Wiring Knowledge (Battery Isolation Manager) (part 1)

[TowPro]

So I have been going through how my Coach is wired and here is my findings.


First lets start with the Battery Isolation Manager (in foot well of entrance steps)
Here is the picture of diagram.
Here is a picture of mine.

I see the following Fuses are missing



F1= Emergency Start (but J1 is wired to something. (I assume J1 would go to the front where you could press a button or switch to have coach battery start engines?



F3=Outside TV (and I have an outside TV 12V outlet, need to check power)


F7= Radio Power (and its wired. both radios keep time, dash radio is wired to MB wires for this).


F11 =Subwoofer, I don't think I have one, so where would this wire go? (if I wanted to install one)



Special Note.
F6 = Kitchen Slide-out. I don't have a kitchen slide, wonder where this wire goes?
I do have a Red wire feeding the rear Stabilizers, and its logic (see below) wants the engine running.



Logic:

When Engine is running and parking brake is on I have 12V to the slides on wires J4, J5 and j8.


When engine is running I have no voltage to J14 (awning) But when engine shuts off I have voltage to J14.


Next up One control System (part 2)

[TowPro]

above my refreg is the following OneControl modules.

They were all laying in a pile so I mounted them on surfaces.


we have the Wifi and control module (stacked on top of each other) no picture.


I have the Tank Module (only 1/2 in picture


I have teh Lighting control module (full picture below)


A generator module (on RS of picture


and a motor control module (bottom picture.


in the Basement I have 3 more, 2 slide control modules and another tank monitor.






I added decals to tell what each fuse/output was for after checking logic with test light.


The outputs of this module go High (12V) or open depending on the value set (on or off) in Onecontrol computer.


Special note is output 3. on my computer it shows lower accent lighting, but there is nothing connected.



Question: How can I change this programming? IE remove Lower Accent output, or change name? or turn on remaining outputs to new circuits I might run (basement lights, etc) and name them?


Next picture Motor Controller board.




These outputs are wired in Pairs. the screw pair only has output when your pressing a button on the OneControl system (example open/close) and output reverses polarity which button your pressing.



Mine only has 1 fuse installed in it.
the yellow wires coming in are 12V. The input is only live when engine is running. (this is why awning only works with engine on)



Output 1 (white wires) is the control for the Awning.


Output 2 is empty


Output 3 and 4 are wired to something, but there is nothing else on Onecontrol system menu? (again, how can I add this).



based on the wire color, I have a feeling this output is spliced into the rear stabilizers.

(note: If you change the input to this controller to Full Time power, you can open and close your awning without running engine )



I have 2 modules left to explore. There seems to be 2 related to tank gauges, and I notice there is logic for water heater about not working on gas when engine is running?

maybe next weekend.

[TowPro]

Here is what it looks like behind the radio.
Sorry the picture is on its side, I tried several times to get this right.


I found one of the RR speaker wires had come out of the radio connector.


I need to see where this Orange 75ohm coax goes. Maybe to Coach roof antenna? But radio is 50ohm load.


special note, see the MB antenna connector handing on right side of opening? wonder where that antenna is?


radio gets it 12V to keep memory from MB harness. But it still randomly looses time (but not station memory). I think its a radio problem.


I also see there is no harness to connect steering wheel controls into radio.



Without this harness I have no reason to stick with Sony radio if I replace it to get Sirius radio in coach.


I did not take pictures but the worse rats nest is on LS of dash where they "stuffed" the video controller and side traffic warning system. its a mess.

[TowPro]

I found the programming module for the OneConnect system.

https://lci-support-doc.s3.amazonaws...cd_0001736.pdf
I will try to find time later this week to see if I can get in.

[LucasCali]

Thx for taking the time to post your experiences.

I previously was having a problem with starting my MH (2018 Coachmen Prism 2200) (by Forest River). My Chassis Battery would be dead within 24-hours after charging all night (numerous times it left me Stranded. Took it to MBZ Dealer to checkout. They said “it was drawing 485mamps, and that should be under 50mamps. I could Not duplicate their results with my tester, but I was reading 26amps. (As a Side Note, the MBZ Tech advised me the Chassis Battery was Not MBZ, “No Big Deal, as the Bare Chassis sit for along time before the MH is built on them. Additionally, a Wire under the Drivers Seat was spliced, and that since it was a MBZ Wire that would Void my Electrical Warranty,) that part did not bother me much as I’m sure it was when Coachmen cut/spliced the Seatbelt Wiring when Re-covering The Front Seats.

