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01-19-2018, 09:40 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Could be anywhere
Posts: 589
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Alternator replaced at 5,000 miles
Started up and low voltage light and warning buzzer began sounding. Checked battery cables and all looked tight. Called Newmar who got Spartan on the phone. We were in Van Horn TX and the only nearby shop was a Loves Truck Stop. They could only confirm the alternator wasn't charging. We decided to continue on towards San Antonio while Spartan researched who could help us along the way (not many towns in SW Texas!). We ran the generator and that alone was not enough to keep the chassis battery charged. We taped down the Battery Boost button and that did the trick. (side note, it was 18 degrees while we were in this area). We made it to Fort Stockton and once again, there was no shop who could who could help us. We continued on the next day to Kerrville and finally got a hold of a facility who could look deeper. Sure enough - alternator needed replacing. Spartan authorized the repair on the spot and the work was completed in a day. We are disappointed about the failure on our brand new DS, however Spartan was very helpful and took care of things.
__________________
Randy and Donald
2018 Newmar Dutch Star 4369 K2; 2021 Jeep Gladiator Mojave
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01-19-2018, 09:45 AM
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#2
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Senior Member
Country Coach Owners Club Solo Rvers Club iRV2 No Limits Club
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Vancouver, WA
Posts: 37,725
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Some things fail early in life, some things last far longer. You just got one tgat failed early, that's what a warrant is for.
On our '02 DSDP the alternator failed at about 40,000 miles. Bought a new one, then had the old one rebuilt as a spare.
__________________
2009 45' Magna 630 w/Cummins ISX 650 HP/1950 Lbs Ft, HWH Active Air
Charter Good Sam Lifetime Member, FMCA,
RV'ing since 1957, NRA Benefactor Life, towing '21 Jeep JLU Rubicon Ecodiesel
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01-19-2018, 09:45 AM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,807
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Now you need to have them troubleshoot why you needed to tape down the Battery Boost button when your BIRD or Trombetta or whatever circuit you have to "cross-connect" charging capability wasn't doing the jib.
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01-19-2018, 09:49 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,031
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You would have been more $$$ disappointed if it was out of warranty.
My MH is on it's 3rd alternator and 2 of them were on me. :(
You still have a problem if the generator doesn't charge both chassis & house batteries. :(
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99 Discovery 34Q ISB
2014 MKS AWD EcoBoost Toad
Fulltime Since "99"
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01-19-2018, 09:55 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Could be anywhere
Posts: 589
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tfryman
Now you need to have them troubleshoot why you needed to tape down the Battery Boost button when your BIRD or Trombetta or whatever circuit you have to "cross-connect" charging capability wasn't doing the jib.
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Am I correct that the generator won't charge the chassis battery until the house batteries are fully charged? It was so cold (18 degrees while we drove) that we ran the furnace (electric and burner) while driving. Would that have been enough to not allow the generator to transfer charging to the chassis batteries?
Thank you for your advice - we certainly look into. I was also concerned that the chassis batteries may have gotten damaged (being discharged, then charged etc). They checked out ok.
__________________
Randy and Donald
2018 Newmar Dutch Star 4369 K2; 2021 Jeep Gladiator Mojave
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01-19-2018, 09:58 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Could be anywhere
Posts: 589
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Triker56
You would have been more $$$ disappointed if it was out of warranty.
My MH is on it's 3rd alternator and 2 of them were on me. :(
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Yes, the bill came to $1,100+ (Spartan was billed directly). We would have been: !
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Randy and Donald
2018 Newmar Dutch Star 4369 K2; 2021 Jeep Gladiator Mojave
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01-19-2018, 10:09 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 537
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Alternator
Some things fail quickly. I had 4000 miles on the coach when the dash air conditioner compressor locked up, broke the fan belt and had to be towed. Took Freightliner a week to fix it.
To see the whole story:
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f26/my-ex...er-340457.html
Be safe
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John & Deb
Full Time since 2016
2016 Dutch Star 4369
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01-19-2018, 10:41 AM
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#8
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: washington area
Posts: 36
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not sure how your coach is wires but in mine a 12 volt solenoid pulls in when engine is started or when a battery combiner switch is pushed on dash I push this in when we are in rv parks with power or at home in storage so both battery banks are charged..leave it off when travelling and dry camping..
I use leece Neville 200 amp, severe duty (4000series)alternator
have had great luck with them been using leece Neville last 15 years @12-15 thousand miles a year ...I inspect brushes every spring and have had front bearing and brushes replaced this spring as brushes were close to min. length that's about it
ps. the one i'm currently using has over 45000 miles on it - it was my spare that I rebuilt and I replaced the delco remy 50DN 12 volt 300 amp oil cooled alternator that was on my current coach with it and am selling the 50dn it works fine - just prefer leece neville
best of luck mike
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01-19-2018, 10:56 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 35,406
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The generator and house battery system will not charge the chassis battery, because the engine key was on.
Ignition on sends a signal to the BIRD that it does not need to charge the chassis battery. It assumes the engine charging system is doing that.
Taping down the boost switch overrides the BIRD.
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01-19-2018, 11:07 AM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 234
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Wow, that does not sound fun. You were very resourceful though! I am glad you didn't need to be towed and the repair was completed quickly. I have luck just like yours. We built a new house and purchased all new appliances. Two of the 5 had major issues right out of the box.
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2018 DS 4310 (Spartan)
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01-19-2018, 12:24 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 35,406
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Quote:
Originally Posted by twinboat
The generator and house battery system will not charge the chassis battery, because the engine key was on.
Ignition on sends a signal to the BIRD that it does not need to charge the chassis battery. It assumes the engine charging system is doing that.
Taping down the boost switch overrides the BIRD.
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Correction: GENERATOR ON and KEY ON sends signal to the BIRD.
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01-20-2018, 08:53 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 3,816
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We are closing in on 60,000 miles and am on the third alternator. (none under warranty)
The first was a bad LN design and the bearings froze up.
The second got taken out when the u-joint on the fan drive shaft let loose and filled it with metal bits.
$600 each time, with me doing all the labor.
When the second one went out, I moved the charge wire on the boost solenoid it would charge without holding the boost button.
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2011 MVP Tahoe 230 QB on Ford E350 Chassis
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01-20-2018, 09:10 PM
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#13
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Moderator Emeritus
Nor'easters Club Workhorse Chassis Owner iRV2 No Limits Club
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 30,785
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Your GEN supplies the converter its 110 volts to charge your house batteries, the alternator was suppose to be charging your chassis battery which it could not.
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01-21-2018, 12:57 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club Entegra Owners Club
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: AZ
Posts: 6,425
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Alternator replaced at 5,000 miles
It is my understanding that the battery boost button is a momentary on switch that basically jump starts the chassis batteries with the house battery for the purpose of starting if the Chassis batteries are dead. So by tapping it on the house and chassis batteries were connected and charged from the generator. Stuart
__________________
Newmar 2016 Canyon Star 3710
Newmar 2018 Dutch Star 4369 SP
Newmar 2023 Dutch Star 4369 FL
Entegra 2025 Cornerstone 45D on order
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