House battery charging 2014 Minnie Winnie 31K

richart · 08-12-2023, 02:31 PM

New to us, 2014 Minnie Winnie 31K. When plugged into shore power my coach battery is not receiving any charging voltage. I printed the wiring diagrams off of the Winnebago site and found the control center under the kitchen cabinet. Wondering if anyone out there knows of a common weak component of the load center or controller I should check first. Or do I just replace the entire unit? All breakers and fuses appear to be good and no loose wires found.

Wayne M · 08-12-2023, 02:47 PM

Do you leave the disconnect switches in the on position?

richart · 08-12-2023, 03:13 PM

Good question Wayne M.
The rotating disconnect/isolation switch is right by the entrance door. And yes the switch is in the on position. I cannot find any other type of disconnect in the wiring diagram.

Morich · 08-12-2023, 04:38 PM

I like to work from what I DO know into those which are still in doubt and check as I go.
So do you know if the 110 AC ia ctuyally getting to the load center?
Some things can mess with our minds if we are not carefull! Bad power ot outlet, poor connection at the plug, etc that I like to verify first!

But assuming you arte good and the 110 AC like microwave is working, there is a small point that can mess us up. I rarely hear of the converter being bad but there are points in between.
One is the battery situation as the switch at the door operates a relay that does the actual connection for much of the 12VDC power. If that relay and switch don't have battery power, we can get int a situation where we flip the switch but with no power, it can't move the relay! This relay is called a "latching relay" which is designed to move open /closed but the switch is a momentary switch which can fool us.
We can move it in the right direction to connect the 12VDC coach power but when we let go of it, it flips back.

When you say the coach battery is not charging, how dead is it? Possible too dead to move the relay connected to the switch?
Before chasing too hard, I would want to make sure the coach and start batteries are well charged or at least a charger put on.
One way to make sure there is onough power to work the relay is to first start the RV engine. That should connect both chassis and coach batteries together. THEN flip the switch to connect the coach battery through to the rV.

See if that helps and let us know if we need to look further?

Morich · 08-12-2023, 05:32 PM

Sorry, I may have spoken too soon for the model you have as it seems to be the first year of that one and appears to have a different battery disconnect system!
that may put some of what I normally expect in the Winnebago into being wrong!

One of the problems we have with the RV after 2010 is that we don't get the full wiring schematics like we do for the RV before 2010. No chasing a drawing wire by wire and much more guessing.

I would suggest going with starting the RV, as that should connect both batteries together and let the engine alternator work to charge both. That can begin to cut down the options for what yuou might be seeing if it charges off the engine but not off the converter at the load center.

If you take a voltage reading before starting and the coach is low, it should jump up and show the oputput of the engine alternator when they connect.

Wayne M · 08-12-2023, 08:34 PM

As Richard stated, there should be a rocker switch on one of your instrument panels. That is beside having the Master Isolation Switch.

If you have such a switch it also needs to be in the on position. Typically there is a green led glowing when it is turned on, unless it is like mine and burned out,

**creativepart** · 08-13-2023, 08:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wayne M

As Richard stated, there should be a rocker switch on one of your instrument panels. That is beside having the Master Isolation Switch.

I looked at the Operator’s Manual for that model and it appears there is only the rotary cutoff in the stairwell for the house batteries.

Morich · 08-13-2023, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by creativepart

I looked at the Operator’s Manual for that model and it appears there is only the rotary cutoff in the stairwell for the house batteries.

My first post was not correct and ony caught the difference after checking for second post. This info appears correct.

My first question would be to verify that the AC power is getting to the converter/load center as that is step one of letting to charge the batteries!
Several things have to happen to get the AC turned to DC an then charge the battery, so I would first want to find if I had an AC or a DC power problem!