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Old 04-15-2020, 12:41 PM   #1
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Auxiliary Battery Disconnect Switch

Okay...wife and I have searched our '88 Chieftain from top to bottom, and CANNOT find the auxiliary battery disconnect switch....if there IS such a thing!... I am of the belief that there IS such a thing for our Chieftain, and that MAY be why my brand new (fully charged) house batteries aren't supplying power to the MH. HELP!!
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Old 04-15-2020, 12:47 PM   #2
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On the dash? Winnebago wiring diagrams only go back to 1990. 1990 Chieftain was on the dash...

(And the solenoid itself was under the hood, on the drivers side. In the same 1990 model.)
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Old 04-15-2020, 01:04 PM   #3
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WIFEY FOUND IT!!! There was one of those pine tree shaped air freshener thingies, hanging on the left side of the dash. GUESS what was under it. It has a little green light next to it, but the switch doesn't seem to do anything...the light stays on. NOW what? Still no house battery power.
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Old 04-15-2020, 01:07 PM   #4
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It seems like our 88 Suncruiser's was on the dash, until I replaced it and the solenoid with a Hellroaring isolator.


And, like tderonne, our solenoid was behind the hood on the firewall, in front of the driver. If you find the solenoid, perhaps you an trace the wires.


Yeah, now that I think about it, the switch must have been momentary-off-on switch, to power the solenoid from either the chassis or house batteries.


If it's the original solenoid, it might look like this:


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Old 04-15-2020, 01:42 PM   #5
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Okay, as I mentioned in the other post, do you have battery on one side of the solenoid and when moving the switch does that power get connected to the other side? This is not going to be a problem solved without doing some of the checking when you get suggestions of what to do. You've mentioned seeing the solenoid and now you know where the switch is that is meant to operate that solenoid, have you corrected the corroded connections on the solenoid that you asked about? Corroded control wiring will definitely keep things from working.
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Old 04-15-2020, 04:19 PM   #6
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MORICH - We've just determined that the solenoid IS the one behind the house batteries...now to get at it. I am totally disabled, and it took me half a day to get both of those 63lb monsters installed/hooked up, hiding that solenoid... Not only that, but it's FREEZEING cold outside, and snowing (and more on the way). With all the help I've received from all of you good people, I think we've pretty much got it nailed. However, it's going to be a while until I get at it to pull out the batteries and fix the problem...Thanks, to all...
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Old 04-15-2020, 04:43 PM   #7
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Understand! With this type of problems to worry us, maybe we won't think about all the bigger ones that are sneaking around?
Sometimes we just have to keep beating on problems to get them fixed and it looks like this virus will be one of those that we have to work for a long time.
One way to cheat a bit is to listen to the solenoid as somebody works the switch. They are a big heavy set of contacts and they often give a "clunk" when they move, so if they are not moving, then it does mean the battery has to come out to get the room to work.
Good luck with the pursuit of the fix.
Maybe we can all "see you down the road"-----someday!
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