Under Dash Wiring Diagram for 95 Chinook Concourse

[Blue~Go]

Okay, back.

I'm a bit stumped by the details of the relay(s). I mean, I have to think they are accomplishing the same things as on my rig, as these are things that are common to RV's in general:

1) Camp and use house battery without running down start battery.
2) Charge house battery with Ford alternator when driving.

On my rig, both of were originally "allowed" by the Surepower 1315. On yours, I'm guessing those two matching relays do the same or similar, but I'm not sure how or why there are two.

The silver Echlin one in the middle looks newer, but the brackets look Chinook/older. I wonder if there is a relay for driving lights?

I'd guess the Texas Instruments breaker on the left is the generator start wire breaker. If so, there would be one wire going from the start battery positive post to that, and then a looooong wire from the TI to the generator (probably across the rear hood crack area, down, along driver's side frame rail to near rear axle, then over to generator) (that's how mine was).

If you have the DC diagram for your '95 from the Chinook manual, it would be interesting to see it here. I can't lay hands on a '95 manual online.

BG

[kyidletime]

I'm glad that things are starting to make "some" sense to you, and since I haven't been able to find a surepower 1315 or LVD on my rig, it kinda makes sense that the configuration of relay and/or solenoids are doing the job. I will try to verify which engine my rig has, and get back with you. Hopefully we can figure out what to do about the two switches on my dash, either replacing them with something else or eliminating them completely. I don't think that I have a DC wiring diagram specific to my 1994/95 Chinook.

[kyidletime]

I haven't found anything for sure as to what engine my Chinook has but I found one listed the same year and same model as mine and it had a 460 v8, so that's my guess as to what mine has. I looked through everything that had in the way of paperwork and could find nothing. I'll try pulling the housing off in the cab and see if there's anything there.

[Blue~Go]

I think the 460 is a good bet. I'm camped with a really spotty signal tonight, so can't do much poking around. Does that pair of jumpered solenoids have any identifying marks? Brand, part number, etc?

I have somewhat forgotten: Is part of your system not working now? Or are you just trying to understand what's there (or both). I think you might have said back at the beginning, but it would take me another half hour to load that page (1X for the win).

[kyidletime]

To be honest with you I don't have any idea if my system is working as it should, or not. I have had it hooked in to my house every since I brought it home. My whole concern started with finding the wires connected from the two switches (refer to attached picture).

The pair of jumpered solenoids or coils have the following information on them (both the same): W-R/RBM, also
70902-coil 12VDC cont., and 70-111224-5A, I can't read any brand name. The coil on the left has a white 12ga ground wire and a purple 12ga wire attached. The one on the right has a white 12ga ground wire and a blue 12ga wire attached. They are in a loop connecting the two batteries. That seems to be what the sure power 1315 would be doing, right?

[kyidletime]

I finally found someone who had an owners manual for a 95 chinook, and am attaching it so you can see it. The diagram on page 14 shows the exact same setup as my rig, except it shows the red wires connected a little differently. The only problem is that it doesn't show the under the dash wiring, just where the wires go through the firewall. I have a feeling that either the purple wire or the blue wire, or both connect to my switches, although in looking further I found several other wire not hooked up, a red one, a white one, a yellow one, an orange one, a grey one, and a blue one.

Maybe we'll whip this problem. I figure that I might have to replace that toggle switch with something else though.

[Blue~Go]

Howdy,

I just got back online after being "out of service" for a couple of days (out in the sticks).

Now that I know the '95 is not exactly the same as the '99, I wouldn't be surprised if those two switches are the stock ones, and '95 just didn't have that overhead panel. Then maybe the right hand one was for some reason replaced by a toggle instead of the rocker. If yours is like later ones the "jump start" switch is a momentary (in other words, when you let go it snaps back to off), and you are supposed to hold it while you "jump start" the rig. Then the other one would be your battery disconnect (house bank).

Yes, I would think your pair of solenoids do what the 1315 does.

But, now I can go look at the actual manual! Great that you scored one. I'm going to look at it now (so everything I wrote above is before looking at it).

[Blue~Go]

Really interesting to read the manual and see where it is the same and where it is different from my rig.

First thought is that that "mechanical" house battery cutoff under your hood doesn't look stock. So maybe the replaced looking metal toggle switch (next to the jump start switch) either isn't working or was re-purposed. 'else why even put in the one under the hood. OTOH, they say that switch is "on the left of the driver's seat base".... do you have anything there?

On the solenoids: A friend and I are sitting here noodling it, and I think we have figured out the gist of why you have two. So on our rigs (his is another brand but also had a Sure Power, just a different model), there is never a direct connection from the alternator to the house battery. What they do instead, is just connect the start battery to the house battery, and since the alternator is charging the start battery, that "bleeds over" to the house battery. Then the same connection allows a jump start.

On your setup, one of the solenoids (left hand one in drawing) is connecting the *alternator* to the house battery, and thus charging when you are driving. The other solenoid (right hand one) connects the two batteries together and I think is ONLY used when "jump starting" (or they call it emergency start IIRC).

