Roadtrek DC power disconects

[Wandering Dave]

I am having a problem with my DC power - I think every 12 volt device has caused this to happen(turning on a light, activating the fresh water pump or the macerator, the furnace, sometimes nothing seems to cause it) the blue power light stays on but nothing functions. This has been happening for years and now is getting worse. Pushing the momentary contact rocker switch on the electrical panel above the side door produces a clicking sound from the rear of the van and shuts off the main power light. Pushing it again produces another clicking from the back of the van and everything works again. But lately this resetting has to be done multiple times before power is restored, sometimes I have had to reset it 20 or 30 times or more before power comes back. I am now afraid one time it will not reset at all. I have been researching this issue online and wonder if the Intellitec Disconnect Relay is malfunctioning which seems to be a common problem.

Anyway the other problem is that I am on the road for the next probably 4 months, so the possibility of going to a dealer is out for now, as is trying to find a replacement relay. And to order one and have it shipped to who knows where and then swap in a new one is something I don’t look forward to attempting. So I am wondering, since I want the power to be on for months, how about if I get some heavy duty wire and maybe an off/on switch and make a jump from one side of the relay to the other? Just as a temporary fix, bypass the relay to get me through the summer and replace the relay later?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated.

Thanks, Dave

[hbn7hj]

That would work.

It would be better to replace the relay. Any doofus should be able to do it. Disconnect the battery first.

https://www.amazon.com/INTELLITEC-01...0-4513d670b6bc

[michaelingp]

If you can safely install a "heavy duty wire and maybe an on/off switch" you can certainly safely install a new relay in about the same amount of time.

[Wandering Dave]

Ah if I only had the relay - I am in the middle of the high Nevada desert, have not taken the time to look for one here but am guessing it would be a futile search. I just want to enjoy my time on the road and put off spending time fixing things until I get back home as much as i can. There is so much to fix! Thank you for your fast reply, most appreciated, Dave

[Wandering Dave]

Thank you!

[michaelingp]

The Intelletec is a latching relay, meaning it doesn't need any power except to change it from off to on or on to off. So all the times I've heard that it failed, it was just hard to get it to move one way or the other, which is what you report. So if you get it to the "on" position, it should just stay that way indefinitely. Could you just leave it on and fix it later? Another thing a service person told us is to start the engine and that sometimes gives the relay a bit more power to do its thing. Otherwise, enjoy the desert!

Another thought I had was that the easiest way to jumper the relay (and probably safest) is to just move both terminals under one nut. No need for another piece of heavy wire, etc.

[booster]

The symptoms the OP is seeing don't seem to line up with how an Intellitec bistable relay works.


If the power is removed from an Intellitec is will stay in the same position and most RVs use a two way rocker switch with an indicator light that comes on with the power. The OP said that they push the switch once and then push it again then it will work for a while and that sounds more like an alternate acting relay than a two input bistable relay like the Intellitec. If it is an Intellitec, I think it would require an alternate acting relay to be in the circuit between it and the single acting momentary switch.


The fact that the power indicator stays on but the devices go off might be more of a clue and especially that it most often happens when something is turned on. That sounds a lot like it could be weak circuit breaker or bad connection that somehow or gets better resets when the power goes on and off.


We probably need to know the model and year of the Roadtrek so we can find out more about how it is wired and what relay it has in it.

[Wandering Dave]

My Roadtrek is a 2013 model 190 Popular. To me what is happening is like a circuit breaker tripping as everything shuts down instantly when something is turned on. What I have tried to figure out is why does shutting off the main power on the electrical panel and turning it back on again restore the power(until the next shutdown)? I understand there are circuit breakers that reset themselves but I would think there would be a delay before they did. I would have expected there to be a main breaker that would trip in the event of an overload that would need to be manually reset like I have in my house panel. I have a photo of the relay, which is not easy to get at but am not sure how to include it here, I will work on that or if there is a trick to adding it on I would be happy to hear of it.

Most grateful for you fast and thoughtful replies!

[Wandering Dave]

As a follow up for those who may have a similar problem - I did bypass the relay by connecting one side to the other and this has ended my problem. I have been living with this intermittent issue for years, very frustrating. Previously I had installed a battery cut off switch directly on the battery because there was a small amount of drain on the battery even when the main power was shut off on the main power panel, so now this is my main shut off. Not as convenient and it does require a key to get to it but the only time I shut off the power is when I am not using the van and need to have the power fully off so the switch on the power panel was really only possibly useful as a handy emergency cut off. Maybe for some people getting into the space to replace the relay would be easy but for me it looks pretty constricted probably requiring purchase of more tools and then since the relay I have failed so soon whats to say a new one would last any longer? This is a lesson I learned from my ongoing problem with the voltage separator relay that works or sometimes does not even though I have replaced it twice now.