Chinook RV

Hi, I need to find a pre 1997 Chinook Concourse owner, preferably 1995. I need to get some information off of your battery disconnect switch. I am trying to find a switch for mine. Hopefully you could find the manufacturer of the switch, and a part number. You would have to take the switch cover plate loose fro the dash, but mine only has two screws attaching it to the dash.

Any help would be appreciated.

Alan in Ohio

Okay, sorry, but me again with the '99. Just in case you don't find another person with that year Chinook (or in the meantime). That looks like a fairly common switch brand. Like maybe a Carling? Most parts like these are made by common manufacturers. Is there any info on the other (non-lighted) switch that you do still have? If so, you'd have the brand and could perhaps find a lighted one. Here are a few links that might help. I think these would be called "rocker switches." They should be 12-volt type. Another option would be to get two new switches of the same size, that match and fit the hole. There are some fairly standard sizes. Actually, looking at the "good" switch panel in your first photo, the lighted/red rocker switch is not even the same style (exactly) as the non-lighted one. They are just both the same "standard size" and basic type.

Here are some places that have lots of switches, and they are commonly used in vehicles, etc.

https://www.carlingtech.com/switches

http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/ProductsServ ... ton.com/vc

http://www.k4switches.com/

I can't measure yours, of course, but just going by eye here is one possibility from the links above. Presuming it's the correct size (they are usually somewhat standard), it would snap in to your opening (although it looks like your opening is a bit cut up - but then maybe you are going to make a new panel out of black ABS or something? Or just a slight "cover panel" for that one switch area):
K-four:
http://www.k4switches.com/switches-12/i ... witch.html

Pardon me if I'm giving you more info than you wanted (and not from a pre-'97 rig); but I just was thinking that when I first started doing this sort of thing, I didn't really realize that most of this type of part came from "suppliers" and were not really unique to the vehicle. (Of course there ARE custom parts, but not typically this sort of thing - maybe the switch panel backing was, for example.)

PS: Of course it is obvious for many reasons and you have already figured it out anyway, but one "clue" that someone has changed your switch panel around is that it no longer has Chinook's standard "Robertson" (square) drive screws holding it to the dash (you can see them in your example photo of an unchanged panel).

Thanks BG, I checked my emergency start switch and it was manufactured by "Arrow England", I looked at their website and they have several red lighted rocker switches, but I was hoping that if I could find the part number I could maybe get the right switch. I had previously corresponded with "Kevin Darling" who had the same switch setup as mine, so I have been trying to contact him. He was the one who sent me the front and back pictures of his switches, but his wiring had been replaced and was all red wires. By the way I finally got my emergency start switch hooked up, and it activates the solenoid, but haven't figured out how to check if it is doing anything other than clicking the solenoid.

Thanks for the information, and contacts. I'm currently working with Aubrey's RV Center in Washington who was a Chinook supplier in the day.

Is it anything other than a single pole, single throw on/off switch? On my rig there is a little additional circuit, because there is a light and buzzer that tell you to "turn this switch on, dummy" if the generator is on and the switch is off (because in my rig if the switch is not on the generator charging will not get to the house bank). I don't see anything like that on yours though (do you?), so I would think it is just a simple on/off switch (lighted). It must be controlling a relay of some sort, because you would need a really heavy duty switch to "actually" turn the house bank on and off (like the Blue Sea Marine switch I showed, which is in a whole 'nother league from a little rocker switch).

So if it's just turning on/off, then the switch I showed (or similar) should be fine. It's rated for 20 amps, and I wouldn't think you would have anything like that running through it since it is clearly not directly switching the big battery cables (which is what the Blue Sea type switch would be doing).

Be interested to hear what you find out (other than my own thoughts).

You're probably right about the switch, maybe I'm trying to make it more complicated than it has to be. I had ordered and received a red lighted rocker switch and received it. It has 3 posts, now I just need to figure out what wires need to be connected to it, and on which posts. I'll have to do some more checking but if I remember correctly I have a loose yellow wire that goes to the positive post of the house battery, an orange wire which goes to the other solenoid as purple, and maybe a white ground wire. Like I said, I need to check again.

Another question: when I unplug my rig from my home a/c system, I don't appear to have any electric in the rv, unless I start the generator. Does that mean that my house battery is dead?

you've got 2 systems in most RV's
AC (shore power and gen_
DC (battery)

Does the DC side not work? overhead lights? what are you using to test for power? is there a DC battery main switch (maybe that's what this thread is about.. I'm jumping in mid stream)

Thanks for jumping in, I can use all the help that I can get. What I am experiencing is that my 12 volt system works as long as I am plugged in to my a/c source or when my generator is running, but when I'm not getting power from either one of those sources the dc system doesn't work. I was thinking that my house battery should pick up, at least until it runs down. Am I wrong in my thinking?

no you're right. Sounds like you need to test the battery. (twice.. once with a power source coming in, once with out. If you're seeing 12+V with a power source and like 11- without.. the battery is toast.)
there's a change there's an issue with charging, but I'd check the age of the battery and/or take it to auto parts store for bench testing.

Side note, I my 2 regular marine batteries my RV came with were usable, but just. They were only 3+ years old, but not maintained well. I replaced with 3 AGM group 31's from costo and even though it was $600 worth of batteries... I'm glad I did it (was worried at the time if I was making the right choice budget wise... now 6 months later I'll say I'd do it again without a second thought)

almost forgot.. I did upgrade to a 3 (4?) stage charger though... the single stage the units came with aren't good for batteries either.. Blue can go into more detail.