08 Signature Cambridge Electrical Gremlins

[kbeasley61]

'08 Monaco Signature Cambridge Electrical Gremlins

Would anyone by chance have a Wiring Diagram for the '08 Monaco signature Cambridge you can share (REV was a DeadEnd, Quickly)....  I'm having issues with Electrical Gremlins;  Parasitic Draw on House,  OverTemp Fault when connect to shore line or GenSet on, Clicking under Bed when shore line connect or GenSet on. Do Not believe Alternator is charging the House Batteries when Traveling. All batteries (4 AGM House and 2 Flooded Chassis) have been replace in the past 30 Days

First Image is with 50amp shoreline connected.... 2nd image OverTemp fault, this happen several times (4) Friday Evening and then the entire coach when Black, Hit Batt Disconnect switch and was able to get house back on. Needless to say we retracted slides, Disconnected and return back to DFW (5am) from SanAntonio. Once home, connected the NoCo chargers direct to the Batteries, Chassis Batts are Full - House is still taking charge and show about 25%. Shoreline not connected as not sure if I have an Inverter / Charger issues.

I've been reading some Post I and going to Clean the contacts in the BigBoy Solenoid and Check the BIRD for Faulty board, Once Gas Springs come in early next week.

Thanks in advance for Directions and advice, Keith

Edited December 4, 2022 by kbeasley61

[Rick A]

Being a bit of a neophyte,  may I suggest that the battery temp sensor tip has failed? 

[waterskier_1]

I think I responded to this on another forum (Facebook maybe?) along with several others.  

First, the house batteries not being charged by the alternator is likely the Big Boy.  

Here is what Magnum says about your Fault:

There are several things you could check, but you indicated you don't have a voltmeter.  I don't think any of us can guess the problem without some troubleshooting, which requires at a minimum, a voltmeter.  

You mention that when you got home, an external battery charger showed 25% charge.  It is well below the recommended minimum of 50% for Lead Acid batteries.  You might get the batteries to recover, but their capacity is likely diminished.  If you had a heavy load on the inverter, using appliances and such, while it was attempting to charge the discharged batteries, it could have overloaded the inverter, causing it to overheat.  

The third picture show the inverter in inverting mode, with only 12.2 Volts.  12.0 - 12.1 Volts is the minimum recommended amount to discharge Lead Acid batteries, depending on manufacture.  Your batteries were almost gone when that picture was taken.  

There are several recommendations for troubleshooting.  First, did you try turning off the inverter/charger?  Do you recognize that all AC outlets are supplied through the inverter, even when on shore power (the engine block heater and a bedroom outlet may be an exception)?  If you were running space heaters or the microwave and other things, that could have impacted the inverter.  If simply turning off the inverter doesn't help, then I would go to the Inverter Sup Panel, and turn off all the breakers, and see if you can connect shore power without problems.  Then turn on the inverter breakers #3 and #6 (inverter input L1 & L2), leaving all other breakers OFF.  This will remove most loads from the inverter.  If it still shows overtemp, make sure you turn OFF the charger on the inverter remote pane.   With the Charger and all Breakers OFF, there should be only a minimal load on the inverter.  If it still shows overtemp, you likely have an inverter problem.  

Magnum phone service is quite good - have you given them a call?  They will want the house batteries fully charged (use an external charger) before they assist with troubleshooting.  

I hope this have give you some direction.  Let us know the results of the above, and we can hopefully narrow down the problem.

  -Rick N.

[Frank McElroy]

1 hour ago, kbeasley61 said:

'08 Monaco Signature Cambridge Electrical Gremlins

Would anyone by chance have a Wiring Diagram for the '08 Monaco signature Cambridge you can share (REV was a DeadEnd, Quickly)....  I'm having issues with Electrical Gremlins;  Parasitic Draw on House,  OverTemp Fault when connect to shore line or GenSet on, Clicking under Bed when shore line connect or GenSet on. Do Not believe Alternator is charging the House Batteries when Traveling. All batteries (4 AGM House and 2 Flooded Chassis) have been replace in the past 30 Days

First Image is with 50amp shoreline connected.... 2nd image OverTemp fault, this happen several times (4) Friday Evening and then the entire coach when Black, Hit Batt Disconnect switch and was able to get house back on. Needless to say we retracted slides, Disconnected and return back to DFW (5am) from SanAntonio. Once home, connected the NoCo chargers direct to the Batteries, Chassis Batts are Full - House is still taking charge and show about 25%. Shoreline not connected as not sure if I have an Inverter / Charger issues.

I've been reading some Post I and going to Clean the contacts in the BigBoy Solenoid and Check the BIRD for Faulty board, Once Gas Springs come in early next week.

Thanks in advance for Directions and advice, Keith

Keith, you likely have a chassis multiplex coach.  Here is a link to the wiring diagrams for your coach.  In the link below click on the TITLE not the box that says download.  By clicking on the title you will get an option to download all the diagrams as one file.