Got in touch with Coachmen Prism (Ross) that sent me the Coach Wiring Diagrams. During our Emails I explained the problem, from which he suggested to check the “Camera Switcher”, as it should be wired off the “Downstream side of the Ignition Key”.

Armed with this info I headed to a Stereo Repair shop. As a Test, they disconnected my Stereo, and also disconnected the Camera Switcher, and Steering Wheel Buttons for the Radio, as both were wired off the Hot Side of the Chassis Battery. Using my Tester I read only a Draw of 0.26amps. 4-days later I went to the MH and it started without a problem.

Took it back to Stereo Repair Shop so that could advise and hook things back up Down Stream of the Chassis Ignition Key. Would you know it in the 30-minutes took hook everything back up, the Chassis Battery was Dead, resulting in them needed to Jump Start the Engine.

So off to MBZ to again run their Elec Test, and replace the Battery with OEM Battery (I’m Anal), but also wanted their Test.

End result: their test resulted in 26mamps or so, my test showed 0.26amps.

Haven’t had any problems with the MH starting in 6-weeks. It was trust worthy enough for a trip to Boise, ID

Your statement on 50ohm has raised my curiosity, can elaborate?

Thx in advance LucasCali

PS your Rats Nest looked good compared to what Coachmen did to my unit.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by LucasCali

End result: their test resulted in 26mamps or so, my test showed 0.26amps.

PS your Rats Nest looked good compared to what Coachmen did to my unit.

26 milliamps is 0.026 amps, 1/10 as much as 0.26 amps. Someone can't read his meter.

[TowPro]

Today I got to do more testing.

That picture of the Battery Isolation Manager shows how nice FR has it labeled.

First thing I did was trace J14 (F10-Red Awning).
It passes through the bulkhead in the box and goes down between the outside cabinet and the chassies in a wire loom you can see laynig under the rig. This REd wire goes about 6" and is cut off, with tape wrapped around it .

So much for the awning wire.

So I start reading the lable on door to BIM

Both J2 and J8 are labeled bedroom slide?
J6 for kitchen slide and J3 for living room slide?

This must be universal "one size fits all" module.


Next I pull each wire to see what it really does:

J2 is labeled rear bedroom slide: it really is the power for the rear stabilizers

J4 is labeled Living-room slide: It really is the power for the Bedroom slide.

J6 is labeled Kitchen slide: It really is the power for the awning.

J8 is labeled bedroom slide: It really is the power for the living room slide.

Next I put a "toner" on the fat (10G?) red wire on J6 marked Awning to see where it goes. I find it (changes color from Red to Yellow) and goes up into cabinet where all the control modules are. Its supplying power to the Multi Function Receiver.
on mine, this receiver has the awning motor on output pair 1.

So lets think about this:
J6 is only hot when engine is running.. This is where the power wire for the control module that runs awning is currently connected.

J14 is only hot when engine is NOT running, and it has a thin red wire connected to it that goes out of BIM box and is cut and taped...

So if you were to take the fat red wire off of J6, and plug it into J14, you would have an awning module that works only when motor is not running.

But wait, remember I complained about the stabilizer switches only worked with engine running, and as soon as you move them down the alarm starts to scream so loud you can't even hear the jacks move?
While looking at this Multi Function Receiver, I notice something wired to output pair 3 and 4, but nothing is programmed into the OneControl system. The wire color seems to match the stabilizer jack system. I get my wife to "bump" the stabilizer switches as I pin out the wires with a test light, sure enough, the stabilizers are wired to the Multi Function Receiver.

So I program the One Control Multi Function Receiver for outputs 3 and 4.
everything went good with 3, assigned fuse, added name and label, but output 4 would not let me assign fuse so I switched wires to output 2. Programming complete.


Now the awning AND stabilizers (when using OneControl) work with engine OFF (and alarm never goes off).
But if you forget to raise stabilizers and you start the coach the alarm will scream.

Now the One Control will only raise/lower stabilizers with engine off, and switches on wall will only raise/lower stabilizers with engine on.




More tomorrow, I think my Progressive Dynamics charger is not working and the 100w solar is my only charging system.

[TowPro]

Here is what I found on the TV coax wiring today.


on my Forester, over the door is a cabinet that you can put a satellite receiver in.

In the top (open) cabinet is a wall plate that has a HDMI and a coax cable.
The HDMI goes to the front TV, the coax cable would be where you hook up the Satellite receiver. BUT on hidden side of this wall plate there is a a purple cable which I assume goes up to the roof "Satellite ready" connector.

