Just Want to Clarify House Battery Charge Issue

[garym114]

Originally Posted by Ottav

Newbie here..
So if you turn off the aux battery switch located near the entrance and are plugged into
shore, will the interior lights light..

Bob

It is the battery disconnect switch that is by the door, not the aux switch.
Interior lights are 12v, makes no difference if you are plugged in or not.
The interior lights should not work if you open the battery disconnect switch.

I have never used the battery disconnect switch other than to see if it works.

[Iangolf]

On Winnebagos the switch to tie to the house and chassis batteries together is labeled Battery Boost. Concerning your other question, if you turn off the switch by the door the 12 V circuits including the lights will not work even while plugged into shore power.

[JimM68]

I've had both a Fleetwood and a Monaco, and the wiring was very different. The Monaco has a "Salesman's switch" as Richard desrcibed. It turns off interior lighting, without affecting anything importantr, like the water pump or the fridge.

The Fleetwood had 2 switches in the cabinet above the entry door labelled "MAIN" and "AUX". These switches controlled the battery disconnect relays, which were latch type relays that stayed on without power being applied.

Turning off the "AUX" did the same thing as rotating the manual disconnect in the monaco's battery bay. It disconnected "almost" all the draws on the house bank. So if you are using the rig, leave it on.

Even my old fleetwood gasser, a 99, had a system to charge both battery bankc from any available power source. It was from RV Custom products, and mime was bad and nneded to be replaced. Once fixed, it worked as designed. When the main engine was running and the chassis battery has reached about 13.5 volts, the system would close a relay and charge the house batteries too. Worked exactly in reverse if on shore or genny power, house batteries charged first, then it hooked the chassis batteries in as well.

When using battery power, it would leave the banks connected until down to about 12.2 volts, then the relay would open so the chassis battery would not be allowed to run down by house loads.

The "BIRD" system in my 08 Monaco works exactly the same way. From what I've heard, Monaco caught on to this type of system long after Fleetwood did.

As for voltage, I've had to set my auto gen start down to 60 seconds below 11.2 volts. Anything higher, and heavy inverter loads will cause the system to start the generator even though there is plenty of power.

Running the microwave, hair dryer, or coffee pot, the inverter will pull 60-80 amps out of the battery, and even fully charged, this will drop the voltage well below 12 volts. 2 of the above = 100 amp load, and voltage down near 11.0.

This is a loaded condition though. I agree, at 12.2 volts no load, you need to charge em up.

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by Ottav

Newbie here..
So if you turn off the aux battery switch located near the entrance and are plugged into
shore, will the interior lights light..

Bob

It depends on how the mfg set it up. Some systems use the battery disconnect switch just as that, only takes the battery out of the system. If plugged into shore, all 12v systems still work and operate only from the converter. I know these to be in TTs, never seen this in MH.

Other systems use the switch as a complete 12v disconnect. Some of those will not even allow battery charging while on shore.

Again it depends on what system the mfg used. Over the years and sometimes year to year, mfgs have changed their own systems around. To get acurate info on your rig, generally you need to find someone with an identicle. The way I always do it with a new to me rig is get the trusty multi-meter out and find out for myself.

[Ottav]

Thanks for the response.

My switch located by the entrance says aux battery on it. I turned that off and the interior lights still work and the coach battery has a battery disconnect terminal. I have to disconnect the coach battery because of a drain.. The rv is connected to shore power.
If I leave the coach battery connected the it will go dead. When removing the neg battery cable I measure 12.5 volts between the neg bat terminal and the neg battery cable going to the engine ground.
I'm here trying to gets a education on how things work so I can trouble shoot my problem. I have a 2003 Winnebago sight seer 30ft.

First thing I have to do is understand the terminology meaning the difference between coach battery, house battery, chassis battery, aux battery..
I think coach and house are the same.. house and aux are the same
Please correct me If I'm wrong.

[Jim_HiTek]

In my Fleetwood, the Aux, house, & coach are all terms that describe the same battery set. Main, chassis, engine, & starting are all terms that describe the battery connected to the starter.

