Batteries

[JohnBoyToo]

good deal !

Now maybe I can get mine fixed

Cummins replaced fuel filters, leaking oil seals, etc... this week and got it back tonight
when I picked it up, they said they had to weld a bolt on to hold up a rock screen or something...

Soon as they said weld,
I'm like, oh no... what electronics did I lose...
sure enough my lites, etc... ac, etc... or out...

from the pics I can see they were cleaning the engine and working under there.... will look in the morning, we had 2 bottles of wine at dinner and not conducive to efficient troubleshooting

even with the genny going no output - tried the circuit breakers above the drivers cockpit... but as far as I got tongith...

[distaff]

Tyrtle,

The generator and engine start off the chassis or starter batteries. The house batteries are deep cycle and are not too badly affected by being deeply discharged. The chassis batteries on the other hand don't like it and it will really shorten their life.

They are two separate systems and you need to think of them as such. House batteries are charged by the inverter, chassis batteries by the alternator.

The inverter gets its power from the shore connection or the generator, and there is normally a 30 second delay before the generator provides power to th inverter.

When the inverter is providing a charge to the coach or house batteries, or when the alternator is providing a charge to the starter batteries, the cross over circuit will detect a charging voltage (typically over 13.2V) and close the circuit to combine the two systems and let all batteries charge at once from the single source.

The "Boost" button is a manual way to close the connection between the two systems, usually used to allow the house batteries to add power to start the generator or engine as required. Keeping it closed for a long period by using the Boost button will burn out the relay that closes the main relay - the main relay can handle the amps, but the circuit that closes it isn't meant to be held closed by the Boost button for more than about 30 seconds. There is a special technique used by the management system to close the big relay that keeps it from burning out.

JohnBoy,

If you had a shock to your electronics you may need to reset the inverter. Your manual will tell you how to do this, but you can also unplug it from the power source.

[Papa_Jim]

Originally Posted by LCharron

Distaff, I live in Montreal but the coach will be in Florida for the next 3 months. I left it there because it's too cold here.

Since I'm 1300 miles away I will not be able to run the generator or disconnect the batteries.

The simple answer to this situation is when you return to your coach in Florida next spring, buy new batteries.

[Wdebarmore]

My battery setup is a bit odd. I have five group 24 12v marine batteries that are used for the house and chassis. I have one group 24 that's used for only the generator. If I don't disconnect the house/chassis batteries they will be too low to start the engine in a couple weeks, but the generator battery always fires the generator right up no matter how long I leave it. I suspect it's much more battery the the generator actually requires. The genny will charge the house batteries back to full in a few hours. Using the battery coupling switch usually solves the problem, should I forget to disconnect.

[distaff]

Wdebarmore - Yup that is an odd setup.

The reason you generator starting batteries are always good to go is the generator puts no draws on them. The house and engine side usually have passive draws that you can't stop unless you cut them off.

[JohnBoyToo]

Originally Posted by distaff

Tyrtle,
JohnBoy,

If you had a shock to your electronics you may need to reset the inverter. Your manual will tell you how to do this, but you can also unplug it from the power source.

Yippee !
Got both issues resolved this morning !
power issue was disconnecting the comm cable to the Magnum MS-2812 inverter/charger as pic shows and powering off the inverter for 5 or 10 seconds and plugging it back in - all more betta now

My other issue with the demco two bar not locking last night - just needed some tlc - stood the legs up, sprayed this on the collars and legs and worked them a bit and now it locks out !

a good day ! thanks for the help !

[TYRTLE]

Distaff - Thanks for the helpful information. I believe I'm okey now. When I ran the Generator the Inverter read "absorbation charge" for quite awhile, then the Generator shutdown. When I restarted the Generator, the Inverter read "bulk charge". I ran the Generator for about an hour, then shut down everything - including the engine. This time I went to the basement an switched off the house batteries and then the engine compartment and shut off the chassis batteries. BTW - Alladin told me that the batteries charge was 42A when I shut things down. I shall return if (I hope not) things don't go well in the next few days.

[distaff]

Tyrtle - it is also a good idea to turn on the ignition without starting the engine and check on the aladdin engine screen to see what you are showing for a voltage on the starters. When you are charging from the inverter it should be within a few tenths of the voltage on the inverter screen, or that the aladdin is showing on the screen with the house batteries.

This is the easy way to check that the cross over circuit is working. I've had lots of issues with mine, including a secondary relay in the cross over circuit failing, and the temperature sensor connected to the inverter failing.

The inverter always starts in "Bulk" mode, then drops to "Absorb Charging", before settling into "Float Charging". When in float mode it should still be around 13.2 V. That is enough to trigger the cross over if it detects a difference between the two systems. I usually run the generator when dry camping until I see "Float", and it usually takes a couple of hours. I'm running 4 deep cycle 260 amp hour batteries.

[JohnBoyToo]

And if you never so float mode,
does that mean bad batteries and/or charging system?

[distaff]

JohnBoy - this is what my manual says:

Absorption Charge Mode
As the inverter continues to run on nominal AC Shore Power, and the batteries
have been successfully bulk charged, the charger enters its second stage of charging.
The inverter’s green LED flashes once every second (fast flash) to indicate absorption
charging for 1 - 3 hours depending upon battery bank selection (refer to the MS
Series Remote manual). The charger then switches to its final charging mode.

Sadly, I have NEVER seen the MS Series Remote manual, even after extensive searching online. Perhaps I should ask Magnum for a copy.

[JohnBoyToo]

Yes, that's my understanding too,
and since after hours, and hours, and hours...
if it's still on absorption charging....

probably a fly in the ointment

think the batteries were not really cared for before I got it and so will be needing new ones...

[Damon Diva]

Originally Posted by distaff

JohnBoy - this is what my manual says:

Absorption Charge Mode
As the inverter continues to run on nominal AC Shore Power, and the batteries
have been successfully bulk charged, the charger enters its second stage of charging.
The inverter’s green LED flashes once every second (fast flash) to indicate absorption
charging for 1 - 3 hours depending upon battery bank selection (refer to the MS
Series Remote manual). The charger then switches to its final charging mode.

Sadly, I have NEVER seen the MS Series Remote manual, even after extensive searching online. Perhaps I should ask Magnum for a copy.

You can find a link to the PDF for the MS Series Magnum on this web page. (Look under the picture for the link.)

As far as the batteries and getting it to a "Float Charge" ... you may need to "equalize" your batteries.
You can do a search on Google to find out how to do it.

Good Luck!

[distaff]

Damon Diva - well done. I remember now why I stopped looking for it - I fixed my problem at the time.

JohnBoy - here is the relevant bit:

• SETUP: 03 Absorb Time – Used to determine when the charger
completes the Absorption stage and transitions to the Float stage.
Absorption is the second stage of the battery charging process and the
batteries will be almost fully charged. Refer to Table 3-2 to correlate the
battery capacity to the absorption time.
Default setting: Absorb Hrs = 1.5
Range: 0.1-25.5 Hrs

You need to check how long it is set to run on Absorb. It is not based on feedback from the batteries.

[JohnBoyToo]

AH - that could be an issue as I've never checked that monitor... will read up on it and see if I can understand it thanks !