What does the 10amp breaker under the hood do

[Mo_Mike]

I know that I have seen this in the forums, but can't find it now. On an AXIS,/VEGAS, what does the 10 amp BUSS breaker with the yellow flag(lever), and red button control?

[schreinertms]

I believe it cuts off the 12V chassis battery power, at least it does on my Challenger. The one that is located in the engine compartment. I believe there is also one in the house battery compartment that probably does the same thing for the house batteries.

[Mo_Mike]

I am assuming that the yellow "flag" down is "blown" and moving it back to level horizontal is restored,?

[Oneilkeys]

In the Vegas it is a 100 amp breaker hooked up to your chassis battery. When you can see the yellow or red "flag" it has tripped and you need to push it back up and figure out why it happened. There is a second large breaker located in the left hand corner of your house battery box that protects the house batteries and house electrical system.

[Mo_Mike]

Originally Posted by Oneilkeys

In the Vegas it is a 100 amp breaker hooked up to your chassis battery. When you can see the yellow or red "flag" it has tripped and you need to push it back up and figure out why it happened. There is a second large breaker located in the left hand corner of your house battery box that protects the house batteries and house electrical system.

Thanks for the information. We had the chassis battery completely go dead over the weekend. The emergency start did not work. Found the 100 amp breaker thrown. Was able to charge the battery with an external charger and start the coach, but it had only been a few days since the coach was run, the coach was on shore power the whole time. just trying to figure out what happened.

[penguin]

Originally Posted by Mo_Mike

I know that I have seen this in the forums, but can't find it now. On an AXIS,/VEGAS, what does the 10 amp BUSS breaker with the yellow flag(lever), and red button control?

Where would this be located.

[Mo_Mike]

Under the hood toward the passenger side

[Oneilkeys]

In my first Vegas the emergency start switch as not wired correctly so it would not start the vehicle when the chassis battery was dead. It may be that your chassis battery was discharged and when you tried to use the emergency start it tripped the breaker. I would try the emergency start button and see if it happened again. You might also check to see if your chassis battery is charging while you are on shore power or generator. That has also been an issue on some Vegas/Axis.

[Mo_Mike]

Originally Posted by Oneilkeys

In my first Vegas the emergency start switch as not wired correctly so it would not start the vehicle when the chassis battery was dead. It may be that your chassis battery was discharged and when you tried to use the emergency start it tripped the breaker. I would try the emergency start button and see if it happened again. You might also check to see if your chassis battery is charging while you are on shore power or generator. That has also been an issue on some Vegas/Axis.

What is a good way to check that?

[Oneilkeys]

If you have a volt meter, plug into shore power and measure the voltage at the chassis battery. If the system is working correctly, after a few minutes the voltage at the chassis battery should read above 13 volts - it should read the same voltage as the house batteries which are also being charged. Since the chassis battery terminals are not that easy to reach, I find it easier to read the voltage off of the two large terminals of the Trombetta on the right side (driver's side) front of the engine. It is easily accessible with the front grill down. The voltage should be the same at both terminals is both the house and chassis batteries are charging. Put your red wire from the voltage meter on one of the large terminals and the black wire on any silver bolt in the area for a ground. In my Axis the left hand Trombetta terminal (looking at it from the front) is connected to the house batteries and the right hand one is connected to the chassis batteries. If you search Trombetta and BIRD in this forum you will learn more than you want to learn about this subject as well as how I fixed mine. There is also a good discussion in Ed's Axis/Vegas manual which you need a copy of.

[Mo_Mike]

Originally Posted by Oneilkeys

If you have a volt meter, plug into shore power and measure the voltage at the chassis battery. If the system is working correctly, after a few minutes the voltage at the chassis battery should read above 13 volts - it should read the same voltage as the house batteries which are also being charged. Since the chassis battery terminals are not that easy to reach, I find it easier to read the voltage off of the two large terminals of the Trombetta on the right side (driver's side) front of the engine. It is easily accessible with the front grill down. The voltage should be the same at both terminals is both the house and chassis batteries are charging. Put your red wire from the voltage meter on one of the large terminals and the black wire on any silver bolt in the area for a ground. In my Axis the left hand Trombetta terminal (looking at it from the front) is connected to the house batteries and the right hand one is connected to the chassis batteries. If you search Trombetta and BIRD in this forum you will learn more than you want to learn about this subject as well as how I fixed mine. There is also a good discussion in Ed's Axis/Vegas manual which you need a copy of.

So, followed directions and found 13,1v on both the coach batteries and chassis battery with shorepower connected.

I am assuming from your reply, that this "should" show that both sets of batteries ae charging. Does that sound right?

[Oneilkeys]

Yes. It appears that your the Trombetta and BIRD are working correctly and that your charging system is also. The questions you have left are 1. Is the emergency start button working correctly and 2. Why did the 100 amp breaker open? Have you tried the emergency start button again? Did it kick off the breaker?

[Oneilkeys]

I would guess that the reason your chassis battery did not charge while plugged into shore power was because the chassis battery breaker was tripped. From your original post, that apparently happened before you tried the emergency switch? That means that you have a problem somewhere else that tripped the breaker. If it happens again, I would get someone to look at it so you don't do damage to your engine computer or other electrical stuff.

[Oneilkeys]

Thinking about it again, the emergency start switch probably would not work if the chassis battery breaker was tripped. So it very well might work now. That would leave you with "what tripped the breaker"? It could be the breaker is bad or a power surge set it off?

[Mo_Mike]

So can you test the emergency start switch if the chassis batteries are fully charged? Should the shore power be disconnected?

When the chassis battery was dead, I connected an external charger to the battery. When I energized the charger, there was a chattering of relays from under the hood. I am betting now this was the trombetta. I powered down the charger. Then powered it back up. Everything charged correctly then.

Thanks again for all your assistance. Everytime I think I understand the BIRD and trombetta, I find out how little I know.

[Oneilkeys]

That chattering was probably the Trombetta. The BIRD senses when the voltage gets above 12.8 v for a minute and then opens the Trombetta. You can check to see if the emergency start switch is working by unplugging shore power and turning on stuff in your coach and letting the coach batteries run down so they are lower than the chassis battery. Then have someone push the emergency start button while you read the voltage off the coach battery. If the emergency start button is working, the voltage on the coach batteries should go up to the voltage of the chassis battery as you hook the two battery systems together. I was actually more interested to see if using the emergency start switch would open the 100 amp breaker.