Many devices are connected to both sets...like the LP detector, the CO detector, etc. Newer RVs have electronics that run the computers for the engine and the transmission...which draw from the chassis battery even if the 'salesman's switches' are Off.

Many Class A RVs DO NOT charge the chassis battery when connected to shore power. Many owners of those types of RVs add either a float charger that plugs into AC nearby or a Trik-L-Start device to keep it topped off when parked for more then 3 days. Some RVs come with a small roof mounted solar panel that's suppose to trickle charge the chassis battery...but it's worthless.

If your chassis battery is going dead in a day or two while on shore power, that's typical of most RVs, old and new. If you have an electronic transmission, that's probably what is sucking it dry. The tranni electronics keeps a memory of how you drive and adjusts it's shift points so you can get the best operation out of it...but in many systems, it 'forgets' if it looses battery power, so it's wired before the 'salesman's switches'. Disconnecting the chassis battery is how many 'reset' the tranni if it's not behaving. I believe this is true of any engine computer system you may have as well.

As others have mentioned, it's best to use a voltmeter and measure the voltage across both banks of batteries. First measure the voltage across the batteries, then plug in. Wait a few minutes. Then measure the voltage again, if the voltage rises, you have a chassis battery charger, if it doesn't, you need one. And of course, if you have them, check your RV manuals.

[wa8yxm]

The AUX battery disconnect.. There is a real problem with the terms "Engage" or "Activate" here in the US.. I recall writing a letter to no less than Ben Bova (A famous Science Fiction Author and editor) about a story where the terms "Engage" and "Disengage" were reversed.

For the Refrigerator to work goind down the road the AUX batteries must be ON, (Don't matter what you call it, they have to be on)

For the converter to charge them.. Same thing Must be ON.

ON my coach there is an indicator light. IF you are not plugged in, and the generator is not running, and it's on.. That's the way you want it

If you do not have that indicator, you can use any internal light to indicate the ON condition before you start the coach. Generator or plug in.

And yes the alternator will charge them when the switch is ON.

[Ottav]

Excellent.. Thanks you Jim and wa8yxm.
I'll start checking the Allison transmission connection right away.
I had the same problem in the corvette. I bought brand new red top battery and it went dead in a little over a month while the car was in storage..
I didn't think the computers drew a lot of current just setting waiting for a door to open or the alarm to go off, or signal to open the trunk..

I put on a battery tender and that solved the problem.
I guess I'll but another battery tender and won't worry about the problem any longer..

thanks for all the help..

Bob

[Dave78Chief]

Ottav,
Electrical setups are different amoung different mfg's so one must answer a question based on that rigs configuration.
On a Winnebago:
Coach battery Bank (also called House or AUX battery): Used to operate all the human convience items installed by Winnebago (overhead lights, water pump, water heater, fridge, etc.). The AUX BATT Disconnect switch by door engages or dis-engages this battery ONLY using the coach battery disconnect relay. Winnebago connects the converter to the load side of the battery Disconnect relay so the lights WILL work when connected to shore power. Your rig originally had two 12VDC Deep Cycle coach batteries connected in parallel.

Chassis Battery (also called starter or engine battery): For a gas engine rig, far as I know, Winnebago did not use any form of a chassis battery disconnect relay. For some pre-2006 Winnebago rigs, there is a known chassis battery drain issue (http://www.winnebagoind.com/resource...ik-L-Start.pdf). The normal solution is to ADD a Trick-L-Start system and let the converter charge the chassis battery as it charges the house battery. Winnebago started adding the Trick-L-Start system on many rigs in 2005.

Is your problem with the single 12VDC chassis battery or the dual 12VDC coach batteries? Your words "If I leave the coach battery connected the it will go dead." say coach but the singular reference says chassis.

Dave

[Ottav]

Yes Dave you are right I referred to the wrong battery.. Its the chassis battery that's giving me a problem.
I'll look into the Trick-L-Start and that sounds like it will fix my problems

Thanks
Bob