Generator clicking when I go to start it.

[YooperVer]

A day late on this as looks like problem solved, but would just point out if you see your house batteries down to 10.5 volts ever, good chance you have killed them somehow or they died natural death. Should never see a voltage that low on batteries. If you can not charge battery to more than 10.5 volts you have a dead cell (and therefor a dead battery).

[akeagle]

Originally Posted by n0ukf

I had a similar problem with a '77 GMC conversion van (class B RV), the aluminum ground wire had corroded, making it high resistance to starting current. Replacing it with copper fixed the problem.

While reading various posts about electrical issues I began to wonder if aluminum wire had been or maybe is still being used in RVs. In case anyone doesn't know, aluminum wire started to be used in residential housing around 50 years ago and after being in service for a few years problems began to develop with the wire separating or loosening from standard fixtures (switches, outlets, etc.) or in wet or otherwise corrosive environments. After several investigations it was determined that the aluminum wire was more susceptible to thermal expansion and contraction when electricity was turned on and off and this caused connections to loosen or in extreme cases wire breakage, and in the less-than-dry locations the aluminum tended to corrode much more than copper. The upshot is that aluminum wire was eventually banned from residential housing for safety reasons. So I'm wondering how much aluminum wire has been used in the RV industry and was it eventually stopped here also?

[Teamfoxy]

Originally Posted by YooperVer

A day late on this as looks like problem solved, but would just point out if you see your house batteries down to 10.5 volts ever, good chance you have killed them somehow or they died natural death. Should never see a voltage that low on batteries. If you can not charge battery to more than 10.5 volts you have a dead cell (and therefor a dead battery).

A hydrometer to check for dead cells is less than $10. It could be that the water has evaprated out of the cells over time. I have revived several batteries from the "dead" by adding distilled water to the cells and giving them a good charge.

[Teamfoxy]

Originally Posted by akeagle

While reading various posts about electrical issues I began to wonder if aluminum wire had been or maybe is still being used in RVs. In case anyone doesn't know, aluminum wire started to be used in residential housing around 50 years ago and after being in service for a few years problems began to develop with the wire separating or loosening from standard fixtures (switches, outlets, etc.) or in wet or otherwise corrosive environments. After several investigations it was determined that the aluminum wire was more susceptible to thermal expansion and contraction when electricity was turned on and off and this caused connections to loosen or in extreme cases wire breakage, and in the less-than-dry locations the aluminum tended to corrode much more than copper. The upshot is that aluminum wire was eventually banned from residential housing for safety reasons. So I'm wondering how much aluminum wire has been used in the RV industry and was it eventually stopped here also?

I can tell you that I have only found copper wiring in my 2005 Itasca. You can easily see this at the terminals on the electrical panels and on the common ground connections to the frame.

[WinnieView]

Originally Posted by akeagle

While reading various posts about electrical issues I began to wonder if aluminum wire had been or maybe is still being used in RVs. In case anyone doesn't know, aluminum wire started to be used in residential housing around 50 years ago and after being in service for a few years problems began to develop with the wire separating or loosening from standard fixtures (switches, outlets, etc.) or in wet or otherwise corrosive environments. After several investigations it was determined that the aluminum wire was more susceptible to thermal expansion and contraction when electricity was turned on and off and this caused connections to loosen or in extreme cases wire breakage, and in the less-than-dry locations the aluminum tended to corrode much more than copper. The upshot is that aluminum wire was eventually banned from residential housing for safety reasons. So I'm wondering how much aluminum wire has been used in the RV industry and was it eventually stopped here also?

We have never seen aluminum wiring in our RVs over many years. The last time we saw aluminum wiring was a home we sold many many years ago.