So looking at the drawing, the the bigger "Frankenstein" nodules on the sides (with the #4 red wires and the big ground wires in center) carry the power that is switched by the solenoids, and the smaller connectors on the front have the "control" wires that tell it what to do).

On the right hand one (in the drawing - you have a Concourse, right?) the blue wire controls house/start battery combining for "emergency" (jump) start (not for charging). This is not automatic, at least as designed, and should require you to press the rocker switch in the cab.

On the left hand one, the purple-turns-orange wire automatically closes the solenoid when the engine is running, and so the alternator connects to the house battery (charging it). When the engine is off, the solenoid is automatically opened, so that your house battery can't (through the Ford wiring) "get a path to" the start battery and draw it down when you are camping.

Okay, now I see that you don't necessarily have all of these same wires, but at least we can now see how it was intended to operate! Whew. So basically, in summary, yes, it looks like your two solenoids do what the later Sure Power 1315 does in one unit (with the slight difference that your setup charges the house battery straight from the alternator, vs. the later ones just "sucking through" the start battery for charging).

Great that you got that manual.

[kyidletime]

Thanks for taking a look at that 95 manual that I found. It does appear that Chinook did make some change to the DC system in 96. Mine appears to be even a little different from the 95 setup. My rig is a Concourse, and no there isn't a switch located on the left of drivers seat. For some reason mine has the two switches on the lower dash, left of the steering column.

What I'd like to accomplish (I think) is to eliminate that battery kill switch under the hood, and get the two switches on the dash operational. I am attaching a link to a place that has similar looking switches and the switch plates to mount them. Would you mind taking a look at them and tell me which switches (I'm thinking that I probably should just replace the switch plate and both switches), I would need? Here is the link http://tweetys.com/momentary-switches.aspx

What do you think of that plan, is it feasible?

[Blue~Go]

I don't see anything wrong with your plan. You slightly have to wonder if there was some "good" reason the previous person went to the "physical" cutoff switch (vs. we think the small wire from the dash controlling the solenoid), but keeping in mind that you may find out why and need to work around it, I think your idea is fine.

I can also think of a "non goofball" reason that physical cutoff might have been added. From what I gather (I have changed my system, so can no longer test), the Chinook small switch (in cab) that cuts off the house loads from the house batteries does NOT cut off all loads. Chinook decided it would be good to leave some on anyway. Things like detectors, electric step (should you have one; I don't), porch lights, etc. So maybe the OP just wanted the physical switch to cut EVERYTHING off. I think this is a valid desire.

Back to the mysteries: I have now looked at the diagram a bit more, and I have some thoughts and some questions.

First of all, the right hand solenoid looks straightforward to me. That's the one with the blue wire, that "should" lead to the "emergency start" switch. When you hold down that (momentary) switch, your two sets of batteries will be connected and can help you start the rig if the start battery is discharged for some reason. At least that looks straightforward by reading the manual and is a known Chinook function. So I'd guess that one is fine, and it doesn't leave me feeling like its mysterious.

The left-hand solenoid gives me some questions.

I can see that it is involved in connecting the alternator to the house battery, thereby automatically letting you charge the house battery when engine is running. It should also automatically disconnect when you are camping so that you can't run down the start battery. To do that, I would assume the orange/purple wire goes to the ignition, so that it happens automatically (later types go on voltage, but I'm thinking yours are more "simple" relays). But then you would never normally "see" that wire at all.

But now you have the "battery disconnect" switch. The one with the replaced toggle. So what is that doing? I was at first thinking it was disconnecting house loads from house battery, but the manual calls that function "Power Off" and says it is on the seat base. "Battery disconnect" can mean various things. It could be as I thought, disconnecting house loads; or maybe it's a manual way to stop the batteries from combining via the solenoid (although that's not a typical Chinook function that I know of).

To help figure this out, can you remind me what color wire(s) go to the back of that "battery disconnect" switch? Is it grey/red stripe? Can you tell me, if you "flip" that switch, do all your coach functions still work? (do this when not plugged in).

There is no "Power off" switch on the side of the seat, right?

Okay, back to you

BG

PS: I'm not sure what the yellow wire is supposed to do - it kind of just hangs there on the drawing.

PPS: BTW, the 80-amp breaker (round one) does show up on the drawing as what I suspected, which is the breaker on a 6 gauge wire running from the start battery back to the generator for starting it. Mine was the same, but with a slightly more modern breaker. A note is that later they moved the start wire for the generator to the house bank. This made sense in later builds as the house bank was much closer to the generator, and a 6 gauge cable far exceeds that length run as recommended by Onan. That said, 80 amps is an appropriate fuse for that size wire, so it should be safe. You just might notice a bit of trouble starting the generator if your start battery is not "up," and/or in colder weather. A way to improve that is to use a larger wire, but you may not need to. In your case, the house battery is just as far away, so that's not an obvious solution.