In lower cabinet (has door on it) there is a cover plate with a switch, led light and coax jack.
The switch (and light) is for the TV antenna power.

When you remove this from cover plate from wall you will see 3 cables. (ports are marked on board, your colors might be different)

The black coax goes to a port marked Cable. This cable goes over to my Driver side mid ship outside where I have 1 external port with water tight cover that says TV.

There is a violet coax cable coming off that goes to Roof Antenna.

There is a Gray coax coming off that says TV2. This goes down through the wall to under the sink where there is a splitter. one output goes to TV jack on Passenger side outside and other output goes to rear TV.


in this same cabinet is a black coax that comes out of a hole and connects to the jack on switch side of wall plate. this cable goes to front TV antenna input.


Now my modifications.
(This is easier of you remove the radio from this TV cabinet)

Since I have a windgard x2 dish, I need an input that is on ground level I can use.

1) Remove TV antenna switch from wall. I removed the black coax that goes to the back side of this switch to the port labeled cable. I ran this black cable up to where purple coax cable is connected (wall port that has 1 coax and 1 HDMI). I just removed the purple cable and left it loose in cabinet.

I connect the W2 dish to outside drivers side port labeled TV, and than connect the receiver to the port above the HTMI outlet.
I also connect the HDMI output from satellite receiver to this same HDMI port, and it is connected to TV.
Hook up dish, turn front TV to HDMI1 and everything works.

2) (not done yet). I will take the coax output from the Satellite receiver, (using new wall switch plate because I need 1 additonal coax pass through) and connect it to the TV switch port marked Cable where I removed this black coax cable. This will allow me to use my Satellite receiver (set to channel 4) to feed my outside and Rear TV. Sure this will only supply standard definition signal to them but I can't see how I can run HDMI to them.

If I am ever in a place where I can't use the Satellite receiver, I will just unscrew the Dish feed wire off the back of my receiver, and the TV out wire from the back of receiver, and connect the to of them together.

this will end up connecting the original Black wire back to the Cable port on the Antenna switch and I can watch Cable TV on all 3 TV's


also in this cabinet (you will see when you pull radio) is an orange coax that comes down, goes to splitter, one side of splitter goes to radio, other side goes to front radio in dash.


as a side note, when I re-installed the TV antenna switch I put it in upside down. this way you can actually see the button and the LED light. Before it was hidden by the coax cable that goes to the front TV.

[TowPro]

More info on the Body Control Module. I read here MB don't let FR use the emergency push button to start, but I was under the drivers seat and I saw a couple wires coming up from the body that just ended under the drivers seat with wire nuts on it. I bet one was for the emergency start.
This followed a heavy Red wire that goes to a 150A beaker under seat, than was tied to the 12V terminal of battery. I assume that same heavy wire went to the BCM (batt-B?).


what I am trying to figure out is how this Solar controller is wired. the BIM160 says "it charges the coach battery when it sees the house battery is being charged" so why does this Solar controller have a battery A (house) and battery B (coach) where it charges A than switches to B once A is charged (all based on voltage which I don't agree with).

http://www.precisioncircuitsinc.com/...ger-Rev7-1.pdf


but no downloads on the battery control center.

http://precisioncircuitsinc.com/prod...trol-center-2/

[RedLdr1]

It seems how the units are wired changes fairly often but here is how our new 2400Q is wired. The capped wires under drivers seat are for a electric trailer brake controller. And the FR OEM 100 watt solar kit is hardwired to the coach batteries.

I need to start tracing wires to confirm the solar wiring when it quits raining and warms up a bit.

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by RedLdr1

It seems how the units are wired changes fairly often but here is how our new 2400Q is wired. The capped wires under drivers seat are for a electric trailer brake controller. And the FR OEM 100 watt solar kit is hardwired to the coach batteries.

I need to start tracing wires to confirm the solar wiring when it quits raining and warms up a bit.

I think there was 3 wires capped under seat. I might need to wire a brake controller as well, so I need to check that out. But I was told don't tap into the MB brake light circuit, so maybe another one of those feeds under seat is from that module stuffed under rear bumper that adapts MB rear lights harness to FR lights?



I have to pickup a 2 axle 7x14 trailer 1000 miles north of me next spring (after salt washes off roads). the trailer is 1200 lbs empty, plus I will load a some things in it but will be below my max weight of towing. I think a brake controller might be nice.

