noel wrote:I misunderstood. I do have the Chinook house battery starter. It did not work although I don't know if I was using it right.
Well I think the intended way to use it is that you hold it down (or "on") while you are cranking the engine. However, oftentimes they really aren't wired with as heavy a wire as you might want for that, so a way to "help" it along is to hold the switch on for some period of time before you crank the engine. Basically all the switch does is force the connection of the house battery bank to the start battery so you can use both. Of course your house bank has to be in a decent state to do this. Also, with certain really tragic start battery problems you might still have an issue because the start battery still stays in the picture (potentially dragging down the house battery more than if you could just start with the house battery and remove the start battery completely but that's not how they are wired. If your start battery was at 12.0 volts that would not be an issue probably because that's low but not killer dead (like say 10 or 11 volts).
noel wrote:The previous owner ungraded the battery isolator from stock. He is unavailable for the next couple of weeks.
We might have a clue here! Upgrading the isolator is a very good move, because the "old fashioned" type (which our rigs came with) has a built in voltage drop just due to the way it operates. That means that the charging voltage the alternator sends back to your house batteries when driving is reduced, which isn't a great thing. Most of the newer style ones work differently and there is not that inherent voltage drop. AND, depending on which one was installed, it may be taking the place of the jump start switch, so maybe that's why it wasn't working.
The unit I'm thinking of (which is what I would recommend upgrading to if someone asked me) is the Blue Sea 7622. If this is the new unit the PO put in, it has its OWN remote combiner switch, and or a switch right on the unit. So there is a chance that is being used instead. IF it was in the same location on your rig as on the Concourse/Fords, then Chinook put it on top of the driver's side fenderwell, under the hood (not the best location, but never mind that for now). So if you like you can look there.
The old Surepower 1315 is either a small black box or a small box with some contacts and a missing cover. The 7622 is a larger black box with a big yellow knob on the top - probably hard to miss. Looks like this. The little red square next to it is the remote switch.
noel wrote: I will report back on the starting battery and house batteries later today. Thanks.
Excellent. Some data may help track down the issue. To me it's just not fun if I have to wonder every time I go to start the rig "Will it start?" How much more satisfying to find a problem and fix it.
noel wrote: Have the rear stereo but have not used it.
Okay, well that's out as a culprit then. (And if you want to in future it can be re-wired to run only from the house bank.)