What is this toggle switch for?

War Eagle · 02-22-2017, 06:15 PM

Anyone know what this toggle switch is for? It's mounted under the driver-side dinette seat just above and behind the water pump. We have the tank heat pad option. Could it be for that? It's been switched on since we took position. I guess I can always shut it off and see what doesn't work. Or start pulling fuses and see which one sends power to the switch and what that fuse is ID'ed to control. Still waiting to hear from ETI about what it is.

Zardoz · 02-22-2017, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Anyone know what this toggle switch is for? It's mounted under the driver-side dinette seat just above and behind the water pump. We have the tank heat pad option. Could it be for that? It's been switched on since we took position. I guess I can always shut it off and see what doesn't work. Or start pulling fuses and see which one sends power to the switch and what that fuse is ID'ed to control. Still waiting to hear from ETI about what it is.

I suspect it's the battery shut-off switch.

PGDriver · 02-22-2017, 06:58 PM

Dale that's about the same location as my heated holding tank switch, that's my bet.

Cheers
Doug

cpaharley2008 · 02-22-2017, 07:01 PM

That was where my tank pad heater switch was located, you may want to turn it off to save your battery and also install a led indicator lamp.

War Eagle · 02-22-2017, 07:58 PM

Thanks, all. Since the battery cut-off switch is mounted on the front of the bench seat panel and clearly marked as such, I suspect this one is indeed the heat pad switch. Being switched on for at least the past 4 days, that might account for why my battery was down a bit after heavy cloud cover and rain all day yesterday. But we had a full day of sunshine today. Anyway, I went ahead and turned it off tonight. I think I'll pull the 20 amp fuse marked "Heat Pads" tomorrow and see if that cuts power to the switch. I like the idea of installing an LED indicator - probably red for this one. Thanks again....

Loren & Cathy · 02-22-2017, 08:53 PM

We have the heat pad option and that's where our switch is. Loren

H46Driver · 02-22-2017, 09:43 PM

Since we're sort of touching on the battery switch ..... is it supposed to isolate everything from the battery? Discovered today that with battery switch off my tongue jack and solar controller still work. Deciding if that is good or bad. Sort of liked the thought of the tongue jack not working if the battery is off - perhaps an additional theft inconvenience if it is extended although I suppose it would also result in more damage too.

Brian B-P · 02-22-2017, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H46Driver

Since we're sort of touching on the battery switch ..... is it supposed to isolate everything from the battery? Discovered today that with battery switch off my tongue jack and solar controller still work...

My understanding is that is supposed to be a storage switch, not a complete shutdown to allow safe work on the electrical system; as such, there are some things which could logically be connected so that they are not isolated from the battery by this switch. Exactly what is on which side of the switch appears to depend on year and model, but in general any circuit from the DC distribution panel in the power centre will be isolated.

Having the solar charge controller output connected on the battery side of the switch means that your solar system can keep your battery charged during storage, which seems like a good thing to me. Items which do not draw any power when not in use and will not be accidentally left running (examples: the brake system's breakaway switch... and the tongue jack) seem like reasonable candidates to bypass the isolation switch.

The switch is sized for the current which can be handled by the DC distribution panel in the power centre; it is not suitable for handling the high current needed by the optional 1500 watt inverter, so the inverter is not isolated by this switch.

H46Driver · 02-22-2017, 10:48 PM

Thank you BRian - makes sense!!

War Eagle · 02-22-2017, 11:44 PM

Reace just confirmed that the toggle switch under our driver side bench seat is for the holding tank heat pads. He apologized - it should have been labeled but was not, it should have been turned off before shipping but was not. On the plus side, he reminded me that the pads also incorporate a thermostatic switch, so no electrical power is consumed even with the switch turned "ON" unless it turns cold. I think I knew that, but forgot, so it was a welcome reminder. Rease was as puzzled by the randomly glowing taillight LED emitters as the rest of us. I'll keep him posted on those....

cpaharley2008 · 02-23-2017, 06:56 AM

The main battery switch turns everything off inside the trailer, except for the solar hookup. Your power jack, being outside has it's own off/on switch.

NW Cat Owner · 02-23-2017, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by War Eagle

Reace just confirmed that the toggle switch under our driver side bench seat is for the holding tank heat pads. He apologized - it should have been labeled but was not, it should have been turned off before shipping but was not. On the plus side, he reminded me that the pads also incorporate a thermostatic switch, so no electrical power is consumed even with the switch turned "ON" unless it turns cold. I think I knew that, but forgot, so it was a welcome reminder. Rease was as puzzled by the randomly glowing taillight LED emitters as the rest of us. I'll keep him posted on those....

Good to know. At least you got an "on" and "off" labels. We didn't get that. I need to print some out.

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