Just Purchased a Keystone Cougar 5th Wheel

[mhbell]

We just Purchased a 2016 Keystone Cougar 277RLSWE 5th wheel It has a solar panel and 4 house batteries. Table and 4 chairs instead of a dinette. I will be doing the Walk Thru this coming Thursday. I noticed when the disconnect switch is off you can still turn on some of the Lights and they blink. Same with the radio and there is a clicking sound like a relay coming from the outside speakers with the radio off and the disconnect switch in off position. appears to be feed back of some sort. When disconnect switch is in the on position everything appears to work normally. Don't know if solar and batteries are factory or not. The dealer is aware of this problem. Anything I should be aware of during my walk thru and inspection. would like to hear from other cougar owners.
TIA
Mel
:facepalm:

[Rolling Along]

First, Congrats and welcome! I have a different model then yours but my battery cut off switch does not cut power to everything. There are two circuit breakers where power is taken off of before it goes to the cut off switch. The auto level is one and not sure what the other is and I never have turned off the switch in the two years I’ve had it to find out. Many other models are the same way.

Run everything, all lights, water, etc. Everything. Check for water leaks, gas appliances. I’ll confess, this from someone who bought his new rig sight unseen... I let others who know more take it from here.

[NorskeBob]

Welcome to the forum - enjoy your new rig.

Were the batteries fully charged when you noted the issue?

Wonder if the dealer knows the previous owner - that may help with your trouble shooting.

Give it a good walk through with the dealer and document all things that need to be fixed.

[dcg9381]

First thing to know - the factory disconnect isn't a disconnect. It's a disconnect for "some" stuff. With 4 house batteries, assuming your rig is kept outside not under cover, you shouldn't ever have a problem. If you do keep the rig covered, you'll want a "real" disconnect.

Depending on what side of the disconnect the solar controller is on, it's possible that it's actually powering up your accessories.

Personally, I'd want a "real" disconnect for everything - total battery power off. I'd also want a means to be able to turn off the solar charge controller's ability to feed either the battery or house circuits.

[mhbell]

Welcome to the forum - enjoy your new rig.

Were the batteries fully charged when you noted the issue?

Wonder if the dealer knows the previous owner - that may help with your trouble shooting.

Give it a good walk through with the dealer and document all things that need to be fixed.

They might be down, but the meter for the solar says 12.3 volts when turned on and 88 which I take it to be either volts or watts. Will find out more tomorrow when I do the walk thru at the dealers.

[Canonman]

Welcome from a fellow UT resident.
To answer your question about the solar and batteries; they were almost certainly installed after the Cougar was built. i.e. not factory installed. As such I would recommend a close look at the installation and wiring of the panels to the controller and how the controller is connected to the factory wiring.
The solar controller may be wired after the C/O switch in which case the solar power may be what is "pseudo" powering the radio or lights etc. Our C/O switch definitely cuts off the lights and radio and most other DC systems.
You can PM me for more details any time

[mhbell]

Welcome from a fellow UT resident.
To answer your question about the solar and batteries; they were almost certainly installed after the Cougar was built. i.e. not factory installed. As such I would recommend a close look at the installation and wiring of the panels to the controller and how the controller is connected to the factory wiring.
The solar controller may be wired after the C/O switch in which case the solar power may be what is "pseudo" powering the radio or lights etc. Our C/O switch definitely cuts off the lights and radio and most other DC systems.
You can PM me for more details any time
Thank You for the Information. I may contact you after we get settled into the Unit. We will do the walk thru tomorrow. I talked to the dealers service dept and the person who will be doing the walk thru. They seem to be very knowledgeable. I voiced my concerns and they are looking into it.
Mel
:)

[mhbell]

OK here is what I found out so far. The Batteries are trojan deep cycle. The solar installation was not factory. The remote Inverter meter in the Entertainment center Reads 888 when first turned on (booted up), and then displays the battery voltage with a graph below showing the load.. The inverter and panel are a samplex. The clicking and blinking of lights was caused by feed back if the disconnect switch is off. Dealer installed a disconnect switch for the solar to shut it off if the fivers disconnect switch is in the off position. I will just leave the fivers disconnect switch on all of the time. My unit is stored outside so the solar can keep the batteries charged up when stored. Who ever istalled the solar went down to behind the fridge and accessed the batteries there. That was the reason for the feed back. The controller is located there.
Mel