Two Inline fuses at the house battery

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NickL
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Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by NickL »

I just purchased 2004 Chinook Concourse XL. I noticed at the house battery there are two inline fuses. From what i saw on this forum, one may for the Solar panel on the roof. I also have a solar panel monitor located right side of where the VCR and radio is located on the passenger side.

For what it worth, I have 3 (14 gage I assume.) heavy wires from the positive terminal heading into the unit. Just mentioned incase it is may help in analyzing the situation.

Other than disconnecting the fuses and search the inside to see what is not working, I was wondering if someone may know why i have two inline fuse. I have not checked the amps on the fuse.


Thanks for your time,

NickL
NickL
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by NickL »

This is NickL

I just looked at the two inline fuses closer. On is labeled 7.5 amps for solar panel and the other says 25 amps labeled MAX.

What that may be? 25 amp MAX?

NickL
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kdarling
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by kdarling »

The wiring diagrams and manuals in the Reference section only seem to show 15A and 50A fuses.

Gotta love Chinook. Always experimenting with the wiring :D

MAX must mean something. Who made the power distribution box?
1994 Concourse dinette, Ford 7.5L (460 V8)
NickL
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by NickL »

Kdarling

At this time, I have no idea who made the distribution box. Sorry.

NickL
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Blue~Go
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by Blue~Go »

Coupla thoughts now that I have Internet (after two weeks without a scrap unless I drove ten miles, it's like a miracle!).

1) The 7.5 amp inline fuse being for the solar is typical, so that sounds right.

2) A fuse holder with 25 Amps Max printed on it could simply be the manufacturer of the fuse holder telling you the largest fuse size they say you can use (of course that doesn't take into account your wiring because they can't possibly know how it will be used). Mfgrs will often say something like that. Kind of like how your tires say 80 lbs. max pressure but that's not suitable for our rigs so we inflate according to our weights (but it is the max for the tire). My era Chinook only had the one inline fused wire going to the battery, and that's because of course they wanted the solar trickle charge going in even if the rig was in "Store" position (also that wire is also *ridiculously* long and thin, so why add another 30' round trip (although that's never stopped them before ;) ).

3) Hopefully your three "heavy" wire from the battery positive terminal are larger than 14 gauge. In my era Chinook used 8AWG for the run back to the brown box (still pitifully small for the really long run), and, IIRC, 4AWG for the run to the combiner/start battery. If you have another heavy wire that may be the generator start wire, which was moved from the Ford start battery to the Chinook house battery around the 2000-2001 time frame. On my rig that was 6AWG (yep, way too long and small).

In case it sounds like I'm down on Chinook, let me just say that compared to other RV's I've seen they did a pretty good job. And it's reasonably well documented. But they still had quite a few wire runs that were way too long/small for their loads, and a few things don't have overcurrent protection (but again, neither did most anyone else in the RV field). I don't mind upgrading (after all, even the best 1999 electrical would be out of date now plus wouldn't be set up for my use case), and Chinook made it relatively easy with good documentation (at least for my era), color coding, tidy runs, etc.

BG

PS: Just thinking again about that additional inline fuse. Is it the same type/style as the solar fuse? If so, then it seems more likely it was a Chinook addition for your year. It would be something that they'd want on even if the rig is in "store" position. The electric step came to mind. That would typically be tied into the ignition (so it retracts when you drive), but I don't know if they would have powered it from the house or start bank. Some kind of heated floor? (But then that wouldn't need to be live when in "store" position.). Or if it doesn't "match" Chinook style then maybe something a previous owner added. Stereo? Or?
1999 Concourse
NickL
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by NickL »

Thanks BLUE for your response.

SORRY ABOUT MY COMMENT STATING IT IS A 14 GAGE WIRES FROM THE BATTERIES ABOVE. Like you said it should not be. I don't know why I said 14 gage when I did not check.

As for the second fuse, like you said it could be for the steps. i will keep that in mind. No stereo system installed. Previous owner had AVIC7100NEX Radio/Navigational system installed. Also Apple CarPay. Power is from vehicle battery. Yes, the both fuse holders are the same size and i have not disconnect them to check the amps. (Lack of experience and I did not want to screw up anything. lol)

Different Subject Blue: I noticed on the driver side above the brake peddle area, there is a unit about 2 1/4 inch squire, 3/4 think object with an black wire antenna, hooked up to the ignition system and other wire going somewhere. I assume it was for the steps and entry door lock system because of the antenna. Just guessing. The unit is not secured and it just wedged above back of the dash so it would not drop. As you well may know, the 2004 Chinook has battery operated key FOB for locking up the vehicle and entry door. I am assuming that what the square unit is for.

Happy to say the 2004 Chinook is doing well, otherwise.

Thanks for you input and time.

NickL
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kdarling
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by kdarling »

Blue~Go wrote:2) A fuse holder with 25 Amps Max printed on it could simply be the manufacturer of the fuse holder telling you the largest fuse size they say you can use (of course that doesn't take into account your wiring because they can't possibly know how it will be used).
lol. Of course. Duh.

I was visualizing owner labeled wires (like mine) at the time.
1994 Concourse dinette, Ford 7.5L (460 V8)
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Blue~Go
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by Blue~Go »

And fair enough. After all, Chinook did paste little labels that say just that on their added Ford/start battery fuse block. But since this was on the house battery, I was picturing a "stray" little inline blade or glass fuse holder. A photo would be great....Nick?

Here, for example, is the Chinook added fuse block in my Concourse (but this is under the dash and runs off the start system, not the house):
Auxilliary fuse block annotated 2.png
1999 Concourse
NickL
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by NickL »

Blue~Go wrote:And fair enough. After all, Chinook did paste little labels that say just that on their added Ford/start battery fuse block. But since this was on the house battery, I was picturing a "stray" little inline blade or glass fuse holder. A photo would be great....Nick?

Here, for example, is the Chinook added fuse block in my Concourse (but this is under the dash and runs off the start system, not the house):
The attachment Auxilliary fuse block annotated 2.png is no longer available

Blue,

I am guessing you want a photo of the two fuse I have at the house batteries.

NickL
IMG_0340.JPG
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Blue~Go
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Re: Two Inline fuses at the house battery

Post by Blue~Go »

Super helpful photo - thanks, Nick. Well, that does look to me like original Chinook, or at least a good chance. Because those look like their labels, and it looks like the solar fuse in style. So, what if you remove the fuse.... what doesn't work? It would be something that doesn't run through the normal fuse panel at the brown box, almost surely.

As a side note, if there was ever a photo crying for a bus bar.... (a bus bar basically tidies up your battery terminals, so they aren't *loaded* with large cables like yours are, plus you can then fuse properly). Not that that's at all unusual. What I mean is, yours isn't some awful exception. And of course not everyone is going to prioritize changing it.

But anyway, yeah, I guess I'd first noodle over what might want to be powered (at least in Chinook's estimation) even when the rig is in "store" position, and what *isn't* fused on the brown box, and then remove the fuse and see if you can find out what doesn't work (and then does work again when you put the fuse back in). Then let us know since we are in suspense now :D
1999 Concourse
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