I hate electrical problems....
RV has been plugged into shore power since we returned home. Doubtful the house battery is draining anything. It's tired too... but... it's been on the 'house' charger. (Has a trickle/maintenance mode)
Other than that, TreeSeeker pretty much covered it. Fully charged SLI battery, not connected to the coach (house) battery, and all connections tight and clean.
I've had (all kinds of) electric motors work fine the last time I used them and refuse to budge the next time. So, there's a very (very!) slim chance it could be the starter itself. Most reliable parts stores can test the starter, if you pull it and bring it in.
Also check the connection between the ignition switch and starter relay.
1970 Explorer Class A on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with 318 cu. in. (split year)
1972 Executive Class A on a Dodge M375 chassis with 413 cu. in.
1973 Explorer Class A on a Dodge RM350 (R4) chassis with 318 engine & tranny from 1970 Explorer Class A
I have several laying around, mostly because I tend to replace them whether they need it or not.
Couldn't resist... HAHAHAHAHA. OMG! I can't stop.
eyeteeth wrote:
No 'Clicky'... If it were the starter... I would imagine the lights might 'dim' when turning the ignition, not shut everything down electrically. Along those same lines, if I had a short... I would think it would pop a fuse and the dome lights and such wouldn't eventually come back on. Maybe I'm wrong there, but it makes sense to me 'current' ly. Bwa hahahahah.
Couldn't resist... HAHAHAHAHA. OMG! I can't stop.
No 'Clicky'... If it were the starter... I would imagine the lights might 'dim' when turning the ignition, not shut everything down electrically. Along those same lines, if I had a short... I would think it would pop a fuse and the dome lights and such wouldn't eventually come back on. Maybe I'm wrong there, but it makes sense to me 'current' ly. Bwa hahahahah.
Couldn't resist... HAHAHAHAHA. OMG! I can't stop.
There's other, more complex reasons, but TreeSeeker and I have covered the most likely causes.
Note: the starter relay is NOT part of the starter unit ... it's a separate relay, with an metal 'can' about an inch long, 1/2 inch wide, and 3/4 inch high, not counting the terminals. (Google 1975 starter relay for a picture ... year doesn't matter because Mother Mopar used the same relay for decades.)
Electric motors with worn brushes that suddenly go bad don't draw any current so no dimming lights, etc.
Eyeteeth wrote:
RV has been plugged into shore power since we returned home. Doubtful the house battery is draining anything. It's tired too... but... it's been on the 'house' charger. (Has a trickle/maintenance mode)
RV has been plugged into shore power since we returned home. Doubtful the house battery is draining anything. It's tired too... but... it's been on the 'house' charger. (Has a trickle/maintenance mode)
If it is anything like my '79, the charger's maintenance mode is a constant 3 amps. This boils the battery dry in several days. You need a real battery maintainer. Also, in most RVs the shore power does not charge the engine battery so you need a separate maintainer for that battery. There are products that connect your house battery to your engine battery to keep it charged too, but they work by sucking power from the house battery so that needs to be on a maintainer. What I don't like about these systems is that batteries really need separate charge cycles depending on their conditions. Also, this causes the house battery to constantly get drained and recharged, which I imagine is not good for it.
I would check the water levels in your house battery. If as you say your house battery is "tired" too, then it would definitely be draining the engine battery if they are connected.
So, you really need a volt meter to at least check the voltage of the engine battery for starters. And you need to get a decent charger/maintainer. And another maintainer too.
You should never let either battery get too low or it will be damaged.
And take your RV off shore power until you know what that is doing to your battery.
Electrically the house has been SO much happier since I installed it. If I knew it was going to be as easy as it was, I would have done it long ago.
eyeteeth wrote:
I replaced the inverter/charger with a 'modern' unit last spring. The original unit, although ahead of its time... was still archaic. This purports to have a maintenance kind of trickle mode, as well 'cycling' the voltage every so many hours to help keep it from getting sedentary...
Electrically the house has been SO much happier since I installed it. If I knew it was going to be as easy as it was, I would have done it long ago.
I replaced the inverter/charger with a 'modern' unit last spring. The original unit, although ahead of its time... was still archaic. This purports to have a maintenance kind of trickle mode, as well 'cycling' the voltage every so many hours to help keep it from getting sedentary...
Electrically the house has been SO much happier since I installed it. If I knew it was going to be as easy as it was, I would have done it long ago.
I think I recall you mentioning the new power supply/charger. If it's the brand Leeann mentioned (or equivalent), you're probably good.
However, as TreeSeeker mentioned, it probably only charges/maintains the coach battery, unless the SLI and coach batteries are "paired."
Using a single charger/maintainer on paired batteries isn't a good idea. It may "sense" the level of charge in one of the batteries and under- or over-charge the other battery.