On your coach, the chassis multiplex system is powered by the house and NOT the chassis batteries.  Yes in a few days the house batteries will be drained unless you are on shore power or have a large solar array.

The temp fault problem means your inverter is running too hot.  Could be a number of reasons including a bad battery, failure of the inverter cooling fan, a charge rate set too high or an internal problem in the Magnum like poor hear dissipation on the FET heat sink due to dried out thermal conductivity grease.

 

[Tom Cherry]

Piggyback on WaterSkier and Frank,,plus some practical help with several other “Dynasty” and above issues.

First, charge your batteries. I personally am concerned about charging batteries in a MH with an external charger and not doing potential damages.

TURN OFF BOTH Battery Cut Off Switches.  I would disconnect the main Negative on each one,  Then CHARGE each bank back up.  Make sure they are isolated as in NOT connected to the Motor Home. 

Then Follow these steps.  Reconnect the Chassis Battery.  Do NOT turn on the Chassis Cut off Switch.

Disconnect the battery cables from the BACK of the White Magnum Inverter.  There are Three phone line connectors, assuming you have only ONE Magnum.  Unplug the Temp Sensor and the Network line (it may be marked AGS).  Only the REMOTE should be plugged in.   Wait about an hour.  Reconnect the house batteries to the Positive and negative cables.  Do NOT turn on the Battery Disconnect Switch.  Reconnect the battery cables to the Magnum.

Turn ON BOTH battery Cutoff Switches.   Push the Power Switch and hold it for a few seconds….to turn it on.  Go inside to the Magnum Remote.  Turn on a TV or some other low draw AC device.  Do NOT run the Microwave.  You ought to see the Remote read something like Inverting.  The voltage should be somewhere around 12.5-12.7.  If it is low like 12.0, then your AGM’s may be damaged OR you have a bad Remote.  As WS says, you need a simple Digital Volt Ohm Meter.  Buy one and watch the YouTube videos and learn how to use it.

OK….best case….your batteries are good (12.5 - 12.7)  Now download or find the Magnum Remote Meter manual.  You need to SETUP the Inverter.

Shore…. Set to 30 Amps.

AGS DISABLE or OFF

Depending on if this is the Original or a newer Remote, the screens will be close.  
SETUP Search Watta OFF or Disable.

Low Battery Cut Off - 11.8 VDC

Amp Hours is 450 or if it says “Absorb. 90 Minutes or 1.5 hours

Battery type is AGM….a MUST!

Charging Rate - 80%.  I keep mine lower.  The age of your inverter and the overheating issue says not to go to 100%.

Low AC Shutoff….100 Volts.

As someone suggested, you can call Magnum and they will go through this.  Tell them the settings recommended and you do NOT wan search watts on.

OK….Now, after the setup, it is time to power up. If you have 50Amp where you are….plug in.  If NOT, start the Genny.  If you push the Meter Button, you should see Power ON…..Fault OFF  Charging may be ON or Rapid Flashing.  INV is on.

You should see a display that says Absorb and a voltage or Float and a voltage.  The amps should be low…..not more than 35 or so.

Then, the amperage should start to drop.  

What you may not realize…..is this.

The Shore (or Genny) AC actually “runs” through the Inverter.  The Inverter has to see or sense a GOOD set of batteries….they can be drained some, but no “shorted or bad”.  That is the only way you get power to the internal outlets and microwave and residential refrigerator.  The overhead lights are 1 VDC.

Next up is “how is it running”.  If you had House AGM’s installed and no one Configured the Remote for AGM, that is not good.  

The NEXT task is to test your Big Boy.  Once you have a DVOM, then report back,  tell us what is or has happened.  What did Magnum say,  you can tell Magnum that you did a FULL HARD RESET.  

Past that, wIthout doing some voltage and continuity measurements, there is not much left to do….

 

 

[kbeasley61]

Hey Rick and Frank.... Thanks for Your Input as it helps tremendously and Yes I have reached out on FB.... has a tech come by and found the Batt Cut off/on switch is Good but the solenoid is slow to react. 

I forgot to give about clue/issue, when the House and Chassis CutOff in the Battery box are OFF - I am able to go to the inverter panel and activate/turn ON the inverter.

Before we departed Friday I had the RV plug into 50amp service at the House here for several days,  Everything seemed to be in working order.

I am waiting on GasSprings or the Rear Engine Cover, in the mean time there are chargers on the House Batteries and they are slowly coming back to life. Once able to get to the Rear Run box, i will check to amp draw to the BigBoy with the CutOff Switched in the OFF position and then check voltage on either side of the BigBoy Solenoid. Also will be Checking Grounds at the buss bar as well as the other solenoids.

 

[Frank McElroy]

2 hours ago, kbeasley61 said:

Hey Rick and Frank.... Thanks for Your Input as it helps tremendously and Yes I have reached out on FB.... has a tech come by and found the Batt Cut off/on switch is Good but the solenoid is slow to react. 

