Mark Perkins Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 We just took our maiden voyage in our 2002 Monaco Windsor from North Carolina to Florida. Much to my surprise the Jeep we towed would not start as the battery was dead. We have an RVibrake 3 system with the towed battery charger. This system worked fine on my prior motorhome (Itasca 35F Sunstar). I checked the six wire socket on the motorhome and found no power on the center post. My question is, would the technology on my Windsor be to old to have power to the center post to power the towed battery charger or is therr some other possible problem. I spoke with tech support at RVi and they think the age of the motorhome could be the problem. They did say I could run a wire from the house battery to the plug to energize the center post. Any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 (edited) My 6 plug hitch is the same way but I use a Brakemaster 9160 supplemental brake. If I'm not careful I can run the battery down because of the brake lights. I have to start the Jeep at least every two days to charge the battery. Attached is a page from my house wiring diagram, it shows the rear passenger side electrical bay and also the chassis interface. It does show the tow harness and does not have a 12 volt wire. There is a power source in the rear run bay you could get power from, to be on the safe side I wire it through a relay and use an ignition source as a trigger. If you have the original BIRD there is an ignition source wire there. NOTE, when you open the file it will be blurry, hit CTRL5 and it will clear up. You can use the search eye glass function and look for Tow Plug. I actually installed a Bluesea MCALR and removed the BIRD, Lambert 415 maintainer, and isolation relay. This freed up some of the compartment and I installed a wiring block. I have quite few open slots if I need them in the future. On my 2002 Windsor there was a connector buried in the wiring harness at the front of the engine, buried in all the wiring looms. This would be a good spot to wire in a new 7 wire plug. Some of the larger RV parts stores carry the 6 wire connector, you could buy one and use it to plug into the buried connector and run wires to a new harness. 2002_Windsor Passenger side rear electrical bay.pdf Edited February 28, 2023 by jacwjames Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Perkins Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 Thanks much my friend……that gives me a starting point, I will do some exploring with the electrical system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution Tom Cherry Posted March 1, 2023 Solution Share Posted March 1, 2023 1 hour ago, Mark Perkins said: We just took our maiden voyage in our 2002 Monaco Windsor from North Carolina to Florida. Much to my surprise the Jeep we towed would not start as the battery was dead. We have an RVibrake 3 system with the towed battery charger. This system worked fine on my prior motorhome (Itasca 35F Sunstar). I checked the six wire socket on the motorhome and found no power on the center post. My question is, would the technology on my Windsor be to old to have power to the center post to power the towed battery charger or is therr some other possible problem. I spoke with tech support at RVi and they think the age of the motorhome could be the problem. They did say I could run a wire from the house battery to the plug to energize the center post. Any help would be appreciated. Jim is one of our helpers on electrical issues. The newer (2005) Monaco's were "Pre Wired" for towing, but that was for, I THOUGHT, the front controller wire. If You have NO power on the center Pin, make sure that you have the IGNITION switch ON. That is how Monaco did it . Still NO JOY, then trace back the center pin wire and see where it goes. THEN you can do ONE of the following... Install a small battery maintainer (there are lots of them that are "weatherproof" and hook up the DC positive from it to the center wire from the 6 Pin. I used a 6 pin and was happy for a long time....and actually still use a 7 to 6 Adapter for my Unbilical. Ground out the Negative to the Chassis. NOW, assuming you have a receptacle for the Block Heater and can UNPLUG the Block Heater, plug in the 120 VAC from the Maintainer to the block heater, Then use your Block Heater switch to turn it on and off. Some people will run a supplemental 2 wire polarized plug (like is on the maintainer) directly to the Toad and have a two pin plug hooked up directly to the battery. The OTHER WAY....Go to page 250 and 251 of your manual. Look at the diagram for the Monaco #1 Rear box. There is a fuse for Keyed Switch Feed - 10 Amp. You can purchase an adapter on Amazon that lets you plug in a fuse and also have a Fused Lead from it. That is what you need....and IGNITION ON signal. There is also an Ignition ON feed to the Rear Start Switch on page 251. Doesn't matter. All you need is a Switched Ignition Feed signal. Get a 5 Pin Bosch Relay. You can feed the Ignition Switch into Pin 85 or 86. Doesn't matter. If you choose 85, then GROUND goes to 86. That energizes the relay when the ignition is ON. NOW, find a lead or a "Tap" point from the Positive of the CHASSIS Battery. In other words a HOT line. Purchase a 15 Amp Resettable Circuit Breaker from Amazon or anywhere. Run the positive HOT BATTERY (you can put in an inline fuse holder - rated at the same size as the CB you are using). That goes to Terminal 30. Then run a line from Terminal 87 That is the Normally OPEN contact. 