House Battery Questions

[rajuncajun]

I never really had a grasp on how the house batteries are set up. We have a 06' Bounder 36Z (picked up a month ago), have been reading a few posts on leaving plugged in when parked, etc. and have a lot of questions on how things are layed out with the Bounder. Our service rep. did a loosy job explaining this to us, can anyone give me an overview of how things work, maintenance, with the battery system etc.

Thanks...Ted

[rajuncajun]

I never really had a grasp on how the house batteries are set up. We have a 06' Bounder 36Z (picked up a month ago), have been reading a few posts on leaving plugged in when parked, etc. and have a lot of questions on how things are layed out with the Bounder. Our service rep. did a loosy job explaining this to us, can anyone give me an overview of how things work, maintenance, with the battery system etc.

Thanks...Ted

[wilanddij]

You should have a Fleetwood owner's manual in your paperwork folders. If you do, it will have a section that describes the whole electrical system including how the 100VAC and 12VDC systems tie together. If you don't have the manual, you can get it from this link Fleetwood Contacts.

[GerryB54]

I've been very impressed with my 2005 Bounder electrical system...I have the three way smart converter/charger and the EMS system (I have a 50 amp service).

The smart converter/charger allows me to keep my unit plugged in all the time with minimal chance of battery boilover. You should still monitor your battery level gauges and check levels monthly, but no more problems like I used to have with my Class Cs when plugged in 24/7. The converter also convertes 110V power (from shore power or generator) to 12V for the various 12V items...lights/fridge needs/water pump/radio/TV antenna booster/detectors/12V oultets.

The EMS system allows my unit to run smoothly plugged only into a 30 amp service. It manages power flow to the various things that you turn on, shutting certain things down when you draw more than the thirty amps, a very cool system.

The system has two Trojan 6V batteries hooked up to deliver 12V to various items in the RV when not hooked up to anything...fridge runs on gas and uses small 12V draw, 12V lights all work, water pump runs off 12V...110V appliances like electric water heater/ice maker/microwave/TVs/DVD/VCR player/110 outlets will not work running only on battery power. I also have a small solar panel on top of the front air conditioner that trickle charges the batteries in the coach as well. It has a small red light on the A/C that shines when the sun is shining...

When you fire up the generator, all things will run as if connected to a 50A service, basically.

I'm sure your rig is similar if not exactly like I described...hope this helps some.