Non Starting 2010 Roadtrek Agile SS

[booster]

Here is the wiring diagram. As was mentioned earlier Roadtrek uses auto reset breakers in the wiring from the shore charge to separator so you won't find any fuses. The will be small metal mostly square cans that likely have 4 connections on them because they use two 40 amp breakers in parallel. You will have 3 of them in the cable from the charger to the separator that are 15 years old, and they fail fairly often. The norm on other Roadtreks would have one near the Tripplite, one underneath the van and another by the separator. Probable at least one will be under the van in the elements. You need to track the entire cable to find them I think.

The are the blue squares that are labeled 80 amp breaker in the wiring diagram so it they built it per the diagram there will be 3 of them.

 

[wmgeorge]

I am going to re-state my problem and incorporate what I've done as a result of the suggestions I've received here. My chassis battery runs down quickly (I replaced it, so a new battery). I've checked the battery separator and it clicks on when 12v is applied to the correct terminal. The chassis battery charges as long as the motor is running but starts discharging quickly (drops from 13.2 to 13.0 in about 2 minutes). It should be charging from the Tripp Lite but it isn't. My next step is to see if I can locate any fuses between the Tripp Lite (House Batteries) and the Chassis battery (House batteries are charging). If anyone can give me a hint where those fuses could be located, I would appreciate it. My next step after that is to try to isolate anything that is pulling power from the chassis battery. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

The Trip Light charger invertor does not charge the chassis battery. Mine also will run down over a period of weeks IF I do not keep an eye on it. The previous owner put a knife switch disconnect on the Battery Negative terminal. I just keep an eye on the voltmeter I have in place and charge it every 2 - 3 weeks. My guess is if you put a ammeter in series with the negative cable you could see a reading and go from there. Disconnecting as you go. It would be interesting to see what others found.

 

[booster]

The Trip Light charger invertor does not charge the chassis battery. Mine also will run down over a period of weeks IF I do not keep an eye on it. The previous owner put a knife switch disconnect on the Battery Negative terminal. I just keep an eye on the voltmeter I have in place and charge it every 2 - 3 weeks. My guess is if you put a ammeter in series with the negative cable you could see a reading and go from there. Disconnecting as you go. It would be interesting to see what others found.

In his van the Tripplite will charge the starting battery because he has a separator (charge relay) and not an isolator. Take a look at the wiring diagram and see the separator which is just an automatically controlled relay with no diodes.

 

[wmgeorge]

In his van the Tripplite will charge the starting battery because he has a separator (charge relay) and not an isolator. Take a look at the wiring diagram and see the separator which is just an automatically controlled relay with no diodes.

Its just shown as a box with no internals. What controls that relay? So if thats the case why isn't it charging the chassis battery? Of course the rest of the chassis wiring is not shown, so his drain is probably in that part.

 

[booster]

It is labeled as a separator and that is what Roadtrek called them to differentiate them from the isolators. If you look at earlier wiring diagrams in the owner's manuals on the Roadtrek site, if it shows a isolator it will show the 4 wires to to not two. If you look at George's post with the pic of a separator you can see the big square control area. As I said, it is very possible and even likely that one of the circuit breakers have failed as they do that a lot as they age, plus the Roadtreks with two AGMs especially will constantly trip them when charging for a low state of charge. Wet cells will also do that, but not as severely. The finally stick open after all those trip/auto reset cycles and that stops the charging. He may have a big parasitic that kills the battery when not on charge, but that would be a separate issue, I think.

 

[wmgeorge]

It is labeled as a separator and that is what Roadtrek called them to differentiate them from the isolators. If you look at earlier wiring diagrams in the owner's manuals on the Roadtrek site, if it shows a isolator it will show the 4 wires to to not two. If you look at George's post with the pic of a separator you can see the big square control area. As I said, it is very possible and even likely that one of the circuit breakers have failed as they do that a lot as they age, plus the Roadtreks with two AGMs especially will constantly trip them when charging for a low state of charge. Wet cells will also do that, but not as severely. The finally stick open after all those trip/auto reset cycles and that stops the charging. He may have a big parasitic that kills the battery when not on charge, but that would be a separate issue, I think.

So without a blocking diode what is the purpose of the separator? Without that diode current can flow both directions allowing the couch motorhome to draw down the chassis battery. Conversely as you say the Tripplite can charge the the chassis battery IF the rest of the circuit is good.

 

[booster]

So without a blocking diode what is the purpose of the separator? Without that diode current can flow both directions allowing the couch motorhome to draw down the chassis battery. Conversely as you say the Tripplite can charge the the chassis battery IF the rest of the circuit is good.

The separator is a relay that is controlled by electronics that close the relay whenever there is charge level voltage on EITHER side of the separator so it charges both battery banks, both ways, and when there is no charge level voltage on either side it opens the relay to separate/isolate them from each other. IMO it is a much better setup than the voltage robbing isolators.

 

[Slow-Joe]

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

I am not able to reach that file. Do you have another location or address for the file?

 

[Slow-Joe]

I'm sorry Booster, I didn't see your posting of the schematic before I posted earlier. I now know where the 80 amp breakers are so I can check them tomorrow. I believe (and hope I'm right) that the problem is between the house batteries and the battery separator. I now can troubleshoot and find where that problem is located. I just hope that whatever is drawing down the chassis battery will be as easy to troubleshoot.

 

[booster]

I am not able to reach that file. Do you have another location or address for the file?

It should now show up in the post itself

 

[wmgeorge]

It should now show up in the post itself

Excellent post Booster he should have enough information now to figure it out, Thank you.

 

[Slow-Joe]

Not sure if I'm there yet but I ordered a new 1315-200 battery separator today. After talking to Sure-Power, I checked voltage at batteries (house and chassis), then checked at separator. Voltage should have activated the solenoid but it didn't (13.75V for house and 12.76V for chassis). Then I started the MH and I had 14.2V for chassis and 13.75V for house, still did not activate the solenoid. I also checked the voltages both time at the separator and they were very close to the battery readings. Odd thing was that the solenoid would activate if 12V was applied to the aux start terminal. Also checked the ground before ordering. I will post follow up once I have installed the new separator.

 

[Slow-Joe]

Success! The new separator is what I needed. The problem that kept me from finding the problem for so long was that if I applied power to the aux start tab, the old separator would work. I went through as much testing as I could with multi-meter at the separator. Tried with engine running, engine off and converter on, engine off and converter off. The results were always the same, adequate power from house batteries and/or chassis batteries but solenoid would not activate. Thanks for all the help and diagrams, I learned more than I wanted to but now I know.