No House power

[mslavich]

I just picked up my 2009 Journey 34y from the chassis service shop - service on both the main diesel and the generator. They also replaced a bad front air purge valve that has some wiring that runs to the dash. I brought it home and went to start the generator but there is no house power at all. The front isolation switch is dead. No light, no click, no nothing. Everything was working fine before they worked on it. I called and they are going to take a look at it next week but I'm a little leery of a chassis guy working on house stuff. Is there a list of things I should check myself before bringing it to them. I checked the batteries and they are all at 12.9 volts. Thanks in advance for any help you can give!

[creativepart]

If they worked on the generator did they flick off the circuit breaker on the generator for protection while they worked.

All Onan's have specific generator circuit breakers.

Here's a video - around :30 into the video he shows the circuit breaker on the QD8000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUA_QHZrzk0

Here I've circled the circuit breaker on a QD7500:

[mslavich]

I did look at that. I don't think it is a generator problem, there is not house power at all. Generator starts from house power so the generator not starting seems more like a symptom of some other issue.

[Morich]

I find the first big step to fixing things on the Rv is to actually sort out what is and is not working. Is this an Rv that you know well or something that is new to you?
Reason for asking is that there are manythings on the RV which work only off the start battery or off the coach battery and then there is the almost totaly separate 110AC section.
Three systems and not likely are have filed at the same time, so some checking is needed?
Since you drove it home, I think we can say the start battery system works. When it is working the mode solenoid should connect the coach and start together as a way to recharge the coach batteries as we drive, so when the enigne is running, do the inside lights, fans, vents, etc work?
The generator on your RV appears to use the coach batteries to start, so does the generator crank while the RV engine is providing power and the two systems should be connected together?
If you can plug the RV into provide 110AC power, do the 110 outlets work? Or as an alternate if you are able to get the generator to start, does that make the outlets work?

For some things to check if you have a meter on hand? click this drawing to get a better view on computer.

At your mode solenoid, there should be 12volt start battery coming in as marked in green and 12V coach coming in on the other side as marked in red.
If this is not there, you will need to check the cables and connections to find why as they are very much a straight shot with little else in the path!
But if those are correct, when you push a switch on/near the driver labeled boost, aux, etc. or the engine is started, 12volt power comes down on the blue line to make the solenoid close and that should connect red and green together!
You can often hear or feel this solenoid thump or move as it closes and that tells you it is moving but not for sure the contacts are good and it is actually passing the power. One way to test the power is actually getting through is if you are testing the coach battery and find around 12volts and then see it jump to near 14 or so when the engine is revved, you can know they are connected together and you are seeing the power from the engine alternator getting to the coach batteries to charge them!

Next step is the coach battery disconnect switch but it has to have 12volt power to move, so test the battery part first. But if you have coach battery on one big cable at the left side as it comes from the solenoid and the disconnect relay is the right way, that power should show up on the other side big lug!

That power then goes to the fuses/breakers in the RV and also down to the generator starter solenoid just like on a car. That may get to the starter solenoid but it also has to get to the controls inside that use power to make the starter solenoid move and connect to crank the generator.

See if that makes some sense and do some testing, maybe?
It can be a big bug hunt and we just need to stomp on each bug as we find them!

EDIT: I think the breaker mentioned will be on the output side of the generator between it and the coach 110AC, not in the line to start the genset.

[mslavich]

Richard - thanks for the thoughtful reply. I ended up taking it back to the shop and learned that they had removed the panel that the battery disconnect switch is mounted to. The mechanic and I pulled the panel off and sure enough a conductor had been pulled loose from the switch. Problem solved! Again, appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me. I will keep it in my file to reference if (when?) similar problems arise.

[Morich]

Always good to be a bit preeped before things go worng as it's lots easier than finding it when it's dark and you are late!

I might guess one of the biggest problem spots on anRV is the mode solenoid as it takes so much abuse. One is the amount of currentit carries and the number of times it opens and closes as that happens every time we start or stop the engine and that high current does often cause a pretty big arc to make the contacts go bad after 15-20 years!
Sooner if you are getting lots of use out of the RV!

What can happen is the soleoid goes bad, that stops the engine from charging the coach batteries and they run down, so when we turn the disconnect switch on or off, it has to have power to move and it just sets there and you feel like you got it turned on but it is still open so every thing stops!

Or a wire gets loose and does us in!!