Random Early-Morning Clicking in 2012 Winnebago Journey 36M

[Cooperhawk]

For a while now we have this noise while we are parked. It usually happens early in the morning while we are still in bed. It starts with a tick, tick, tick, tick, and ends with what sounds like a solenoid cycling in and out. I have chased it down to the electrical compartment in the left rear of the coach and actually replaced one slide out controller. It seemed to stop for a while, but now is doing it again. Not every day, randomly. I have the slide out key in the off position so I don't think there is power to them.
Any ideas. I am concerned about an electrical fire.

We have a 2012 Winnebago Journey 36M.

 

[Morich]

Noise is hard to pin down when it is only random!
But looking at the electrical drawings, I might spot a few suggestions to check? Any chance it is the transfer switch in the first compartment behind the left rear wheel?
Those kind of have a rep for the copper wires getting flattened to begin to lose contact? Some theory says it is from RV bumping up and down to make the wires pull on the contact points??
But it may be one to just open the cover and chec the lugs are tight?
Or maybe if it works, try a night when you change power. If on cord/shore power, maybe unplug and see if the noise changes or stops.
I kind of lean toward looking at the lugs to see if thereis any sign of arcing as that ios one you really would like to catch before it gets something really hot enough to burn the wires or lugs. Arc welder type thing?
But you may know better and it may be in the last compartment where there are some suspects! Four small relays of unknown duty or reason but they are usually hard to hear??
But three solenoids that work with cutting coach or chassis battery power? Movinh the switch moves these to cut power.

Can you see better if this panel is easy to remove?

It lists as "door electrical access" but is that a trick for to make us think it handy?

Likely the problem is going to be hard to catch it when it is bad and you can't fix it if it's not ! UGH!

 

[Cooperhawk]

Thank you. I will check that.

 

[erstanfo]

I've got the same coach and same noise. I've assumed it is the Progressive Industries battery isolation relay that connects house battery to coach battery to keep the coach/starter battery charged. I'm guess when sun comes up and solar starts charging this engages the relay. However, I have not done a full investigation.

 

[Cooperhawk]

I've got the same coach and same noise. I've assumed it is the Progressive Industries battery isolation relay that connects house battery to coach battery to keep the coach/starter battery charged. I'm guess when sun comes up and solar starts charging this engages the relay. However, I have not done a full investigation.

That could well be it. Thanks.

 

[Morich]

Not sure I can see that as the noise for a couple reasons??? Not to say it should not be checked but that solenoid is the solid state version we call a BIM for battery isolation manager and it should not be clicking in any way I could explain.
The idea is that we want the coach battery connected to the chassis/start battery. To do that, we need to provide 12VDc to the coil of the BIM.
We do that in two ways for two different reasons. One is when we have a weak start battery and want to use the coach batteries for a "jump start" without jumper cables. So we have a dash switch to push while we crank.
The second use is far more common as battery is sent from a point called "ignition hot" when we have the RV engine running and we want to put a bit of charge back into the coach batteries we may have been using overnight!

I marked the control battery(LR) and ground (MG) in blue. When we put 12VDC on those two small lugs it energizes a coil that pulls the contacts to connect the Red and green marked lines that go to coach and chassis batteries!
So looking at theory? It's always dangerous to assume things but there really seems to be no reason battery should be reaching this BIM/solenoid before dawn when we are not pushing the boost button or starting the engine!
This is a pretty big relay at nearing small hand size and they are something we can often hear as a thump but if it is doing it repeatedly, there is something wrong somewhere.
But if looking in this compartment and hearing the noise, there are a couple suspect smaller relay up and to the right that may be prone to repeated clicks? Maybe a hand on them to feel for the movement?

But the trick will be catching it while it is actually doing the deed is a whole different headache! Small little square boxes that are there to add mystery to a trip? That other item they show is one of the battery disconnect relays and would not seem to suddenly decide to come alive after all night?

 

[jerichorick]

For a while now we have this noise while we are parked. It usually happens early in the morning while we are still in bed. It starts with a tick, tick, tick, tick, and ends with what sounds like a solenoid cycling in and out. I have chased it down to the electrical compartment in the left rear of the coach and actually replaced one slide out controller. It seemed to stop for a while, but now is doing it again. Not every day, randomly. I have the slide out key in the off position so I don't think there is power to them.
Any ideas. I am concerned about an electrical fire.

We have a 2012 Winnebago Journey 36M.

I'd like to add my two cents. I see nothing missed so far and agree with all the ideas. My suggestion is to exercise the chassis and coach battery disconnect switches. Turn them off and on a few times. Unfortunately you will have to reset your dash clock and a few others in the coach, but it's worth the effort IMHO.

