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09-24-2011, 02:55 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 168
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Charging Batteries Storage what's on, what's off
I have a 2007 CC. It has an inverter and converter and according to the Owners manual an Echo charger. When placing it in storage can I turn the house and chassis batteries off or not?
I guess what I am asking is when placing the coach in storage and hooking up to shore power what needs to be on and what can be off but
still have both sets of batteries receive a charge.
Thanks in Advance
Dick
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09-24-2011, 08:07 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Country Coach Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 7,752
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If you have shore power available, leave both the house and chassis battery switches on.
The Echo charger uses the house battery bank to charge the chassis battery.
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09-24-2011, 08:14 PM
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#3
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Registered User
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 3,198
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If you're able to leave it plugged in, leave both battery banks switched on.
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09-25-2011, 06:39 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 168
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Thanks to all of you for your replies. Coming from a very unsophisticated 5th wheel
to a motor home is quite a leap. The aqua hot system has been taking up the last several days of my time while trying to understand the winterizing procedure. In the future hope to be able to contribute to the forum and pay it forward.
PS Can I turn off the inverter while in storage and still maintain the batteries?
Dick
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09-25-2011, 05:20 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Anacortes, Wa.
Posts: 529
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Dick,
My Inspire still charges the house batteries and then via the Echo Charger the engine battery even with the switches for each turned off. Having the battery switch off eliminates any draw from either of the batteries if the shore power were lost. Make sure the battery charger on the panel is turned on and that the inverter is turned off. In my case I had the battery charger and inverter on and when power was lost at the storage facility the inverter then attempted to provide power to the coach for any 110 outlets which ultimately drained the house battery bank.
John
05 Inspire
#51399
__________________
John
08 Intrigue
2014 Ford Edge
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09-26-2011, 07:22 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 168
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Inverter status
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnFreyja
Dick,
My Inspire still charges the house batteries and then via the Echo Charger the engine battery even with the switches for each turned off. Having the battery switch off eliminates any draw from either of the batteries if the shore power were lost. Make sure the battery charger on the panel is turned on and that the inverter is turned off. In my case I had the battery charger and inverter on and when power was lost at the storage facility the inverter then attempted to provide power to the coach for any 110 outlets which ultimately drained the house battery bank.
John
05 Inspire
#51399
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John...
What you mentioned above is exactly what I think happened while
I had the coach at the house for two weeks. While putting some boxes
in the garage I had knocked out the shore power connection. It was off
for 3 days and at that point the house batteries were shot. I am going
over to storage today too turn off the inverter. I will watch it close for several days to make sure the charge is maintained.
Thanks for the heads up
Dick
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09-26-2011, 01:06 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 168
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John..
I just got back from storage. I turned off both banks of batteries and reconnected the shore power. The panel inside the coach indicated that charging was taking place. When I tried to disconnect the inverter the panel went dark. Indicating to me that the charger was not working, or it was but power to the display was cut off.
Does this jive with what you do on the 05 inspire?
Thanks
Dick
2007 Inspire 360
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09-26-2011, 02:12 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Anacortes, Wa.
Posts: 529
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Dick,
Yours may be different as mine is an 05. You can check by going to the batteries with a volt meter and see what the voltage is with the inverter OFF. If the batteries are at 13.5 or close to that then the charger is working. If the voltage is lower like about 12 volts or so it appears the charger isn't working with the Inverter off. If the house batteries were left dead for 2 or 3 days they may not recover. Sometimes cycling through a charge and then discharge and recharge may recover to some point. You can check the Starting battery voltage but I believe the Echo Charger won't send a charge to the Starting battery until the house batteries are charged up.
Good luck,
John
__________________
John
08 Intrigue
2014 Ford Edge
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09-26-2011, 03:20 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 168
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Thanks John..
I will try that in the next few days and let everyone know
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09-29-2011, 07:56 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 168
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Well, based on what everyone said I went over to storage to do some checking. I disconnected the shore power and both battery banks. On the chassis I had 12.12 amps and on the house I had 12.67. Next I hooked up to shore power and turned the inverter on (both battery banks are still off) at this point the coach was 13.56 and the chassis was 12.10. This told me that the inverter had to be on. The chassis was the same but most likely the coach batteries were still being charged and the Echo charger had not switched to the chassis batteries. I turned off all the breakers except for the inverter, left the shore power on and left both battery banks off. I will go back in two days to check again.
I did discover that the Echo charger has two in line fuses, one for the chassis and the other for the house batteries.
I hope this makes sense
Thanks for all the input
Dick
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09-30-2011, 01:48 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Anacortes, Wa.
Posts: 529
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Hi Dick,
Sounds like you did the right checks. When you go back see if the Chasis battery is up which would indicated that the Echo Charger finally was able to charge after the house batteries were all the way up. I had pretty much the same thing but my Echo charger was bad (checked both fuses) and it was recommended to me to buy a Magnum Charger which works pretty much the same way as the Echo charger, easy install using the same type of hook up, but it charges a little bit higher amps and actually costs a little less. Might have to upgrade the wiring size for the additional amps but mine was a short run. I found mine at West Marine.
We're traveling right now so I'm not always able to check internet.
Good luck,
John
__________________
John
08 Intrigue
2014 Ford Edge
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10-01-2011, 10:32 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 168
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnFreyja
Hi Dick,
Sounds like you did the right checks. When you go back see if the Chasis battery is up which would indicated that the Echo Charger finally was able to charge after the house batteries were all the way up. I had pretty much the same thing but my Echo charger was bad (checked both fuses) and it was recommended to me to buy a Magnum Charger which works pretty much the same way as the Echo charger, easy install using the same type of hook up, but it charges a little bit higher amps and actually costs a little less. Might have to upgrade the wiring size for the additional amps but mine was a short run. I found mine at West Marine.
We're traveling right now so I'm not always able to check internet.
Good luck,
John
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John..
Thanks for the information. I'll check out their website. I wish I was traveling now but we will have to wait until winter before heading south.
Enjoy your travel. It's a beautiful time of the year for seeing all the fall colors.
Dick
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11-03-2011, 09:48 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Country Coach Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 133
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Can someone explain this Echo charger? I have a problem with my Freedom 458, seemingly increasing float charge to 14.9 ish, I have been looking for how the engine start (chassis) battery was charged assuming a second feed from the Freedom, but the suggestion in this thread is that some sort of unit runs from DC to DC? Have I got this right? Anyone tell me whre it is on my 08 CC Allure sunset bay?
Thanks
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11-03-2011, 10:59 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Country Coach Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Northern California
Posts: 5,849
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Well I do not have a modern rig like those above, however it is my understanding that the alternator charges both the house and chassis battery on all Country Coach DP's.
Shore power and Generator power charge only the House Battery.
Some rigs have an Echo Charger, or Trik-L-Start device installed that connects the house battery to the chassis battery and allows a controlled charge to move from the house to the chassis battery. This feature is good for those that stay put in one place for months hooked to shore power but do not use the chassis battery disconnect.
__________________
Dean
1995 38' CC Magna #5280 **** Sold after 21 years of enjoyment.
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