No Ignition

[joelashley]

For a while we've had trouble with our overhead TV wanting to turn back on all by itself a few seconds after it's turned off. I attributed it to very hot conditions that likely have affected a circuit component in the off/on switch. To turn it off, we have to flip off the breaker in the bathroom, which also cuts off the fridge icemaker and dinette and A/V component outlets.

Last week I tried to start the motorhome and no prestart would happen; no dash lamps, no Allison keypad readout, no prestart "clicking". Only the red "Wait to Travel" lamp came on on the dash. The batteries weren't low and everything else was normal. I wondered about the feature that cuts power to the TV when the ignition activates, so I turned off the TV breaker in the bathroom, and wahla, the ignition worked and the coach started. However it isn't consistent... turning off the breaker doesn't always do the trick, but usually does. Darned gremlins!.

There is a 10 gauge black and a 10 gauge red wire going into the icemaker outlet behind the fridge, which is the first outlet on the circuit that includes the dinette outlets and the TV/A/V outlets in the overhead. Could my device that cuts out the TV upon ignition be in that first outlet box, controlled by the red and black wires? Or are they for something else entirely and not involved?

Any ideas what's going on?

-Hafcanadian

[dickandlois]

Good Morning Joe, Well I had to think on this one and I'm not totally up to speed on how they wired you coach, but here is a link to a Power Tek box for controlling the front TV.

http://pdxrv.com/catalog/i90.html

The box is connected to the Ignition switch,that feeds 12 volts to the relay inside.

The fact that the coach starts when you turn off the breaker,might be more just happenstance then the real problem. The 120 volt circuit should not in any way affect the starting circuit.

Wish I had more information on your particular coach. Thinking its an ignition SW. issue or the neutral safety switch.

Rich.

Hope the fishing is good !!!

[joelashley]

Thanks Rich.

Haven't bought a Nebraska license, though sometimes think I should, just as a tribute to my father's childhood fishing efforts here on the Missouri in Decatur. Kinda spendy for out of staters, and I usually buy annual cuz I never know how long I'm gonna be in any one state. My older brother tells me Dad used to tell of catching catfish that had to be winched out of the river.

The outlet that the refer's icemaker plugs into behind the fridge looks kinda like your device; kinda funny looking small box with two outlets, only one of which is actually real, and a 120v cable going in and one coming out, plus a large red and a black wire going to it that I assume are 12v. If that box is the cutoff device, then it likely cuts out the entire circuit and downstream outlets, like the TV and components plug into. The box doesn't have a white identifying label on it though.

Yeah, others on our Beaver club forum agree, it shouldn't work in reverse, where the TV shuts off the ignition. But no one had another idea as to what was actually going on that would prevent the ignition "On" prestart sequence from getting power, or why playing with that circuit breaker or the park power breaker at the park post would turn it on.

Joel

[joelashley]

Update. Today when the ignition wouldn't work, I went back and flipped off the A/V breaker, but the ignition still wouldn't work. Hot under the collar, literally, from an hour of breaking camp after a month-long stay in Tekamah, and doing it in 90 degree super-humid conditions, my brain flashed the obvious thing I hadn't yet tried; I reached a sweaty hand under the dash and fumbled the ignition wire bundle while turning the key. Bingo. And the ignition has since worked several more times today without touching any wires.

Apparently there is a poor wire connection at the ignition, just sensitive enough to work or fail by the slightest electrical system change, whether it be the nearby A/V circuit or park power post, much like a low quality GFCI is too sensitive to minor electric pulses. The heat and high humidity may have something to do with it. In a cooler moment I need to sneak a peek under the dash and examine closely the ignition configuration for a bad connection or perhaps a partially cut or broken wire that's not allowing full current all the time. Could be a bad splice or crimp. It probably won't cause the engine to falter or stop, because I think the start circuit is seperate from the run current.

But I'd rather not have to more and more regularly reach under and jiggle wires to get the rig to start, and perhaps get to a point where even that won't work. It would be nice to know which ignition wire was which when I get under there, so perhaps my coach wiring diagrams spell that out by wire color. At least the switch is at the very bottom of the dash front and to the right of the steering column, so relatively easy to get at for once.

Joel

[dickandlois]

Hi Joe, Glad you found the possible gremlin!!!

My gray matter is not what it used to be,but at times it kicks in.

The thought that popped up, you mentioned that you could get the coach started after turning off a circuit breaker. That did not compute at first. However, I wonder if you might have a chassis relay that is hanging up. One of them is often connected to the ignition circuit and when tripped removes all the 12 volts at the Ignition switch.

Should the connector you found be the issue, then these thoughts are moot.

Stay safe and a little cool, it that is passable.

Rich.

[joelashley]

I dunno what the deal was. One time I tried jiggling the wires under the dash with no results. A minute later (after pausing to scratch my head) the ignition worked just fine. Ever since we left eastern Nebraska and the high heat and humidity, we've had no more problems with either the ignition or the TV coming on by itself. I gotta figure it had something to do with the climate, but then how do motorhomers survive in places like Florida?

It's still hot here in the Black Hills, but not a sauna like where we were a few weeks ago, tho Chadron, just south of here, was not all that comfortable, at least not for an Oregon Beaver. I even tried to buy a beaver pelt at the Museum of the Fur Trade there, but the biscuit burner would have none of that idea; "the poor dead thing... and where are you gonna put it"? "Well, gee, I dunno. It'd just be cool for a Beaver to have a beaver pelt in his Beaver Coach"! No sale. Oh well.

Joel