Battery disconnect switch

[illapah]

Just what gets disconnected when the battery disconnect switch is turned to OFF in the later issue of Montana's?
Is the charge circuit still operative? I was planning on leaving the batteries in the Monty over the winter but thought the charge mode may be of value.
I have been taking them out and keeping them in the garage over the winter and have not noted any need to recharge while stored.
This may be a great opportunity to finally have one freeze and burst on me if I leave them in place....

[bsmeaton]

Illapah,

The exceptions are the front landing gear and slide pump which are connected direct to the battery in front of the Master Switch. As long as you have battery, those two devices will work regardless of whether the Master Switch is ON or OFF.

If you plug into AC, all the 12V will work anyway, regardless of whether the Master Switch is ON or OFF, because it is fed through the converter.

If you plug into AC, BUT disconnect batteries, all 12V except the landing gear and slides will work, even with the Master Switch OFF.

With that, I assume the converter is not charging the batteries with the master switch OFF, but I've never verified it.

[illapah]

Thanks a lot. Helps to understand some of the electrics.

[bsmeaton]

Sounds confusing as heck, eh?

Another way to look at it - the battery cables run from the front compartment to the convenience center where the master switch is, then into to the converter. Unfortunately, it was easier to hook the landing gear and slide pump directly to the batteries that are in the same cabinet, so Keystone elected to do just that. As a result, those two items bypass the master switch.

[noneck]

Then without a schematic...suggests the charge will not happen as it should come through the master switch. Good test for this is to connect to AC when the batteries are disconnected and test for voltage at the battery connectors with master switch off.

[Bill and Lisa]

I haven't seen a scematic but I have traced the wiring.
- Runs from the battery to the disconnect switch with tap offs along the way for the Hydraulic Pump and landing gear motor as others have said.
- from the disconnect switch it runs up and connects to the left hand side of the DC panel bus bar. The DC output from the Converter Connects to the right hand side of the bar. Both feeds (converter and battery) have a 40AMP fuse in the circuit. These are the two fuses on the far lefthand side of the DC panel that do NOT have the little red indicator lights to show if they are blown.

Opening the disconnect switch isolates the battery from the DC distribution panel (and hence from the converter as well) but you will still have power to the Landing gear and Hydraulic pump unless you lift a lead off the battery.

A couple of other things are possible with this wiring arrangement. Most units on display at the RV Shows do not have batteries installed but are plugged into A/C (normally 15-20 amp only). Everything DC powered can be powered without having a battery in the rig by the converter providing power to the DC distribution panel. The slides and the landing gear will not work unless the battery disconnect is closed but that will also result in power to the exposed battery leads in the battery storage area. So once the rig is in place, somewhat leveled, and the slides extended the dealer will OPEN the disconnect and remove the red Key so folks don't accidently give themselves a charge!.

[illapah]

Thanks Bill & Lisa. This is such a wealth of info site!!!

[grampachet]

I think our 3000RK states the slides will not operate without the batteries connected. With the batteries disconnected at the disconnect switch I am pretty sure my landing jacks do not work either. I will double check the next time I see it.

I was wrong. The landing gear still works when disconect is off.

[sreigle]

I also understand (correct me if I'm wrong) that the emergency brake switch will not function without an operable battery in place. Thus it's not a great idea to tow the rig without a battery. Now I wonder whether the disconnect switch also disconnects the emergency brake switch.

Thanks for some great info.