solar battery charger

[Lt Dan 560]

Hi, I have a 2005 Bounder with a small solar panel on the AC to charge the engine battery. It has never worked. The panel itself is working but no charge to the battery. I have 13+ volts at the bottom of the AC but have nothing at the disconnected battery cables. I checked the fuse in a box in the engine compartment & it is OK. The strange thing is when I cover the solar panel & their is no voltage at the bottom of the AC, there is 13+ voltage when I connect the voltmeter to the fuse & the ground with the battery disconnected. Where is that voltage coming from? Where is the relay? Why don't I get voltage to the battery? Somewhere something is stopping the power to get to the battery. This is my 3rd engine battery & that battery usually goes dead in a week of sitting. Any help would be appreciated.

[Jerry J]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lt Dan 560 >>>>>>>>>>>This is my 3rd engine battery & that battery usually goes dead in a week of sitting. Any help would be appreciated.

I would add a Trik-L-Start.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lt Dan 560 Hi, I have a 2005 Bounder with a small solar panel on the AC to charge the engine battery. It has never worked. The panel itself is working but no charge to the battery. I have 13+ volts at the bottom of the AC but have nothing at the disconnected battery cables. I checked the fuse in a box in the engine compartment & it is OK. The strange thing is when I cover the solar panel & their is no voltage at the bottom of the AC, there is 13+ voltage when I connect the voltmeter to the fuse & the ground with the battery disconnected. Where is that voltage coming from? Where is the relay? Why don't I get voltage to the battery? Somewhere something is stopping the power to get to the battery. This is my 3rd engine battery & that battery usually goes dead in a week of sitting. Any help would be appreciated.

Welcome to the forum Lt. Dan.

It's early in the morning. I know you will get an answer as the day goes by.

I have a bounder and my converter charges the chassis and house batteries. The solar panel on the a/c unit is useless as battery charger ( I'm told ).

Possibly your converter blew a fuse.

Hopefully someone will have another possibility.

Good Luck and again welcome.

Cliff

[Pat Z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lt Dan 560 Hi, I have a 2005 Bounder with a small solar panel on the AC to charge the engine battery. It has never worked. The panel itself is working but no charge to the battery. I have 13+ volts at the bottom of the AC but have nothing at the disconnected battery cables. I checked the fuse in a box in the engine compartment & it is OK. The strange thing is when I cover the solar panel & their is no voltage at the bottom of the AC, there is 13+ voltage when I connect the voltmeter to the fuse & the ground with the battery disconnected. Where is that voltage coming from? Where is the relay? Why don't I get voltage to the battery? Somewhere something is stopping the power to get to the battery. This is my 3rd engine battery & that battery usually goes dead in a week of sitting. Any help would be appreciated.

On my 05 Excursion the solar panel charges the coach batteries not the chassis.

[ljr869]

Yeah, it's my understanding that little panel isn't a "charger" in the normal sense. I was told it will 'hold' whatever charge the batteries have. I don't recall if I was told which batteries but I have always assumed it's hooked to the house batteries.

As an aside, if your engine battery is going bad after a week of sitting, something is wrong.

[Gary RVRoamer]

All Fleetwood Class A's charge the both sets of batteries from either engine or converter. The solar panel, however, is wired to the engine battery. And it is so small that it is essentially useless anyway. Might get one amp out of it in full midsummer sun. Maybe. I've had two coaches with those little panels on the a/c (a Southwind and a Dolphin) and neither did anything measurable, though the Southwind lit its indicator light once in awhile.

It is hard for me to visualize where you are measuring voltages in the wiring, so can't say why you have it in one place and not another.

[loulong]

Dan, does your chassis battery go dead only when the coach is sitting "unplugged" or does it go dead when "plugged to 120ac" also?

As previously stated, you can forget the solar panel. It is basically worthless.

Do you utilize your disconnect switches when you park the rig "unplugged"?

Do you leave the batteries connected when plugged into 120vac?

Shoot me a PM or e-mail with an e-mail address if you would like a diagram and trouble shooting procedure for your BCC (disconnect and charge control box).

[Avalondanes]

The "solar" panel only charges the engine battery, trickle charge if battery is good. It will not bring up a bad battery. If your battery is dead after 1-2 days you need to have them load tested.

Richard