Non Starting 2010 Roadtrek Agile SS

Slow-Joe

Advanced Member
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Apr 4, 2018
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I am very confused about this. My 2010 Roadtrek Agile SS is on a 2007-8 MB Chassis, even MB gives mixed results. My batteries(under the hood) are charged and everything works in the motorhome except there is no current to the Sprinter part of the electrical system. Is there a chassis battery? I can't find it if there is. It seemed like the battery ran down if there is a chassis battery because last week it appeared to be weak. I thought on this model the under the hood batteries service the chassis and the motorhome but I don't know for sure. Where should I check for a crossover to the chassis? Is there a fuse or is it a relay? Please help.
 
Maybe I am a bit confused. The batteries under the hood should be the ones starting the engine… If they are charged? Are you saying when you turn the key to start it’s not cranking over or what?
 
My 2013 Sprinter has auxiliary battery under the hood and engine battery under the floor in front of the driver seat. Electrical connections to auxiliary battery are under the driver seat. I fully utilized MB electrical connection. See wiring details in attached file. I think Sprinter 2008 is similar to 2013 one like mine. How Roadtrek modified this factory wiring I don't know.
 

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Now that I know where the battery is, thanks to Booster and GeorgeRad, my next question is, should the chassis battery be charged when I'm on shore power or is it only when the engine is running? Over 4 different motorhomes, this is the first time I've lost a chassis battery. Does it not charging have anything to do with the "salesman switch" being on or off? I thought that was for the house batteries. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
Factory setup automatically connects engine to auxiliary battery via a cut-off relay located under the driver seat – see the document I attached earlier, assuming you have this factory option. I added a Magnum Smart Battery Combiner Magnum MESBC to charge both engine and auxiliary (25A max) batteries by either the alternator or Magnum/Solar chargers, selection is manual via a toggle switch.
 

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OK, so far. I have a SurePower 1315-200 battery separator which I understand should charge all of my batteries from shore power (if this is wrong, please tell me). Do I need the ME-SBC also? If it is my battery separator that is broken, how do I troubleshoot it? I can use a VOM, but like a tree so I don't get ahead of the process. I will be checking for a bad ground today before I do anything else.
 
Manual states that your unit is bidirectionl, so it should work.

"The units monitor both the main and auxiliary battery banks. If the main battery (for the1314-200) or either battery bank (for the 1315-200) is above the connect threshold, the relay connects the twobanks together. If the main battery (for the 1314-200) or either batteries (for the 1315-200) are below thedisconnect threshold the unit will open the relay. The connect threshold is set to a nominal voltage of 13.2V,which would only be reached when the charging system is operating"

 
You probably need to unplug from shore power, disconnect the batteries and stress test each battery. That's the only way you are going to find out if you have a bad battery. BTW, how old is the battery?
 
Manual states that your unit is bidirectionl, so it should work.

"The units monitor both the main and auxiliary battery banks. If the main battery (for the1314-200) or either battery bank (for the 1315-200) is above the connect threshold, the relay connects the twobanks together. If the main battery (for the 1314-200) or either batteries (for the 1315-200) are below thedisconnect threshold the unit will open the relay. The connect threshold is set to a nominal voltage of 13.2V,which would only be reached when the charging system is operating"



I think I understand this but after checking the chassis battery and finding a charge of 2.6 volts and no incoming current, I still am not sure if it's a bad battery, bad inverter/converter, bad battery separator, or some combination. How do I find out? Shouldn't I be getting a charging current at the battery from the inverter/converter when I'm on shore power? I'm not. How do I check the Tripplite unit to see if it has the correct output?
 
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Without a wiring diagram it is going to be very difficult for anyone to make any realistic guess about where to even look for the issue. Roadtrek was very protective of their wiring diagrams, but my guess is somebody has traced it all and it could be found online like other Roadtreks have been. Other than that it is just stuff thrown at the wall as to what it might be. My guess is not particularly serious, but we don't know that or even what the issue is.
 
Without a wiring diagram it is going to be very difficult for anyone to make any realistic guess about where to even look for the issue. Roadtrek was very protective of their wiring diagrams, but my guess is somebody has traced it all and it could be found online like other Roadtreks have been. Other than that it is just stuff thrown at the wall as to what it might be. My guess is not particularly serious, but we don't know that or even what the issue is.
Thanks, tomorrow I'm going to see if I can jump it off and if the alternator will charge the battery.
 
Here is a link the owners manual,

It appears that the link is dead. Here is it again but without this site doing it.

file:///C:/Users/Jim/Downloads/Roadtrek_Owners_Manual_2010-2013_Sprinter_RS-SS-Agile_models-1.pdf

The is a component location drawing and a basic wiring diagram in it.

See page E7 for the diagram. If correct it is the plain old Roadtrek wiring setup used in many models with the Tripplite.
 
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If you read 2.6V I would guess your charging circuit is not working resulting with dead battery.

As already recomended disconnecting all key components and by checking them individually could help you to get to the source of the problem.

If you have your Inverter/Charger manual follow its troubleshooting process.

Check battery separator internal relay by applying 12VDC to coil, see the front of the unit, it should be clicking. Do you have an indicator lamp connected to your battery separator as suggested in the manual, is it working?
 

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They show 4 80 amp breakers from the alternator to battery charger. Two of them are also in line from the charger to coach.

The AC power to the inverter will come through the shore power plug, through the automatic transfer switch that will be nearby, then to main breaker panel, then through a fuse to inverter/charger. The Triplite is likely a plug in models like other model Roadtreks used, and the plug for it should under the driver seat it appears.

You will probably need to know how to find those parts to check where power is, so need a multimeter and to know how to use it.

I would start with inverter breaker for the AC in main panel and if it is good go to the outlet under the seat and check it for power there. If there is power there, push the reset button(s) on the Tripplite so see if you get indicator lamps on it. If the Tripplite does come on check for about 14v at the 12v output.

If you have under about 9-10v at the Tripplite, it will not start charging. In this case you will either have to hook up a manual, not automatic battery charger to charge the coach batteries, or run the engine to see if that will get 12v to batteries and Tripplite to get it all running again.

You breakers are 10 years old and those small can 80 amp ones fail fairly often. The can be hard to find and may even be under the body.
 
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