Coach is dead, battery is fine
2023 travel trailer, latching battery disconnect solenoid with a switch by the door. On battery, just out of storage
Customer says: Nothing inside works. We kept the battery on a charger all winter.
The disconnect switch by the door clicks when you press it.
Tests you can run
- Battery voltage at the posts
- 12V at the distribution panel bus
- Battery side of the disconnect solenoid
- Coach side of the disconnect solenoid
- Volts across the solenoid's two big studs after pressing ON
- Voltage at the solenoid's small terminals while someone presses the switch
- Ask what was done for storage
- Bridge the big studs with a screwdriver to see if the coach comes alive
Repair options
The lesson behind this case
Keep going on 12V and batteries
Learn it
- Volts, amps and ohms, the simple way
- Voltage drop: the test that finds bad grounds
- Practice: find the bad connection
- Batteries: lead-acid vs lithium
- Fuses, breakers and grounds
Prove it
- Back lights are dim
- Battery dies even on shore power
- Lithium won't charge on cold mornings
- Batteries dead after storage
- Solar quit charging