crossed, with a fully charged chassis battery, and a fully charged coach battery, both being fully charged and no 12v loads turned on, there should not be much if any spark when connecting the second battery to the circuit, unless there is a large current draw somewhere. Also, with a charged chassis battery, the engine starter wouldn't require using the aux start switch, the fact that you did use it and it overheated indicates too much current flowing, and I suspect it flowed from the chassis to the coach (batteries and circuit). If your is like mine and many years before and after mine they are still the same way, when you turn the key on, that same aux start relay engages just as if you pressed the aux start button. So what that mean for discussion (this may not be the case for you) if you have a good coach battery and there is a short with how it is connected that drained it down very low, then when turning the key on for the ignition, your chassis battery will flow much more than the solenoid is rated for back to the coach battery which would also cause the engine to start slowly if at all.

FYI, the solenoid is directly in front of the steering wheel under the hood on the firewall. If you don't find anything obvious I would disconnect the solenoid 12v trigger wire and then test the chassis 12v and the coach 12v circuits separately.

FYI, I think it was Pconroy or Johnynorthland (you can search for either) who shared some images last year of the solenoid I am speaking about and instructions of how to test it if that would be of value for you. ~CA

[chevyman30]

Hi all,

In my boredom I went down the rabbit hole. In other words, I screwed up.

I disconnected the AV wires in the living room TV and known that I have no clue how to get it back to normal. ITs the black box with a bunch of AV wiring. I believe that both TVs and the dash radio all feeds into this.

If anyone can take a picture of what it should look like I would great appreciate it.

2015 Greyhawk 31FK.
Carl from MA
USMC Vet
LEO 25 plus years

[bucko]

Originally Posted by chevyman30

Hi all,

In my boredom I went down the rabbit hole. In other words, I screwed up.

I disconnected the AV wires in the living room TV and known that I have no clue how to get it back to normal. ITs the black box with a bunch of AV wiring. I believe that both TVs and the dash radio all feeds into this.

If anyone can take a picture of what it should look like I would great appreciate it.

2015 Greyhawk 31FK.
Carl from MA
USMC Vet
LEO 25 plus years

Don't feel bad about this...most of us have done this once before; tear down a wiring block or device, and forgot to take pictures so we know how it all goes back together. along with taking pictures, I use some blue tape at each wiring connection, and label each side with a number or alpha character so I know which wire goes to which post or connection. I do this because I never know if I will complete the repair the same day I start it.

As to the house battery connect/disconnect, do you have 12V on the left (BATT) side of the solenoid (not the chassis solenoid, but the one located near the house battery)? All LOAD black wires connect to the right large post of this solenoid. As another poster mentioned, the generator positive cable is connected to the positive side of the house battery. In my 2005 Greyhawk, I have two black cables connected directly to the positive post of the house battery; one supplies 12V to the generator, and the other is connected to the left (large post) of the solenoid (BATT) solenoid.

Easy to check this with a volt meter. You should see 12 volts at the large left (BATT) post of the solenoid, and see 12 volts on the large (LOAD) right post of the solenoid when it is operated.

The small center post of the solenoid should have a brown ground wire that connects to the connect/disconnect switch by the stairway entrance. This is what operates the solenoid. I can hear mine operate (click) when I press the switch.

[chevyman30]

Thanks you sir, I knew I wasn't alone in this debacle.
God willing I'll be back on the road this weekend or next.
Your response really set me straight. Back to Bases you can never go wrong.

Safe travels thank you.

[pconroy]

Originally Posted by chevyman30

Hi all,

In my boredom I went down the rabbit hole. In other words, I screwed up.

I disconnected the AV wires in the living room TV and known that I have no clue how to get it back to normal. ITs the black box with a bunch of AV wiring. I believe that both TVs and the dash radio all feeds into this.

If anyone can take a picture of what it should look like I would great appreciate it.

2015 Greyhawk 31FK.
Carl from MA
USMC Vet
LEO 25 plus years

I have a 2016 31FK and I'll bet ours is pretty close to the same. Unfortunately, it's over in the storage lot so I can't take a picture. But maybe I have one stashed away in my collection.


BRB




Assuming we both have the Jensen JRV215N Head Unit in the dash, you're right. It does send the video signal from the dash DVD player to the box. Which in turn feeds *BOTH* TVs.


I've found the dash DVD player to be utterly useless because: it's standard DVDs and I prefer Blu-Ray, you need the Jensen remote control and need to point it at the dash in order to control volume, picture etc. And the volume is utterly screwed up on mine -- too loud, feeds the ceiling speakers, etc.


One of the first things we did was spend $50 for a Blu-ray DVD player and hook it directly to the TV. I haven't used the dash unit for movies since.

[pconroy]

Nutz - I don't have a picture. As I recall, this box was buried behind the main TV. Here's a small picture of the box itself, unconnected.


If you're unable to make progress, I'll see if I can head out to the lot over the coming weekend and take some photos for you.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by pconroy

...
Assuming we both have the Jensen JRV215N Head Unit in the dash, you're right. It does send the video signal from the dash DVD player to the box. Which in turn feeds *BOTH* TVs.

I've found the dash DVD player to be utterly useless because: it's standard DVDs and I prefer Blu-Ray, you need the Jensen remote control and need to point it at the dash in order to control volume, picture etc. And the volume is utterly screwed up on mine -- too loud, feeds the ceiling speakers, etc.

One of the first things we did was spend $50 for a Blu-ray DVD player and hook it directly to the TV. I haven't used the dash unit for movies since.

In fact I think that in-dash unit is what came in mine, or perhaps an earlier version of the Jensen which certainly is next to useless for watching anything, and not great for anything else. One other issue with the in-dash Jensen is that the ceiling speakers are correct left and right driving down the road, but are not left\right when sitting on the sofa\recliners as the closest speakers are the left ones and the further are the right one but from that location this is no stereo effect.

I do like PConroy and either bring my real blu-ray player along or more recently only my fire tv which I can play movies off of it that are stored on my laptop. One day, I will likely get a sound bar for the correct stereo effect, however I don't really watch much on the TV anyway and the built-in TV speakers are ok... just barely ok though.

Point being, I don't know that I would even worry trying to reconnect the cables and instead I would just connect something else like a small blu-ray player to the TV(s).
~CA

[chevyman30]

I did just replace the jrv215n with the jrv9000. I'm not impressed by it. The only reason for staying with jensen was the ease of the 3 cameras set up. It's the only reason.

I have hooked up a DVD player to the living room tv.

Thanks for the quick response.

[bucko]

Originally Posted by craigav

...ceiling speakers are correct left and right driving down the road, but are not left\right when sitting on the sofa\recliners as the closest speakers are the left ones and the further are the right one but from that location this is no stereo effect.

Point being, I don't know that I would even worry trying to reconnect the cables and instead I would just connect something else like a small blu-ray player to the TV(s).
~CA

The ceiling speakers in my 2005 Greyhawk were not installed (wired). At the front bulkhead (I don't have the sleeper model thats above the cab), the wires for the speakers were tied up. I made a "poor man's surround sound" by connecting them to a headphone jack, then plugging that into the TV's headphone jack.