moonlitblue Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Greetings, I'm looking for insight from 30' Gas Monaco owners. We have a 2005 30PDD Monarch, Ford Chassis, in the owners manual it tells me there is a Chassis disconnect in the compartment in front of the door on the Curb Side of the Coach. We don't have a compartment in front of the door on a thirty footer. There is just the door and the wheel well (see pic for reference). Does anyone know where the disconnect is? We've emptied all the compartments (found the Coach disconnect in the battery bay) and searched extensively in the engine compartment. Again we cannot find the Chassis disconnect and our Chassis battery goes dead every two weeks or sooner, really annoying. Any help on the Where's Waldo of Chassis disconnect switches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craggar Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Do you have a switch in the rv that disconnects it? A lot call it the salesman switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorinthWest Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 I'm not sure if this will help, or not.......but you SHOULD have a forward "power distribution" box. It is a black box with 3 white nylon wing nuts. It is fed from the chassis battery disconnect, which in my coach *IS* in the RF basement. I would suggest that if you can find this distribution box, the disconnect should be next to it. I've seen references to it where they put in on the other side of the coach as well. Then again, someone may have removed the disconnect switch like they did in mine before I purchased it. What a PITA that was! Good luck finding Waldo! -R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlitblue Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 Craggar - We had a Fiver for 10 years, so this is our first Class A, that being said I am familiar with the Salesman Switch, it does not stop the Chassis battery from discharging when the coach is sitting. We even have it attached to a land line, the Coach batteries stay nice, charged fully, but the Chassis battery keeps going to zero, even with a new battery installed. There is a parasitic draw, which I'm sure is draining it. I've seen a few post mounted disconnects for the Chassis battery, I'm considering that when we have to leave it for more than a week. I'm not sure what might not work if I turn it off from the battery terminal though, I believe the only thing that may be an issue is the steps, however they will be locked open while we are leaving it in storage, so we can go in and out. We've been remodeling for 8 months now, only been out once to discover that not only did the fridge not work (we replaced with Norcold N10DCSSR - Love it by the way) but the air was a worthless lump on the roof also. So we've replaced that with a Recpro Houghton unit and we're getting ready to go out for 5 weeks. We're really tired of having to jump it after 7-10 days because the Chassis battery keeps going down. Salesman switch seems to mostly work for the Coach 12VDC, I know it didn't work to be a gatekeeper for the Chassis battery. Thank you for the suggestion though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert U Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 It sounds like the easy fix would be to install a knife switch on the positive side of your chassis battery. Make sure the switch can handle the electrical load. Search on battery knife switch. Bob U 2000 Dip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craggar Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Both of my previous gassers had 2 salesman switches, one for coach batteries and one for chassis and I would just use that for storing it during the winter and never had problems. I guess I never had any other draws when it was shut off like you do. You can do what Bob suggested but I would try to find the draw as well. I actually have the opposite problem from you where my coach batteries go dead if I'm not plugged in and forget to shut off the inverter. My steps work off the coach batteries as well so maybe yours do too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlitblue Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 We only have one Salesman switch and it only turns off the 12VDC to the coach. I believe a Knife Switch is what I need. Unfortunately, go figure these 30' Short buses are unusual. When the Chassis battery goes dead the steps stop working, go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishAR Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 2 hours ago, moonlitblue said: We only have one Salesman switch and it only turns off the 12VDC to the coach. I believe a Knife Switch is what I need. Unfortunately, go figure these 30' Short buses are unusual. When the Chassis battery goes dead the steps stop working, go figure. My steps run off the chassis battery also, as does my awning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craggar Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Strange that Monaco didn't do the same on all the coaches especially on stuff like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLynes Posted July 19, 2022 Share Posted July 19, 2022 On 7/17/2022 at 6:57 PM, Craggar said: Strange that Monaco didn't do the same on all the coaches especially on stuff like that. You're making too much sense, Craig! 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rex schmeckpeper Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 If you disconnect the engine battery you have to drive about 40 to 60 miles for the engine computer to re-learn all the parameters. Don't do this if you have to get it smog tested, it will not pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlitblue Posted July 20, 2022 Author Share Posted July 20, 2022 16 hours ago, Rex schmeckpeper said: If you disconnect the engine battery you have to drive about 40 to 60 miles for the engine computer to re-learn all the parameters. Don't do this if you have to get it smog tested, it will not pass. Rex the battery goes dead if you leave it sit for more than 7-10 and I do mean dead. So isn't that the same thing as having a battery disconnect? The Ford V-10 and paired transmission appear to work the same after I put a charge on the battery and drive it? I'm not sure it's relearning anything, unless it never learned it to start with. Driven it 3 hours, 150+ miles after each time the battery goes dead, doesn't seem to be an issue? Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 I know exactly what Rex meant and while we don't notice it, the PCM is learning your driving style and adjusting its fuel table. It doesn't hurt anything but possibly MPG but it also has a set of tests for a number of subsystems that need to internally pass before you can pass emissions inspection, if required. These need time and certain specific driving conditions before the OBD2 screen goes green. That's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlitblue Posted July 21, 2022 Author Share Posted July 21, 2022 14 hours ago, Ivan K said: I know exactly what Rex meant and while we don't notice it, the PCM is learning your driving style and adjusting its fuel table. It doesn't hurt anything but possibly MPG but it also has a set of tests for a number of subsystems that need to internally pass before you can pass emissions inspection, if required. These need time and certain specific driving conditions before the OBD2 screen goes green. That's all. Ivan, I completely understand, I wasn't aware the gas motors had the same learning curve, and we do not have to pass smog/emissions in New Jersey, over 10K and the unit is considered self inspect. And really what I was wondering was, since the battery goes dead so often, isn't this situation happening to me on a regular basis anyway, without a cut off switch?? And even though it's a gasser, I'm finding the systems in this coach are way more complicated than out old Fiver that served us so well for so long. But the DW had to have a Class A... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 Tony, you are right, the PCM memory will be cleared every time voltage drops, I think, to around 5V. I know 9V is still good because that's how I keep the PCM alive with a little 9v battery connected to OBD port when disconnecting car batteries for repairs. I am jealous about the 'self inspection', it cost me more to drive it to that place than the $7 inspection bill here in TX. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craggar Posted July 21, 2022 Share Posted July 21, 2022 On 7/19/2022 at 5:35 PM, FLynes said: You're making too much sense, Craig! 😄 I know, what was I thinking. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlitblue Posted October 1, 2022 Author Share Posted October 1, 2022 Just to wrap up this post, we finally found the Chassis Disconnect switch, (not thanks to the owner's manual). It was on the fire wall in the engine compartment right up at the very top of the fire wall. Found out when I changed the Chassis Battery out, made the connections, looked up with the flash light and there was Waldo. Everything is much better now, well not world politics, but I can at least turn the Chassis Battery off and keep it from always going dead. Thanks to all for the advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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