Community Forums

georgetown350 · 06-17-2009, 04:13 PM

Robin I was wondering how you know that the Neptune does not get its chassis batteries charged from shore power. I also have a Holiday Rambler and would like to find out if my Chassis batteries get shore power charge. Monaco is out of buisiness so I cant call them. Whats your source for this info? Our last rigs batteries were all charged from shorepower as I was told by the manufacturer.

thanks

Steve

MonacoMama · 06-17-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgetown350

Robin I was wondering how you know that the Neptune does not get its chassis batteries charged from shore power. I also have a Holiday Rambler and would like to find out if my Chassis batteries get shore power charge. Monaco is out of buisiness so I cant call them. Whats your source for this info? Our last rigs batteries were all charged from shorepower as I was told by the manufacturer.

thanks

Steve

Steve...many of us Monaco Owners know this from many different ways...Monaco, the dealers and experience. Robin is correct and that is why many of us have put different devices such as the Echo~Charge by Xantrex on our coaches.

georgetown350 · 06-17-2009, 05:17 PM

Thankyou. I bow to experience.

Guess I will have to get a good charger before winter comes.

Steve

MonacoMama · 06-17-2009, 05:40 PM

By the way...Monaco RV LLC is taking calls and they may be able to answer you in regards to your particular unit. Monaco did start putting some sort of chargers on some 2008 models - and it was hit & miss as far as which units had one or not.
you can also do a search and find a post where a company in Oregon (MegaTech) has an aftermarket part that might do the trick for you also. That thread was back in April-I think.

Who knows..you might be lucky and have it from factory!

H. Miller · 06-17-2009, 05:54 PM

We enjoy the same situation - MH parked in the driveway. It is always plugged into a 20 amp house plug as it keeps the batteries up and allows the refrigerator to operate. Our manuals indicate that a frig left on will last much longer than off. Maybe something to do with keeping the chemicals moving and mixed.
Was also dismayed when a dealer advised that our "little" 12 cu ft frig. was about $4,000 and to replace meant the windshield must be removed (it won't go thru the door) for some big installation bucks.

EngineerMike · 06-17-2009, 06:06 PM

Miller- you may have a large side window that would be better to remove than the windshield. Better yet, keep the fridge working well.

georgetown350 · 06-18-2009, 03:34 AM

I heard that Navistar took over Monaco and that we could get tech support. I will try them.

Thanks

Steve

georgetown350 · 06-20-2009, 10:18 AM

My manual states that there is a battery maintainer ( bi directional isolator relay delay) that will charge all batteries when plugged into shore power. Perhaps our unit is one of the lucky chosen ones.

gto19 · 06-20-2009, 11:33 AM

I also installed one of these Magnadyne RV dash Aux Input sockets above the center driver's table.

Robin could you post a picture up where you installed this.

Thanks for the kind comment on the web site. I enjoy keeping it up.[/quote]

Robin_M · 06-23-2009, 09:58 PM

Sorry, I didn't see this thread until today. I mounted the Magnadyne Aux Input in-line with the two covered 12v power recepticals on the front of the dash. It fits right in there and looks like "it was always there". That put it directly over the center driver's table where you would put an MP3 player, or whatever you are plugging in.

Robin_M · 06-23-2009, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgetown350

My manual states that there is a battery maintainer ( bi directional isolator relay delay) that will charge all batteries when plugged into shore power. Perhaps our unit is one of the lucky chosen ones.

Steve,

That was a misprint in some of the 2008 manuals for raised rail coaches. You may want to verify that you actually have that module installed. You can see the MTO bi-directional module here. If your module does not have the two blue wires coming from the top of the small board, then you have the original IRD module that will not charge the chassis batteries. There were a very few coaches where Monaco installed the Intellitec BIRD module. If that's the case, you will see the plug for the original module disconnected and a harness to the Intelletic module pluged in in its place. The module can be found in the upper left section of the main house circuit board (the big board) in the front run bay.

MTO bi-directional battery charging module...

Location in front run bay...

gto19 · 06-24-2009, 01:25 PM

i have that MTO bi-directional battery charging module...board and mine is a 2008

georgetown350 · 06-24-2009, 01:36 PM

Robin. I checked the isolater relay in our unit and it has the two blue wires, one going to a terminal marked chassiss battery and another going to one marked house. It looks just like that top picture however the big plastic white plug isnt hanging loose like in the pic. It is plugged in.

Robin_M · 06-24-2009, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgetown350

Robin. I checked the isolater relay in our unit and it has the two blue wires, one going to a terminal marked chassiss battery and another going to one marked house. It looks just like that top picture however the big plastic white plug isnt hanging loose like in the pic. It is plugged in.

Yep, you've got the upgrade. It should be plugged in, just like in gto19's pictures above.

Can you both tell me the manufacture date of your coaches. I'm really interested to know just when Monaco started installing those upgraded bi-directional battery charging modules with the extra two blue wires.