Echo - charge battery charger

[TEDDE]

We have a new to me 2005 Holiday Rambler Sceptre which we just purchased. It has a echo-charger, solar panels on the roof, inverter-charger, auto Gen Start (RC7 GS. My question is.... We will be doing our first outing... dry camping... for 4 days.. How does this system charge my batteries and which one(s). I am not a tech guru so if someone can explain the system to me in laymans terms I will feel alot better going dry camping and not having to worry if my coach...will start..or not. This is our first coach and don't know anything about it...I have read the manual but I still don't get it..Can someone help us out.I have enough grey hair and worry lines I don't need anymore.. Rving has sure changed since we had a tent trailer 20 years ago..Thank you ..Ted from Canada

[InfinityJim]

ok - welcome to "Coach land"

So starting with the echo charger...this device monitors the 2 battery banks and when it sees either one start to rise it allows a maximum of 15 amps to pass thru and charge. There are other facts; such as if battery bank "a" is charging but battery bank "b" is too low on voltage then it won’t combine. This is an auto device with no set points to change. There should be 2 fuses in each positive lead to the separate battery banks that should be checked if not working, otherwise it works or it doesn’t. You can probably still get the owners manual off of xantrex's web site.

The inverter / charger is what charges the house batteries (and chassis thru the echo) and supplies 110v a/c power when off grid. When ever you supply a/c power to the coach either by plugging into shore power or running the generator the inverter goes into charge and will take as much amperage as you have set the power share and what is needed to recharge the batteries and pass thru the rest. In other words if you plug into 50 amp and have the power share set at 5 amps the charger will take a maximum of 5 amps to charge, which is fine, but it'll take much longer to recharge, but you'll have 45 amps available for other uses on that circuit. In turn if the power share was moved up to 30, still plugged into 50, the charger will take up to that 30 amps to charge, thus charge time will be much quicker and you'll only have 20 amps available for other uses on that circuit.

The auto gen needs to be set correctly to work correctly. I always assume it never is and pull out the manual and re-check all the settings. Personally I wouldn’t worry too much about that… use the coach and get to know it….

Good travels J

[Diplomat Don]

TEDDE.....I'll start with some info and let the guys who know more about solar panels jump in.

Your coach should have four 6 volt house batteries and two 12 volt starting batteries. The solar panels (depending on size) should put power back into your batteires during daylight hours. It depends on the amount/size of the panels as to how much they will return to your batteries. You need to determine their size to get better info about them.

Your coach has an inverter charger which does a couple of things. When you're hooked up with a power cord to shore power, you'll be able to power the coach and the charger will charge your batteries. Your generator will do the same thing when there is no shore power. A switch in your power cord bay, called the transfer switch, will automatically determine where you are receiving power from (shore power or generator) and automatically switch your power in the coach between the two. In the old days you had to manually operate switches or unplug cords.


Infinity Jim was apparently typing faster than me!

Your inverter, part of the charger, allows you to run AC current in your coach when you have no shore power or generator running (quiet power). This is done by the inverter changing your battery bank (your four 6 volt batteries) from 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC. Obviously, this isn't very efficient, but it will allow you to run many things in your coach except the air conditioners. It will run the microwave, but will really draw your batteries down fast. I use mine to watch TV at night. I can run a satellite, home theater system and flat panel TV for at least 6-8 hours.

This is where your auto gen start comes in. You should have a panel in your coach with several controls. One of them allows you to set the auto gen start. It lets you select a voltage that when your batteries drop to that selected voltage, the generator will automatically start and recharge them. This can be an issue at campgrounds that have limits on when a generator can run. Your auto gen start has the abillity to select only certain hours as to when it will start. It can also be set to start when the coach reaches a certain temperature. This is handy if you leave pets in the coach and want the A/C to start.

When we boondock, I can run on my batteries all day, including watching TV. The next day I will start the generator in the morning and allow it to recharge the batteries for about two hours while we're showering and cooking breakfast. I do that each day and it works in our coach. Your solar panels may help bring your batteries up faster. You'll have to watch your battery charge until you get a feel for how your coach and you consume power.

All of the above depends on the batteries being in good condition, well maintained and both the solar charger and motor home charger being set correctly.

You mentioned an Echo charger. Are you referring to a small box in the battery bay, connected to your coach batteries and chassis batteries. If so, this will maintain your chassis batteries when the coach batteries are being charged. This is important because your coach doesn't normally charge the chassis batteries while parked. They will run low over a short period of time due to small electrical draws from radios and other electronics.

[TEDDE]

Thank you for all the info on my echo-charger system..Things are clear now..I knew that I picked the right forum to sign up to..I think that we will enjoy rving afer all

AGAIN THANKS

Ted and Kathy Mckay