12 replies to this topic

[MTBrad]

I own a 2004 Alfa See-Ya motor home.

I just bought the coach earlier this year and it had new battery's at that time. The coach has been stored inside for about 30 days (everything worked perfect when I parked it). I just recently noticed that I didn't have any power inside the coach or on the chassis.

I hooked up to 30 amp shore power, power to the coach is fine, but still no power. I have checked my breakers inside the coach and all are ok. The battery disconnect doesn't respond....I assume this is to lack of power (however, there is a dim light on).

Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[oldmarine]

Welcome to the forum MTBrad,


We have a 04 Alfa. 1st check the switches above the Entry Door-- make sure they are on (small red light indicators). Some
coaches have 2, some have 3 switches .Then try again.

If still no power, remove the upper stairwell cover and look directly under the upper treshhold. There are two knife handles.
Make sure they are in closed position. If this is ok and your batteries are ok, then one of the Big boy solenoids has gone bad.

Also, when on shore power, make sure that the switch next to your shore power cord is flipped to the apropiate amps(30/50).

Let me know if this helps.

old marine

[DickandLois]

Did you check the battery voltage on the coach and chassis batteries?

When you connected to shore power did the battery charger come on? If it did check the coach batteries over an hr or two and see what they read.

There are a number of phantom loads on the coaches and if one does not turn off the disconnect relay. The load will discharge the batteries.

My unit will discharge the coach batteries approximately 1.5 to 2 volts easily if I do not use the disconnect over a 20 to 30 day period.

When the aux. switch is used the batteries remain at a good charge for 2 to 3 months.

The chassis batteries do not discharge at the same rate, however they will discharge.

Rich.

[TBUTLER]

Several years ago I had the house batteries go dead. Even when plugging in to shore power I could get no power to the coach. We were able to run the generator and get power but the batteries wouldn't accept a charge and we couldn't use shore power. The remedy was to replace the old batteries. When this was done, everything was back to normal. I don't know the underlying details but suspected that the automatic transfer switch which operates to switch to shore power was powered by the house batteries and when they went dead the switch wouldn't operate.

[desertdeals69]

When there is no power at the shore cord the relays in the ats connect the generator to the coach. When power is present in the shore cord the electronics switch the relays to complete the circuit from coach to shore power and disconnect the generator. Batteries have no function in this operation.

[MTBrad]

Thank you everyone for the info. 'oldmarine'......where are these "solenoids" located?

[DickandLois]

I miss read your first post.

You mentioned there was power to the coach. Missed the no ac part.

Do you have a circuit breaker in the bay where you connect to shore power?

There is one made by Power Guard that was used and has a red rest button.

Others look just like a regular circuit breaker, but have a red or white switch. They are in the line between the shore connection and the AC Circuit breaker box.

Rich.

[MTBrad]

No Rich.....I have no power anywhere. I have not found any other "resets" . I've looked around and haven't been able to find anything. The breakers inside the coach are all on and have not been tripped. Everything appears fine up to the bay where I plug in....to include the surge suppressor in the bay. What is boggling me is that the coach is also dead. Everything worked fine (as far as I know) 5 days ago. The coach is in my shop where I have limited abilities to access certain areas. Because both the coach and house power is not working, I'm thinking it may be a solenoid or something like 'oldmarine' mentioned.

[MTBrad]

OK everyone! I figured it out. My batteries for the coach and the house were totally dead. Thus, when I plugged it into shore power, there apparently wasn't enough power to switch things over to "charge mode".

I hooked a battery charger up to the coach batteries and that supplied enough power to switch everything over. I immediately disconnected the battery charger and everything works fine. It's charging now and I'm hoping thats the end of my dilemma.

Thank you all for your input.

[RVerOnTheMove]

If your batteries were really "that" dead, you likely now have DEAD batteries. Batteries do not take well to getting fully discharged and may short out. Pay close attention to the batteries as they charge to ensure they do not over heat or show signs of bulging. Once they show fully charged (if that ever happens) you will want to test or have the batteries tested to see if any major damage has been done.

[oldmarine]

The solenoids are also in the upper stairwell, just below the knife switches,unless your inverter is in another compartment,

Alfa always put them real close to each other. There are 2 of them. Follow the instruction manual--if you dont have one.

Get ahold of Afateers.com and ask for Kathie. They are realy nice people and will help you to get anything you need.

When leaving the coach parked for extended periods you need to turn the battery disconect switches above the entry door off
or open the knife switch handles in the stairwell. This will keep you from having dead batteries.

Good luck and god bless.

old marine

[MTBrad]

Thanks 'oldmarine'......I found mine yesterday. Mine are in the front compartment next to the power inverter. I don't have a compartment under my stairwell. Thank you for all your assistance and advice.

[39Wishbone]

I replaced two solenoids would work a few days batteries would go dead, I bypassed the solenoid for three mo. no dead batteries.