Itaska, aux. disconnect inop?

[frederick w]

Hi

The Aux. disconnect on my 02 Itaska, does not shut off power in the cabin.

It is located in the stairwell. I push down on the off side of the switch, nothing happens. Power still on.

The manual only shows the one disconnect. My Fleetwood Flair had a disconnect for the engine And the house.

I guess there's not a disconnect for the engine on the Itaska. Didn't see one.

Any ideas, fuses?

Thanks in advance.

[RTegarini]

Originally Posted by frederick w

Hi

The Aux. disconnect on my 02 Itaska, does not shut off power in the cabin.

It is located in the stairwell. I push down on the off side of the switch, nothing happens. Power still on.

The manual only shows the one disconnect. My Fleetwood Flair had a disconnect for the engine And the house.

I guess there's not a disconnect for the engine on the Itaska. Didn't see one.

Any ideas, fuses?

Thanks in advance.

The disconnect switch in my Itasca turns off most interior power, but not all. I installed a disconnect switch in the battery compartment to turn off all power that isn't handled by the stair disconnect. I used to have a dead engine battery if I let the motorhome sit for more than a month without driving or running the engine. After the engine disconnect installation, no more dead battery. -RT

[SuperGewl]

Yeah the newer models have both a Coach and Chassis disconnect.

[Clay L]

I drew a diagram showing how Winnebago usually wires the battery disconnect solenoid. It is a mechanical latching solenoid that requires switching polarity swapping on the two switching terminals. Maybe that will help troubleshooting it. The wire ID numbers may be different on your wires.




This is the Winnebago diagram showing both the AUX and disconnect solenoid wiring.

[frederick w]

Thanks for the diagram. I lifted the step plate and could not find
any solenoid in the battery area.

I looked underneath and on the sides of the batt. box.

It must be somehere

Thanks in advance

[Hikerdogs]

Originally Posted by frederick w

Thanks for the diagram. I lifted the step plate and could not find
any solenoid in the battery area.

I looked underneath and on the sides of the batt. box.

It must be somehere

Thanks in advance

Once the top step has been removed for access to the battery compartment you'll need to remove the vertical carpeted board behind the top step. It's held in place by velcro on both ends. Behind this board is a steel panel with several circuit breakers. The battery solenoid is behind the circuit breaker panel.

[Clay L]

It seems to be in different places for different models.
Mine is in a box on the left side of the compartment above the propane tank. On mine that compartment is right next to the steps towards the front of the motor home.
Someone else posted that theirs was behind the hood.

[frederick w]

Hikerdog

I pulled back the carpet on the edges, the carpet is glued to the metal back.

WAIT, I just found it! It's in the compartment above the propane tank, a
black metal box. I took the front plate off and there it was,

I SHOULD ALSO LEARN HOW TO SPELL ITASCA.

Another question:

After a 5 hr. trip, the MH sat for 3 days, yes I had the lights and stuff on
for a while and now the house bat. read about 10 volts?



Thanks guys

Fred

[frederick w]

Here again:

I hooked up the shore power for an hour and now the house batterys read 12 volts.

NOW the Aux. disconnect works for the house batteries. As someone said that
the Aux. switch may not work if voltage is 10 or less.

How did my house batterys go down so fast after the 5 hr. trip. Thanks
for the help.

After 2 yrs. I stiil have a lot to learn. But now I do know how to spell
Itasca.

[Clay L]

Right after a 5 hour trip I would expect to see the house batteries reading about 13.5 volts or so, dropping to 12.6 volts after a load had been placed on them for a while.


Note that The AUX solenoid and the and the disconnect solenoid are two different solenoids. I mention that because you said 'AUX disconnect" above.
I would start the engine and see if you are reading 14.5volts or so on them. If not then the Aux solenoid is not being activated or is not working.

The AUX solenoid is activated in two ways.
1) By a wire from the RUN terminal on the ignition switch.
2) By the AUX switch on the dash.

I have a Workhorse chassis and on mine there is a fuse in the fuse panel under the lift up dash labeled "Step Warning or Step Alarm" I don't remember which.
It is on the far right row of fuses and is the top fuse. As I recall it is a 15 amp fuse.

One side of the fuse goes to the RUN terminal of the ignition switch the other side of the line from that fuse goes to the rear heater fan, the back up monitor, the AUX solenoid and the steps control board. The step control board tells the steps to retract when the ignition is on.

I had to replace my AUX solenoid last April and it was real bear to get to. See my thread HERE for details.