Community Forums

Blairhouse · 05-03-2009, 06:27 PM

Rookie having problems! My 38', 2000 Alpine is in storage 3hr from my home. They need to move it to get out other coaches. They started it 2 weeks ago and it was running great. They now can't start it and have run the batteries down and they can't seem to charge them. Its been plunged in all winter and still is. Going up there tomorrow any Ideas.

Dave Fernandez · 05-03-2009, 07:17 PM

Hello & Welcome Blairhouse:

Welcome to the Forum. To start the coach you should have a Battery Boost Switch on the dash. By depressing the switch it will combine the house and chassis batteries together to start the engine.

I would have the batteries checked as they may be bad. Second a 2000 Alpine Coach will have an echo charger and it may/probably is wired incorrectly.

There are also two battery disconnects on the Alpine one is in the stair well the second one is the engine maintenance center. They both should be turned off when leaving the coach for an extended length of time. I hope this info helps if not let us know and we will see what more info we can provide.

Hope to see and meet you at one of the Rallies.

Gary M. Smith · 05-03-2009, 10:31 PM

Dave's advice is great! However, since I have a 2000 38' Alpine, I wonder too if you are still on the original batteries. Mine were original until about mid-2007, then they just gave up the ghost. New batteries plus the addition of a 100 watt solar panel/charge controller have solved my problems seemingly.

rmmpe · 05-05-2009, 04:38 AM

Our '99 doesn't have an "E"-start (battery parallel) switch, stays plugged in, the Echo-charger is wired correctly and yet my 1 year-old 8D chassis battery also ran down after a while. Shore power keeps the 8D house battery topped-off just fine.
My fix was to use a "Battery-tender" on the chassis battery, which has been great.

F&D ABQ · 05-06-2009, 01:47 PM

Dave's post is correct, but may be unhelpful to a rookie. The echo charger is a small separate box, co-located (on my coach, anyway) with the inverter. Here is the Xantrex page on it:
Xantrex Technology Inc. - Recreational Vehicles - echo~charge - Documentation
When I got my coach (used) the wires were reversed! So check the owner's manual and verify; but I suspect your batteries may be dead - especially if the coach was sitting idle for some time before you acquired it. There are plenty of posts on IRV2 about coach batteries.

Welcome to the world of RV learn-it-yourselfers.

Frank

F&D ABQ · 05-06-2009, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F&D ABQ

Dave's post is correct, but may be unhelpful to a rookie. The echo charger is a small separate box, co-located (on my coach, anyway) with the inverter. Here is the Xantrex page on it:
Xantrex Technology Inc. - Recreational Vehicles - echo~charge - Documentation
When I got my coach (used) the wires were reversed! So check the owner's manual and verify; but I suspect your batteries may be dead - especially if the coach was sitting idle for some time before you acquired it. There are plenty of posts on IRV2 about coach batteries.

Welcome to the world of RV learn-it-yourselfers.

Frank

P.S. If you go to the Alpine Tech Information page (in Alpinecoachassociation.com) , you will find a 2001 Battery Wiring diagram under chassis and brakes. It shows the proper connection of an Echo Charge unit to a three-terminal battery isolator.

Blairhouse · 05-07-2009, 08:29 AM

Guess what the problem was? The storage place ran the batteries down trying to start it and the charger didn't have time to charge the batteries, they keep on trying to start it. The problem was the engine wouldn't start. Two problems 1. Low coolant (stop engine light) and 2. algae in the fuel. They fix the leak in the coolant line and cleaned the screen in the fuel (lift) pump. They said I need a pre-filter before the fuel pump and fuel conditioner to kill the algae. No one ever told me about algae in fuel. Live and learn. Thanks for all the help. Rookie

F&D ABQ · 05-07-2009, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blairhouse

Guess what the problem was? The storage place ran the batteries down trying to start it and the charger didn't have time to charge the batteries, they keep on trying to start it. The problem was the engine wouldn't start. Two problems 1. Low coolant (stop engine light) and 2. algae in the fuel. They fix the leak in the coolant line and cleaned the screen in the fuel (lift) pump. They said I need a pre-filter before the fuel pump and fuel conditioner to kill the algae. No one ever told me about algae in fuel. Live and learn. Thanks for all the help. Rookie

Hi, Blairhouse.

If you search the forums on IRV2 using the terms "diesel algae" you'll find more information than you want to know! It's a problem I've never had, but apparently you'll want to get a couple of spare prefilter cartridges and perhaps have the tank drained. If you don't have a prefilter, you might consider having one installed.