87A is the Normally Closed. You want the relay to provide power when the Ignition switch is on. Run Terminal 87 directly to the resettable circuit breaker.....then the other size does to the center pin. THUS, you have the same charging circuit that is on the newer Monaco's. Not a hard job. Little bit of hookup wire. You can order the Bosch Relay with a plug in adapter. https://www.amazon.com/ONLINE-LED-STORE-Waterproof-Harness/dp/B01N66W2XF/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=3LWI9ON4KQYDQ&keywords=bosch+relay+socket&qid=1677628689&sprefix=bosch+relay+socket+%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExSTQwM1RMQjU1SU85JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTQzOTQyM01aMFg2SE5FT01WMyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzg4NTQ2MjIzOVlaTldJNDVLJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ== You want a socket with #12 wires. I would select a 15 Amp resettable circuit breaker. That is PLENTY of current to keep a battery maintained. 15 Amp only requires #14 wire.....so you are good to go. Get a Ratcheting Crimper and some terminals. You NEED THAT as you will need it, eventually, as some wires will come loose. Most carry one, or should. That's it..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Perkins Posted March 1, 2023 Author Share Posted March 1, 2023 You’re the “BEST”. I know enough to be dangerous 😊. I spent the better part of the day trying to diagnose the problem…..I’m new to this group of Monaco owners….If I would have thought to post this morning, I’d be much better off. I now know where to get great help and advice as I continue renovating my Windsor. I will certainly follow what you sent me and will let you know the results! Have a good evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan K Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 Our 2000 did not have the center pin wired at all, you might find the same. A simple addition since I had an available position for an additional circuit breaker in left RRB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 My rig only came with a rectangular 6 pin, it didn't even have a pin for a 7th wire. But like I said, don't need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cherry Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 2 hours ago, jacwjames said: My rig only came with a rectangular 6 pin, it didn't even have a pin for a 7th wire. But like I said, don't need it. WOW....that is interesting. I thought (DUMB ME) that Monaco used the round 6 pin receptacles. My Winnie had that....and that is the same one that I used on it with my Unbilical. The Manual has NOTHING in it about the "Trailer/Towing" connector. I had a 7 to 6 ROUND adapter. Then I finally pulled off the 6 and put on a 7....and plugged it in. Monaco was sorta...."Inconsistent" (GASP?) with which wire they used for the 7th. You need 4 for the regular lights (3 hots and a ground). Then they put in the Charging pin or plug. I don't remember what the stand called for or which pin. But, that made 5. Then add in the Brake Controller. BINGO, you loaded up a 6 pin round. THEN they went to 7 and added, in some cases, Backup Lights. WONDERFUL and VERY Functional.... Learn something new every day. This is the March 1 "new today".... Thanks for the info and input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr4Film Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 (edited) My previous 02 Windsor came with a 7-Way receptacle at the rear. Never needed to tow anything until I retired so never used it. But in 2010 when prepping to leave CA and travel full-time I purchase a 30-foot trailer with electric brakes. That's when I had to wire in an Electric Brake Controller and add a heavy gauge brake wire to the 7-Way receptacle. I probed and mapped out the 7-Way to find what function each of the terminals did. That's when I discovered that the center lug was for backup lights. There was only one lug that wasn't used which was dedicated for the blue electric brake wire. It already had a 12 VDC hot wire in the proper position. Diagram enclosed. I also added a 6-way receptacle to use when towing my Saturn Vue as both the coach and car had separate brake lights and directionals. There was one terminal left over, center, which I used to add a 12 VDC hot wire for charging the car battery. The other 5 were, Tail, Brake, Right Turn, Left Turn & Ground. The coach came from the factory with a 6-way rectangle connector which was wired to a converter and then over to the 7-way receptacle. My Dynasty came with both a 7-way and 6-way on the rear of the coach. I have only used the 7-way when towing my car and it works as it should with one hot terminal for charging the car battery. 4-6-7 Way Wiring Diagram.pdf Edited March 1, 2023 by Dr4Film Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Perkins Posted March 1, 2023 Author Share Posted March 1, 2023 Thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 So here is the parts page for my Tow Wiring Harness, this is what I have mounted next to the hitch. I had to find the female adapter and use it to make my toad connector work. These are not easy to find, I got lucky and an RV seller in Knoxville had them. I did a quick search and couldn't find this type of adapter. 1 Tow Wiring Harness.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Perkins Posted March 1, 2023 Author Share Posted March 1, 2023 Do you have any info on the female adapter and where you ordered it from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacwjames Posted March 1, 2023 Share Posted March 1, 2023 Nope, like I said I happen to find one at a local RV dealer. This might work https://www.amazon.com/807-Trailer-Connector-Tailgate-Extension/dp/B07RNN85TX/ref=sr_1_17?crid=3KOL4ZNQEE8ID&keywords=6%2Bpin%2Btrailer%2Bconnector&qid=1677678086&sprefix=%2Caps%2C354&sr=8-17&th=1 Looks the same, just have to cut the two ends apart and splice into a regular 7 way. I don't really like the 6 pin because it does not really have a positive locking mechanism to hold the male portion in. I use a small bungee to keep it tight. If I ever have more trouble I may just change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Perkins Posted March 1, 2023 Author Share Posted March 1, 2023 Thank you Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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