I forgot to give about clue/issue, when the House and Chassis CutOff in the Battery box are OFF - I am able to go to the inverter panel and activate/turn ON the inverter.

Before we departed Friday I had the RV plug into 50amp service at the House here for several days,  Everything seemed to be in working order.

I am waiting on GasSprings or the Rear Engine Cover, in the mean time there are chargers on the House Batteries and they are slowly coming back to life. Once able to get to the Rear Run box, i will check to amp draw to the BigBoy with the CutOff Switched in the OFF position and then check voltage on either side of the BigBoy Solenoid. Also will be Checking Grounds at the buss bar as well as the other solenoids.

 

On your coach the inverter is directly connected to the house batteries.  So it should work even with the house battery cutoff switch turned off. 

But if EITHER the house or chassis battery cut off switches are turned off, the separate signal wire from these switches will lock out the big boy control circuit board #6 in the rear run bay and it will not engage big boy to charge your chassis batteries.

[Tom Cherry]

15 hours ago, Frank McElroy said:

On your coach the inverter is directly connected to the house batteries.  So it should work even with the house battery cutoff switch turned off. 

But if EITHER the house or chassis battery cut off switches are turned off, the separate signal wire from these switches will lock out the big boy control circuit board #6 in the rear run bay and it will not engage big boy to charge your chassis batteries.

For CLARIFICATION….and NOT to contradict FRANK.  There are TWO different BLUE SEAS cutoff switches.  Frank is referring to the BLUE SEAS model that has two LARGE (high current) and two small (control) terminals as well.  These, I believe we’re on the Dynasty and higher.

My Camelot and the lower end do not have the “exotic” PCB that controls the BIG BOY/ BATTERY BOOST solenoid.  We have an Intellitec BIRD or BIRD DIESEL or BIRD DIESEL2 module that is the “brain”.  Our Blue Seas switches only have the TWO high current studs and no additional 2 small terminal control voltage contacts.

The Dual (high current & control voltage) switch used on the Dynasty would work on the Camelots….there is NO WIRES there to use the low current switch.  

BUT…. ON THE DYNASTY (& UP), you must use the FOUR CONTACT SWITCH….otherwise, you charging system will not work.

17 hours ago, kbeasley61 said:

Hey Rick and Frank.... Thanks for Your Input as it helps tremendously and Yes I have reached out on FB.... has a tech come by and found the Batt Cut off/on switch is Good but the solenoid is slow to react. 

I forgot to give about clue/issue, when the House and Chassis CutOff in the Battery box are OFF - I am able to go to the inverter panel and activate/turn ON the inverter.

Before we departed Friday I had the RV plug into 50amp service at the House here for several days,  Everything seemed to be in working order.

I am waiting on GasSprings or the Rear Engine Cover, in the mean time there are chargers on the House Batteries and they are slowly coming back to life. Once able to get to the Rear Run box, i will check to amp draw to the BigBoy with the CutOff Switched in the OFF position and then check voltage on either side of the BigBoy Solenoid. Also will be Checking Grounds at the buss bar as well as the other solenoids.

 

Keith, glad you are making progress.  As a moderator, the tone and perceived knowledge of the electrical system, was vastly different in your first post, some e hours apart.  Had myself and others been aware of the entire sequence of events that was in the second post, then our responses and efforts would have been different.  Thanks for understanding this and providing the complete story in your first post.

Am assuming that you are OK with the Magnum remote setup.  Howver, many folks that have the Sig/Exec/Dynasty RC6 Big Boy controller have had some issues when their Inverter went into a fault or overload or such mode.  My advice is to still do the hard reset to clean out any “electric ghosts” in the PCB on the inverter.

Second, I know for a fact, as Frank pointed out, that your Big Boy and such will NOT function properly with the 2 Pole cut off switches OFF.  Each switch has a “sensing voltage” set of contacts (the small ones).  If your system works with one or both off, then there has been mods to the wiring.  Monaco specifically used the two sets of terminals, High (studs) and Low (small control terminals), Blue Seas switches on each bank and this is called out in your prints.  Installing the single pole (Studs only) Blue Seas, requires splicing the two control wires together to make the system work properly.

Keep us updated.

[kbeasley61]

Hey Guys..... I Truly THANK YOU for your Insight and knowledge about these systems as I believe it is become more manageable for me to tackle.... I do still have the House Batteries disconnected and on Slow charge to bring them back to life as I believe they have been drained to them not being recharged when traveling 500 plus miles on Friday/Saturday, side note only to find my aging Mom's water heater burst and flooded her home...

Air springs are due here in the next couple of Days (orrorr.com) for the rear engine cover. This will allow me to have access to the Rear Run Box to remove and inspect the above mentioned solenoids, take a look at the BIRD's for Open circuits and the check all Grounds.

Will report back in a couple of days...

All the Best!!!!! Keith Beasley