Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBelchers
I apologize if is has been discussed before , I have a 2016 vista LX 35f Last summer on a trip to New York, I pulled in to swan bay resort and shut the engine down after a 1000 mi trip... Registered and when I came out,it would not start....I panicked for about 20 min and to my surprise it turned over. I made it to our site and turned it off hoping at the end of the week it would start ....I trickle charged the battery for the week and it did start....same thing on the next trip to New Hampshire....after de winterizing and charging the batteries this spring went on first trip locally ...same thing happened.. Brought it to my home mechanic and he says the stairs are a constant draw on the chassis battery at about 2 amps. He has also found its fords which mine is) hat if he battery charge goes below 10.5 amps. The alternator on these chassis does not charge the battery.....so. I am constantly draining my chassis battery and I am having difficulty starting This is a major stress point on any trip. Even to get gas. Anyone else out there experience similar issues. And if so how was it resolved? My mechanic is calling Winnebago to consult but just wondering if this is a common issue and/or a major expense as well. I've already replaced the chassis battery thinking it might help. But it did for one start but after a weekend it did not
Please help!!!
David
|
A few questions.
Note the bold in your quoted post. That doesn't make sense to me. If the
alternator does not charge the chassis battery, how will it ever get charged unless you apply an outside charger? Did you misstate something? Did you mean the
coach charger does not charge the chassis battery? If so, that is not unusual on some coaches. I had an Itasca that had that set up. If, in fact, the alternator does not charge the chassis battery, it needs to be fixed because that is the purpose of the alternator. From your post, that the battery would not start the vehicle after driving many hours, this may be the case--or the battery itself is bad.
Also, do you have an auxiliary switch on the dash that will apply coach battery power to the starter? If so, that's what to use in this situation.
Can you turn off the step function so they don't operate when parked? That should eliminate the 2 amp draw, I assume.
If your coach does not charge the chassis battery through the on board charger/converter when on shore power, it probably does so when on the generator and you may have to run the genset a bit or run a separate trickle charger to the chassis battery while on shore power.
Edit: I reread your post and now see your mechanic meant (I think) that the alternator does not charge the battery if the battery is below 10.5 volts. If so, then somewhere along your trip it dropped below that threshold and did not charge while driving. Looks like you'll need to be sure you have a fully charged chassis battery before driving off. That means using a trickle charger when on shore power, using the genset to charge the battery before driving off (if it will charge the chassis battery), and find a way to shut off the electrical draw from the steps while on shore power. Of course, be sure the battery itself is good and will hold a full charge.
) would the chassis battery be drained with a minor draw from the steps? Goodness, what happens if you turn on the headlights??
Linear Mode
