Dead Chassis Battery

[alpine4us]

The coach would not start when I left it unplugged over night. I had to use the boost switch to get it started. I don't know if something is connected to the chassis battery that should be connected to the house batteries. What would be the easiest way to check this out? I had this problem before while dry camping and WRV said that the latching relay was probably bad so they sent me a knew one. My coach is an 04.

[alpine4us]

The coach would not start when I left it unplugged over night. I had to use the boost switch to get it started. I don't know if something is connected to the chassis battery that should be connected to the house batteries. What would be the easiest way to check this out? I had this problem before while dry camping and WRV said that the latching relay was probably bad so they sent me a knew one. My coach is an 04.

[dgerstel]

I would turn the chassis batteries off. Then check to see what equipment has no power. How old are the chassis batteries?

[alpine4us]

The batteries are the originals that came with the coach

[george henry]

Go ahead and replace all the batteries with brand new. Coach and chassis Every 3 years max, you will be glad you did. If I was boondocking it alot I would replace every 2 years with all brand new batteries coach only And every 3 years your chassis batery.

[cannon man]

you guys must be rich! properly cared for batts should last 5 to 10 years easy. JMHO

[jerry davis]

You might look at this thread.

irv2.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9686094452/m/77210603441

[jerry davis]

Let me try that again
http://irv2.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/9686094452/p/1

[jerry davis]

All right, I give up. Go back to March 10th and look at the chassis battery discussion

[takepride]

Larry:

I just had the very same problem. After a little pondering I had an idea of the problem.

First, the entertainment sound system and front puck lights work off the chassis batteries. That is because the radio needs the speakers while driving and the front puck lights are used as map lights when driving. And they use a lot of power!

Next, the problem was why the chassis batteries would only charge when driving and not while sitting. I checked it both plugged in and boondocking. Both the built-in charger and the solar did not seem to charge the chassis battery.

Then my thought was that the Echo-Charger must not be working. It functions by switching the battery charging from house batteries to chassis batteries after the house batteries reach full charge. That was obviously not happening.

I found the Echo-Charger (center of coach, close to the inverter) hanging from the ceiling below the coach. The LED was not on. It was obvious it was not receiving power. First I noted the wiring colors before crawling out, in order to verify that the orange (red stripe for the first 12") went all the way to the chassis batteries and the red went to the house batteries. That has been discussed ad nauseum in other threads.

In the battery compartment, I found that the wires were correctly wired and ended at the battery isolator. Then I noticed there were in-line fuses just before the isolator. And indeed, the one going from the house batteries, supplying power to the Echo-Charger was blown. I replaced it with another 32 volt 20 amp fuse and viola! Everything works again.

And I am greatly relieved. Especially since I am currently parked in the middle of the Anza-Borrego Badlands, far from an electrical pedestal.

I also now know why I had to replace the last set of chassis batteries. They stayed uncharged far too long. Even the previous owner just always used the booster switch to start the coach if it had set more than a couple days. I replaced them with AGM batteries from Sears and they actually held the charge for a very long time, even without the Echo-Charger.

BTW I asked several mechanics (at both Cummins Irvine and Camping World) to diagnose the problem and no one could. Seems pretty obvious now.

[Basil Shannon]

If you end up repacing your chassis batteries, Interstate has 990 cold cranking amp (CCA) batteries that cost a little bit more than the 660 CCA batteries that came in my coach.

Also consider getting batteries with the bolt on connections if yours have the clamp on lead connections. Less maintenance.

[alpine4us]

I will look for the Echo-Charger and see if the led light is on. I have never looked for the charger before in our coach, it is a 40'MD 04. How big is it and what color is it? I will also trace down the wires to see if they are on the proper terminal on the relay and check to see if I have in line fuses and that they are good.I am going to replace all the batteries,house and chassis,
anyone have any recommendations on what brand and type of batteries for the chassis and house?

[Mike & Mike]

alpine4us,

The Echo Charger is about 6" x 6" x 1" thick and has 3 wires coming out of it. Here's a link to a web page with a photo:
http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/103/p/1/pt/8/product.asp

On that same page, you can click on Document Downloads and go to another page with links to an Owners Manual and a Data Sheet.

I also own a 2004 Alpine and I've been told that 2004 may have been a transition year from coaches having an Echo Charger to coaches not having an Echo Charger. So, you may not find one. I haven't looked too hard yet but I have not seen one on my coach either.

Regarding the batteries, I went down to my local Interstate battery dealer (a local rental supply outfit) and ordered up the batteries. BUT I forgot how important it is to get the right battery terminals spec'ed out in advance. I didn't specify the terminals and didn't get the terminals I wanted. (The coach had batteries with a horizontal bolt holding the cable to the terminal and I received batteries with a vertical bolt; I just barely made one connection work with the length of the cable.) So, you should maybe take a picture of the existing (factory) terminals and go to the battery dealer and tell them you "must" have those terminals.

Battery water fill: The previous owner of this coach told me that he just pushed the battery water-fill button and held it until he saw water returning thru the tube to the reservoir and that was his indication that the batteries were full. I tried this and the batteries were not getting filled. The procedure I now use is to mentally note the water level in the reservoir (or hold my fingernail there), then push and hold the button to energize the pump, then water the reservoir level until it quits falling. Then the batteries have taken all the water they need.

There are many brand choices and it seems that people have their favorites for various reasons. I've had good luck with Interstate batteries and they are easy for me to get hold of. You may find other brands easier to come by. But, you want to be smarter than the salesman. Take a look at this page on the Interstate website: http://www.interstatebatteries.com/c...olf_f.asp?js=1

You'll see that you can get 6 volt Deep Cycle batteries that are all the same physical size but in many different amp hour capacities and weights.

The 2004 WRV Brochure states:
2 Interstate® 660 CCA @ 0ºF maintenance free
starting [chassis] batteries

and,
(6) 6-volt batteries
w/732 total amp. hours (house)

So, that tells you that WRV installed the U2200 battery as the house battery (see the chart on the Interstate battery webpage). You might want to take this opportunity to buy the larger capacity U2300 or the U2400 battery and get more capacity. I think if I did a lot of boondocking, I'd opt for the higher capacity depending on the price.

Good Luck!

[Bigsky]

We have an 04 and WRV did change from an echo charger to an interconnect switch. This switch also replaced the battery isolator and the big boy booster switch. I had the same problem and found a ground wire missing, pin "D" I believe.
While plugged into shore power, momentarialy energize the boost switch and then check to see if the chassis batteries are charging, if so, you too are missing a ground wire.

Al