[KatanaPilot]

Originally Posted by TowPro

More info on the Body Control Module. I read here MB don't let FR use the emergency push button to start, but I was under the drivers seat and I saw a couple wires coming up from the body that just ended under the drivers seat with wire nuts on it. I bet one was for the emergency start.
This followed a heavy Red wire that goes to a 150A beaker under seat, than was tied to the 12V terminal of battery. I assume that same heavy wire went to the BCM (batt-B?).


what I am trying to figure out is how this Solar controller is wired. the BIM160 says "it charges the coach battery when it sees the house battery is being charged" so why does this Solar controller have a battery A (house) and battery B (coach) where it charges A than switches to B once A is charged (all based on voltage which I don't agree with).

http://www.precisioncircuitsinc.com/...ger-Rev7-1.pdf


but no downloads on the battery control center.

http://precisioncircuitsinc.com/prod...trol-center-2/

The Dynamax Isata 3 (also an MBS chassis) has a standard battery boost switch that activates the relay to tie the coach and chassis batteries together. You can do it yourself on the Forester versions. I posted how I did it several years ago here


http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ll-125825.html

[TowPro]

Here is the logic on the BIM 160.

for MH engine to charge coach:
12v on IGN terminal.
Chassis battery must be above 13.3v.
Coach battery must be below 12.6v.
There is about a 20 second delay
After 1 hour the BIM stops the charging and goes through this same voltage comparison above to see if further charging is necessary.

For Coach Charger to charge chassis battery:
Chassis battery must be above 13.3v
Coach battery must be below 12.6v.
After 1 hour the BIM stops the charging and goes through this same voltage comparison above to see if further charging is necessary.

[TowPro]

Part numbers and explanations:


my Light module 671849 will only turn 9 lights "on or off".
If you want to DIM your lights you need module 436375 ($426.95).
According to the Tech, This module also has "inputs" where you use a wall switch to send low current 12V positive voltage to the correct input to turn on the light that is on matching output.



I am sure other android users have this problem, your out in your camper and realize you have not gotten any email for hours and you discover your phone jumped onto the oneconnect WIFI (which is not on the internet). You COULD be using a Bluetooth Gateway to connect to your RV. BlueTooth Gateway 716771 ($235.95)

But I think most phones can only connect to one bluetooth gateway at a time, and since your driving it should be your hands free radio your phone is connected to . and I think it takes manual intervention to move from one to the other.
My solution was to leave this this old(er) amazon fire I hacked so I can load android apps.

[TowPro]

this is under the drivers side seat. an interface between Forest River wires and MBS wires.

Left = white with Yellow = Hot with key on
Center = Red = always hot
RS = Little red = hot only when engine is running.


I did not trace there wires, but I suspect the Little Red goes to J11 on BIM = Ignition
not sure where the other 2 go.


Oh, see that blue wire floating in there? that goes to 7 pin connector for Brake. This is the one FR told me 2 times now on phone that it is not there. This was tested with toner and meter by applying positive to it and seeing that show up on 7 pin connector.

[TowPro]

I posted this somewhere else, but figured I would add this here.


My 7 pin wiring was installed by FR. there was a blue wire running up to under the seat, but the factory MBS connect would never have power on it. (my MBS has trailer tow from factory).
the tech at Tekonsha said "once you plug a trailer into the rear harness the MB towing harness should turn on".
My MB has the factory tow package so I figured "this factory 7 pin wiring has to be under the RV" and I went looking.



Turns out ForestRiver took the factory tow 7 pin connector and rolled it up into a loop with zip ties and tied it up next to the frame and sprayed foam all over it.


Once I found this I did a test. I plugged in my trailer and sure enough, the factory brake controller connector under the seat went hot. .


so I bought a 7 pin mount and mounted the factory 7 pin end under the body. (since FR extends the frame on the MB, the factory harness is too short to reach back bumper).
I had a M/FM 7 pin extender cable 4' long left from my hitch extender that I used on my Pickup camper rig. I plugged this into the MB factory 7 pin connector and I mounted the FM connector from this cable to where the FR connector was installed on the pumper. I than taped the FR connector up and hid it under the RV.


Now I have the MB factory software package controlling my brake controller .


Just did a 2000 mile trip and it worked perfect.

[TowPro]

sorry everyone, pictures were lost in a Godaddy failure. I don't keep the originals but even if I went and replaced the photos I can't edit the posts, so they are GONE.

[Yessir]

towpro, thanks for the info. I found my MB factory trailer harness and it works like a champ! Thanks to your post...The Guys at my RV center and Forest River said it couldn't be done too.

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by Yessir

towpro, thanks for the info. I found my MB factory trailer harness and it works like a champ! Thanks to your post...The Guys at my RV center and Forest River said it couldn't be done too.

Glad i can help