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Old 03-08-2021, 06:13 PM   #1
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2006 EB50 Electrical Issue; help?

Hello, brand new SMB owner, literally picked it up this weekend. I purchased knowing there was an electrical problem. I can troubleshoot electrical fairly well, with some guidance.

Previous owner stated there was an unidentified current draw (parasitic drain perhaps). He took it into a Ford dealer recently and they did some work to "fix" the issue. They ended up removing the thermal CB and short connector cable you see in the pics below. I have no idea where those were installed previously.

Right now, there is no power to the 110 volt outlets and the inverter does not come on when the two main circuit breakers are flipped to "on".

I've included photos of what's included in the current setup.

1) Where does the thermal circuit breaker belong in the system?

2) Where is a good place to start?

3) There's a component on the frame rail that ties the vehicle batteries together it seems...what is that?

I'll do my best to respond to all questions and will report any troubleshooting steps I take along the way.

Thanks for the help.
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Old 03-08-2021, 07:07 PM   #2
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The "what's this" item looks like a solenoid, same type I've used to supply switch-controlled power to winches.

The circuit breaker is currently in the open position. I believe, in my van, it's the first thing between the positive terminal of the house battery and the rest of the electrical system. I'd have to double-check, or maybe take a photo for you. I once thought I had a worn out breaker when it was tripping, so I replaced it, only to discover that I had a frayed wire in my electronic AMP step-boards that was intermittently shorting out.
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Old 03-08-2021, 07:54 PM   #3
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Post your general location. An experienced member nearby might be willing to meet and help you out.
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Old 03-08-2021, 08:08 PM   #4
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Post your general location. An experienced member nearby might be willing to meet and help you out.
Good call. I'm in Mesa AZ.
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Old 03-08-2021, 09:13 PM   #5
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Electrical Issue

1) Where does the thermal circuit breaker belong in the system?

- Normally on the battery.


- Are you still seeing a drain with the circuit breaker removed?


- The frame rail solenoid could be used for an air compressor like the Outback Extreme SMB uses. The Sure Power on the inside is what SMB uses to connect the two batteries. Not the best item and a Blue Sea ACR is often used to replace the Sure Power.

- The charge wizard is generally a converter used to charge the battery when on shore power if I recall. It often used when an inverter wasn't in the built or there was an inverter with no charger built in.
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Old 03-09-2021, 09:22 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by BVerhulst View Post
The "what's this" item looks like a solenoid, same type I've used to supply switch-controlled power to winches.

The circuit breaker is currently in the open position. I believe, in my van, it's the first thing between the positive terminal of the house battery and the rest of the electrical system. I'd have to double-check, or maybe take a photo for you. I once thought I had a worn out breaker when it was tripping, so I replaced it, only to discover that I had a frayed wire in my electronic AMP step-boards that was intermittently shorting out.
Brian, you're right. I traced the large gauge wire from that solenoid up to the starter. So, I do believe that's the starter solenoid, but also probably tied into the onboard air compressor as there are a couple of other leads coming off of it that get wrapped into the larger conduit.
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Old 03-09-2021, 10:24 AM   #7
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I would say the first thing to do is find out what works, obviously you have a missing breaker, being that it was 100 amp my first guess would air compressor. Sportmobile is not big on fusing at that battery, so you won't find much on those connection.

It does not appear that you have a inverter, so you will not get any 110 anywhere unless you plug in. You have a single pole 30 amp main, and one 15 amp branch circuit. Being that you have a charge wizard when plugged in you should see voltages that follow this profile . The next thing to check out is the surepower 1315. It will be bidirectional, so if you have a charge on your house battery IE solar, or your plugged in you should see the same voltage on both battery systems (allowing for any cable voltage drop). It might be good to cover the solar panel while checking out the other charging features, so as to not confuse.

The surepower will also supply power from the alternator when the engine is running. As others have said this is a big upgrade item, they generally have a life span, and tend to get a pretty high resistance on the inside contacts overtime, especially with solar. There are plenty of post on how this works, feel free to pm if needed.

I don't have a Zamp manual close by, but the general voltages will be 14.+ if it gets to absorption, when in float it will be some where around 13.3 volts. I would try and plug in and bring the batteries to a full charge before testing the solar. Then let is discharge some overnight.

If you don't have any power at the fuse panel, check the small breaker to the right of it in your picture.

Try checking out all of the switches and see if everything is working , you will probably come upon something that isn't, and then you can go from there.

It would be good to know if you have a air compressor, and/or winch?

-greg
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Old 03-09-2021, 12:08 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Scalf77 View Post
I would say the first thing to do is find out what works, obviously you have a missing breaker, being that it was 100 amp my first guess would air compressor. Sportmobile is not big on fusing at that battery, so you won't find much on those connection.

It does not appear that you have a inverter, so you will not get any 110 anywhere unless you plug in. You have a single pole 30 amp main, and one 15 amp branch circuit. Being that you have a charge wizard when plugged in you should see voltages that follow this profile . The next thing to check out is the surepower 1315. It will be bidirectional, so if you have a charge on your house battery IE solar, or your plugged in you should see the same voltage on both battery systems (allowing for any cable voltage drop). It might be good to cover the solar panel while checking out the other charging features, so as to not confuse.

The surepower will also supply power from the alternator when the engine is running. As others have said this is a big upgrade item, they generally have a life span, and tend to get a pretty high resistance on the inside contacts overtime, especially with solar. There are plenty of post on how this works, feel free to pm if needed.

I don't have a Zamp manual close by, but the general voltages will be 14.+ if it gets to absorption, when in float it will be some where around 13.3 volts. I would try and plug in and bring the batteries to a full charge before testing the solar. Then let is discharge some overnight.

If you don't have any power at the fuse panel, check the small breaker to the right of it in your picture.

Try checking out all of the switches and see if everything is working , you will probably come upon something that isn't, and then you can go from there.

It would be good to know if you have a air compressor, and/or winch?


-greg
Greg, thank you for taking some time with me on this.

So what works? Right now, the two in-cabin lights work and the external side light works and the two CO detectors work (speaking of these, are the green lighs always on drawing power?)....which I believe all are powered by the one AGM house battery. I have 12v at the fuse block and I'm registering 12v at the inverter input.

Regarding the removed breaker....if it was for the compressor, the compressor is functioning just fine right now.

If I don't have an inverter, what is the the large silver component?

I will check back on the surepower 1315 operational check. I do have 12v at each post of the surepower. Not identical power, but within a few tenths of each other...like 12.3 and 12.6.
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Old 03-09-2021, 12:12 PM   #9
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Here are the photos I meant to include in the previous reply.
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Old 03-09-2021, 12:55 PM   #10
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The large silver device is a "Converter" Converts 110 power to 12 volts, with the charge wizard it loosely becomes battery charger. A inverter will take 12 volts and produce 110 power, I do not see a inverter in any of the pictures.

Yes, the sensors one is probably propane, and one CO are always powered on and using battery power. Typically the sensors are on a smaller (3 amp) fuse, but I see the smallest you have is 10, so I/m not sure what they did. If storing for a long time you can pull the fuse to the sensors. Some builds have a disconnect switch, but this is not a normally installed feature by sportsmobile.

At this time the voltages on the surepower indicate no charge going on, one side is your house battery and one side is your starting batteries. Both are low at this time.

There is a video in this like that explains how the surepower works https://www.sportsmobileforum.com/fo...5-a-14502.html

Try plugging in and see if the converter works

-greg
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