While in there I did find something interesting (disappointing): My Trik-L-Start seems to be wired improperly. The yellow wire which is supposed to go on the positive from the coach battery is not tied to the large coach battery wire on the top of the relay but instead is connected to the positive side of the relay coil located at the bottom of the big relay. This terminal only has power when the rocker switch is pushed or the relay is latched in. So basically If I'm seeing this right, the Trik-L-Start is only really working when the 40 amp charging circuit is activated. Kind of makes it useless. Somebody on the forum recently mentioned that they had a Trik_L-Start but their battery died anyways. Wonder if this is a common mis-wiring from Phoenix?
Hi Jim,
I'm going to make a little stretch and say that you definitely got a mis-wire on your Trik-L-Start from Phoenix. I mentioned earlier that, to my surprise, I found a factory installed Trik-L-Start on my 2019 after I got it home. I had actually already bought one to self-install, but was able to gift that forward after I found the one from Phoenix. Anyway, my factory unit is properly installed using the two main connections for house and chassis batteries on the charging relay--yellow on the house terminal and blue on the chassis terminal. I believe whoever made that connection for your unit at Phoenix got the wrong terminal connection for the yellow wire--as you say, pretty much makes your Trik-L-Start redundant until you move that wire.
Also, for what it's worth, I believe your assessment of how to use the "white switch" is exactly right. Much speculation on the forum over time on this subject. The primary purpose of that big relay is to provide alternator charging to the coach batteries when the engine is running of course, and it is normally energized from the chassis battery system when you turn the key on and start the engine. But sometime in the past someone at Phoenix realized that if they could still energize that relay with the chassis battery dead, the circuit could be used in reverse to feed coach battery power to the dead chassis battery--hence the "white switch" that will feed a 12-volt signal from the coach batteries to activate the relay. Once activated for a few seconds (with the key switch ON), there is enough voltage present in the chassis battery system to hold the relay in and allow the charge current to continue to flow from the coach batteries to the chassis battery until the key is switched OFF. Of course, replacing that momentary "white switch" with a permanent off/on switch would accomplish the same thing without having to turn on the key, but you then have the risk of inadvertently having that relay closed when it should not be if you forget to turn the white switch back off (or accidentally bump it on sometime).
Also---that wiring diagram that Lance posted has been around the forum quite a bit, but I'm not sure of the original source for it. It is definitely helpful to get an overview of a typical 30-amp Phoenix electrical layout, but as Lance mentioned it is neither absolutely accurate nor complete. I appreciate whoever first made it available, but one should use it as a general reference only. I wish Phoenix would see fit to publish one at some point.
All the best, Mike
