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Old 02-27-2006, 03:34 PM   #1
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I have noticed for some time that when I am on shore power the house batteries get charged but the engine battery does not. I checked the voltage today after a month being hooked up and the house batteries were at 13.8v but the engine batteries were at 12.7v. Should the charger be transferring to the engine batteries at some point or do they only charge when the engine is running?
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Old 02-27-2006, 03:34 PM   #2
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I have noticed for some time that when I am on shore power the house batteries get charged but the engine battery does not. I checked the voltage today after a month being hooked up and the house batteries were at 13.8v but the engine batteries were at 12.7v. Should the charger be transferring to the engine batteries at some point or do they only charge when the engine is running?
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Old 02-27-2006, 06:43 PM   #3
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Hello Steve and Marsha:

I have a 01, 38ft, and our Alpine has an Echo charger, and I believe the 2000 also have one. The Echo charger should charge the coach batteries first and when they are charged the chassis batteries should get charged.

When the Alpine was delivered new the Echo charger was not wired properly. I would have the Echo charger check for proper installation and operation.

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Old 02-27-2006, 07:22 PM   #4
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Steve & Marsha,

Many of the 2000 and 2001 Alpines came with the two wires from the Echo charger to the batteries reversed. One of the outputs go to the house batteries and the other output goes to the chassis batteries. Alpine spliced in estension wires if the echo is mounted in the Heart compartment but the orange wire from the echo should go to the chassis battery and the red should go to the house battery. If you look at the color of wire from the echo and match what might be spliced to it, and verify where it goes in the battery compartment, you will likely find that the echo orange is going to the house and echo red is going to the chassis. If so, they should be reversed. Remember to confirm the color of the wires splice in to the echo wires so you know which is orange and red at the echo.
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Old 02-28-2006, 02:23 PM   #5
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I checked the wiring of my Echo charger and it was wired correctly. Apparently it had been wired incorrectly at some point as the wiring colors did not match at the fuses (they were reversed) but it is now correct. I measured the voltage at the fuse terminal(disconnected) of the Echo charger for the engine batteries and it was 13.4v. When I reconnected it, the voltage dropped to 12.8v. When I have more time I will investigate further. The engine batteries are the original ones that came with the coach so they may be getting long in the tooth. I don't know if that could cause the voltage not to stay up at 13.4v.
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Old 02-28-2006, 02:28 PM   #6
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12.7 is a pretty good level of charge (indicating batt's are working OK), & should start the coach w/out issue. But those batt's have given some pretty good service (6 years)and you've gotten good mileage with them.
On the later models there is a solenoid that clicks on chassis charging when the house batt's get to a reasonable level of charge. I couldn't discern from the above it there is a similar balancing act for the Echo charged coaches.
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Old 02-28-2006, 07:23 PM   #7
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It appears that your batteries will not "float" up to 13.4 volts that the echo is trying to apply (indicates the echo is working). Usually the problem is that they won't hold a charge. They will drop down below 12 volts, within a few days if power is removed. If you are trying to avoid replacing them right away, you could jumper them to the house batteries and equalize them with the Heart. If they are not too far gone, it might salvage them for a while.
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