What can cause a solenoid battery to fail?
Some of these parasitic loads include the smoke/carbon monoxide/propane detectors, various electronic indicators and other things the manufacturer may have wired outside the battery cutoff circuit. They are small loads but may in a weeks time completely discharge the battery. What types of issues might cause the solenoid to fail?
What to do if your battery disconnect switch is bad?
Once you find the solenoid, check with a volt meter to find the 12 plus line. Then apply a jumper between that 12 volt line and the control terminal. If the solenoid operates then the switch is bad. If it doesn’t then the solenoid is bad. Just a way to isolate the problem.
How do you turn off the battery in a Monaco?
In reality, many people simply bypass this solenoid by connecting the two 12V leads together with a bridge cable if necessary. Then the switch connection (a small wire) is capped off. This makes the switch inoperable but takes care of the solenoid. Monaco has another battery cut-off in the rear of the coach.
Can a battery be disconnected from a coach?
A second possibility is that the house batteries are dead. Yes, you shut off the batteries with the disconnect switch but there are a number of other loads that are not disconnected by the battery shut off switch in most coaches.
What to do if your solenoid is not connecting?
Since you can’t readily see or access the solenoids, you can attempt to troubleshoot the problem from behind the switch panel. Turn both switches to the “use” or “connect” position. Since you did not indicate which solenoid was not switching, try the following.
Why does the solenoid not work on a discharged battery?
Make sure the house-batteries are holding a charge. Test with a multimeter at the battery-terminals (no shore-power). The solenoid will not work on discharged batteries if voltage drops to 10.5 volts. Cycle the switch on and off a number of times.
Why is my battery disconnect switch not working?
It is an electronically (magnetically) operated switch and the magnet can fail to operate the switch. If it is intermittent, this is what is likely happening. If the solenoid has failed (easy to verify), another alternative if the switch is useful to you is to replace it with a better quality solenoid.
Can a check engine light cause variable timing solenoid to fail?
This is the thing about modern cars that the ECU or engine control unit starts to warn you as soon as it finds some problem in the engine. It can, in fact, practically monitor all the individual parts of the car. So, in case of an impending variable valve timing solenoid failure, it is due to war you with check engine light.
