Power - 2006 Greyhawk

[dr5chrome]

Hello fellow Jayco'ers

Having a power issue the past few days that has me stumped..

My 2006 Greyhawk 27 - This is a recent development.
When I hit the main coach power switch all comes on fine.
When I go to turn 'off' the [hit the switch] power, something odd occurs.
I can hear the solenoid click, the coach lights seem to shut off but the carbon monoxide detector and the main dash radio does not.

After and hour of trying to figure out what was happening, I started to disconnect the RVs batteries. I started with the chassis battery. as soon as I did that all the power shut off. I reconnected and the main [12v] power remained off [as if something reset]. I tested the main power switch and everything seemed to be back to normal.

Is the main coach solenoid starting to fail? is something else starting to fail.

Thanks a bunch! dw

[craigav]

On the coach battery disconnect relay are two fuses that are wired to be powered on all of the time regardless of whether the relay is on or off. The power from the always on coach power fuses goes to a DIODE adapter which feeds the radio and the LP \ CO detector. The DIODE adapter is designed to provide power to the radio and LP\ CO detector from either the chassis or coach battery(s).

What should happen is that with either the coach or chassis battery power, the detector and radio should have power regardless of the battery disconnect relay being on or off. ~CA

[dr5chrome]

hmmmm.. thanks for the reply.
Normally when I hit the "coach" power switch, ALL will come on. Hit the switch again and everything goes off... the CO-detector and the dash radio.
I would imagine that everything must be able to shut off, or the batteries would go dead. The solenoid seems to be 'clicking'. On the solenoid itself there are 2 spots [at the bottom] for fuses. only the left slot has a fuse.
The solenoid itself is above the coach battery toward the back-drivers side.
Might you know where this diode adapter is? Should I replace both pieces?

best regards. dw

Originally Posted by craigav

On the coach battery disconnect relay are two fuses that are wired to be powered on all of the time regardless of whether the relay is on or off. The power from the always on coach power fuses goes to a DIODE adapter which feeds the radio and the LP \ CO detector. The DIODE adapter is designed to provide power to the radio and LP\ CO detector from either the chassis or coach battery(s).

What should happen is that with either the coach or chassis battery power, the detector and radio should have power regardless of the battery disconnect relay being on or off. ~CA

[JimD]

Originally Posted by craigav

On the coach battery disconnect relay are two fuses that are wired to be powered on all of the time regardless of whether the relay is on or off. The power from the always on coach power fuses goes to a DIODE adapter which feeds the radio and the LP \ CO detector. The DIODE adapter is designed to provide power to the radio and LP\ CO detector from either the chassis or coach battery(s).

What should happen is that with either the coach or chassis battery power, the detector and radio should have power regardless of the battery disconnect relay being on or off. ~CA

Looking at the wiring diagram and operation, the diode adapter is there to allow power from either the coach battery or the ignition circuit (not the battery) to power the radio and detector. There are probably 2 diodes in the adapter. One will connect to the chassis battery feed and the other to the ignition feed. Basically the diodes are there to prevent interaction between the two power systems. They block the voltage in one direction.

On my Greyhawk the co2/propane detector goes off when the disconnect relay disconnects. I never looked at the detector with the chassis battery disconnected and the ignition on. Seems like a nice safety feature though so the detector is on while you drive.

By chance was your ignition on when you hit the coach disconnect? If one of the diodes had gone bad it would not have fixed itself when you did the chassis battery disconnect. Also, since everything else turned off OK then your disconnect is working fine.

[craigav]

Originally Posted by JimD

Looking at the wiring diagram and operation, the diode adapter is there to allow power from either the coach battery or the ignition circuit (not the battery) to power the radio and detector..

My comment is that the detector(s) and radio will (should) receive power from either the coach battery or the chassis battery (I said battery in an effort to be succinct with my comment). You are correct that the chassis battery power to the diode is a switched circuit off of the ignition so it only has power when the key switch is turned on. The diode harness prevents current from flowing back into either circuit and if I remember looking at mine a while back, there are two diodes facing each other with a center tap to the radio and detector. The higher voltage side supplies the power which would most often be the chassis (ignition) side when the engine is running.

The diode harness is located behind the dashboard near the radio and is not obvious, it appears to be just a heat shrinked connector of 3 wires. ~CA

[craigav]

dr5chrome, I wouldn't replace them as from what you are describing sounds as the issue could be with the missing fuse. The wiring design on mine and for many years before and after is that turning off the solenoid still allows power to the diode harness that I referenced so that the CO (and LP on mine) detector always has power along with the radio as well, and you are correct with time that will run down the coach battery (which may be why someone removed the fuse).

Take a look at this thread, in it you will find a lot of information related to what you are asking about along with a wiring diagram which should still be accurate for your year model, at least in regards to the disconnect relay and solenoid and likely most of the rest. Bucko and I commented offline with each other and he moved the always on power from the disconnect solenoid's fuse to the switched power off of the relay to prevent the chassis battery from running down which works well, but is not the original wiring design.

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...tch-93777.html

[bucko]

Yep, craigav knows his stuff on this (and many other issues).

I got tired of the radio loosing its programmed channels, so I went one step further: I removed the wire behind the dash that allowed the radio to work on coach or chassis battery, and now the radio only powers on chassis battery (found an ignition/run hot lead. So now, the radio shuts off when the RV's engine is shut off, and when it is started and running, the radio works. The constant hot lead I located as well behind the dash is used for the radio, stores all radio programming.

I coiled that solenoid battery power lead back to the shutoff solenoid/coach battery area in case I ever needed another device that needed power for a coach accessory that would shut off/on when the chassis connect/disconnect battery switch is operated.

I did this because the installed speakers in the ceiling where never wired to the cab radio. Instead, I wired them to the TV, which gives me a poor man's TV surround sound.