 

[Cooperhawk]

All good information. It's really hot here in AZ right now and I haven't heard it do it's thing for a few days now so there is no way to trouble shoot it. we will be in cooler weather next week and see what happens then.

 

[Morich]

When dealing with hit and miss, there is going to be lots of queestions and timing is tough. But if the battery disconnect relays moved by the switches are clicking on/off, I would assume the power inside like mentioned clocks, etc. wil be knocked out each time the relay click to open?
Definite things to check until you find what is really going on. Gremlins like to hide when we try to look!

We are in the middle of a temp drop of near fifty degrees today! As we heat the planet things are going to get wilder and weirder! Just like heating a pot of beans. As we turn the heat up, they move around faster and that means the cold air gets pushed farther South at times!

 

[Cooperhawk]

Nope, the clocks are not effected.

 

[Morich]

Looking further, I feel like it pretty sure this one disconnect is not the clicking because it controls almost ALL the 12VDC coach items.
They are making it hard to sort some of this but this is why I feel the noise is not this one?

Coach power comes in on left big lug and out on right to feed three pretty big number 6 wires for circuits J, K, and Z.
To find where those go we look at the other part of that drawing and find the backside view.

Wires for J, K, and Z are lower right when looking at backside.
So we go to front view to find those are 3 big 55 amp fuses! Tons of power for the RV
coach side power?

That one relay going open and closed would flash not just some of the coach power but three different fuse panels all through the RV! I think that would be one you noticed if ALL the coach lights and every other coach 12V started flashing!
That leaves me guessing without better info that it is one of those smaller square relay boxes that is clicking?
But if not doing it, you can't find it, so I favor not worry until it comes back. No at all what I would think of as a fire hazard, but maybe some connection getting a bit corroded and power to one of the small box relays is fading in and out?? If it is a plug in style, maybe worth a shot of contact cleaner on the plug and outlet?

But that is very much a guess and may not mean much at all if you find it wrong!
And now they are backing off from showing us what those relays even do!
ARRGH!
It may be near the end of my forum playing!

 

[Morich]

New idea? I just looked at a different drawing andRV. It seems to show the same small relay boxes as slideout involved.
Any idea what purpose in the slideout? Just part of moving them?
But if the noise comes back, is it rational and if they are plug type, what about just pull them out to see if the click stops?
If only involved in moving the slide, it seems no harm to pull it and see if that kills the click?

 

[Winn2021]

Not sure I can see that as the noise for a couple reasons??? Not to say it should not be checked but that solenoid is the solid state version we call a BIM for battery isolation manager and it should not be clicking in any way I could explain.
The idea is that we want the coach battery connected to the chassis/start battery. To do that, we need to provide 12VDc to the coil of the BIM.
We do that in two ways for two different reasons. One is when we have a weak start battery and want to use the coach batteries for a "jump start" without jumper cables. So we have a dash switch to push while we crank.
The second use is far more common as battery is sent from a point called "ignition hot" when we have the RV engine running and we want to put a bit of charge back into the coach batteries we may have been using overnight!
View attachment 2427724
I marked the control battery(LR) and ground (MG) in blue. When we put 12VDC on those two small lugs it energizes a coil that pulls the contacts to connect the Red and green marked lines that go to coach and chassis batteries!
So looking at theory? It's always dangerous to assume things but there really seems to be no reason battery should be reaching this BIM/solenoid before dawn when we are not pushing the boost button or starting the engine!
This is a pretty big relay at nearing small hand size and they are something we can often hear as a thump but if it is doing it repeatedly, there is something wrong somewhere.
But if looking in this compartment and hearing the noise, there are a couple suspect smaller relay up and to the right that may be prone to repeated clicks? Maybe a hand on them to feel for the movement?

But the trick will be catching it while it is actually doing the deed is a whole different headache! Small little square boxes that are there to add mystery to a trip? That other item they show is one of the battery disconnect relays and would not seem to suddenly decide to come alive after all night?

I agree. I had a similar experience. Albeit concurrently, the coach battery was failing as well. A recurrent click click near my BIRD/BIM relays (coach specific, mind you.) One RV you-tuber recommended switching the relays out every 5 years or so and that's what I did (as well as replace the coach battery)

 

[Morich]

A clicking sound from a small relay? If we think about a relay, it is held operated by battery. If it is clicking it would seem to say the connection to battery is not good but intermitent as the RV bounces around!
In this case, I would have to back away from it being bad relays but look deeper for bad connections that power the relay coil.
My line of thought is that the relay coil itself is a very small coil of wire, which doesn't seem to fit intermitent failure.
The battery voltage would not be expected to go below operating and then recover, only to fail again to make repeated clicks.
However, loose connections are a frequent flyer when dealing with intermitent problems!