High Charging Voltage

[Blue Ribbon]

Coach - National '05 Sea Breeze on Workhorse W-22

Background: House batteries were not charging while driving. Repair shop said batteries hooked up wrong. (I don't see how they could, as I've never had both sets of batteries disconnected at the same time.) If my memory is right, there were two red wires on house and one on chasie.

Well, they moved the smaller red wire to the chasie battery. Now house batteries charge, in fact way way high. In the past they have charged to 14.3 (on a digital volt meter) and now they are charging at 15.8 (Yes I know the high voltage is bad, but need to correct wiring first.)

I think maybe my diode bridge burned out (for some reason) so when the house batteries would not charge the repair shop fix was moved what might be the charging cable. (I think the batteries are now hooked up parallel.)

First question, typically how many positive wires go to which batteries?



What is a "high voltage" when driving? Prior to replacement of instrument cluster (new one does not have a built in volt meter) once up and running, I always had 14.3 volts. Why would I show 15.8 volts on the house circuit when driving. Bad alternator? bad regulator in alternator? bad diode bridge?

Would appreciate the assistance.

[Blue Ribbon]

Coach - National '05 Sea Breeze on Workhorse W-22

Background: House batteries were not charging while driving. Repair shop said batteries hooked up wrong. (I don't see how they could, as I've never had both sets of batteries disconnected at the same time.) If my memory is right, there were two red wires on house and one on chasie.

Well, they moved the smaller red wire to the chasie battery. Now house batteries charge, in fact way way high. In the past they have charged to 14.3 (on a digital volt meter) and now they are charging at 15.8 (Yes I know the high voltage is bad, but need to correct wiring first.)

I think maybe my diode bridge burned out (for some reason) so when the house batteries would not charge the repair shop fix was moved what might be the charging cable. (I think the batteries are now hooked up parallel.)

First question, typically how many positive wires go to which batteries?



What is a "high voltage" when driving? Prior to replacement of instrument cluster (new one does not have a built in volt meter) once up and running, I always had 14.3 volts. Why would I show 15.8 volts on the house circuit when driving. Bad alternator? bad regulator in alternator? bad diode bridge?

Would appreciate the assistance.

[M&EM]

Blue Ribbon see reply on NRV forum here.
Battery Cables Sea Breeze 8341 2005

[BellaBo]

In my Gulf Stream there is a charging wire running to one of the house batteries with a knife type reset circuit breaker.

I would think 14.3 volts is a good charging voltage under normal conditions running the engine. If you're getting 15.8, I would have the regulator circuit checked by a reputable RV repair. This seems high and I would be concerned that it will "cook" the batteries if it doesn't drop off when the batteries are fully charged.

What is your charging voltage when plugged in? I would think the converter and the engine charging voltage should be close.
Just my opinion! Good Luck!

[hamguy]

Without seeing the current hookup schematic, I can't help. I had a similar situation and it turned out to be a shorted cell in the engine battery. There is a solenoid that puts all batteries (in 12V combinations) in parallel for charging. If one battery has a short, the alternator trys to charge at a higher voltage and, as such overcharges all the batts.

Take the rig to a competant RV repair shop. There have been a number of posts on 12V systems on this forum and, unfortunately many are just plain wrong AND dangerous if followed.

Go to The 12 Volt side - and if you can understand the technology he describes, all well and good. If not, leave it to the experts.