Newbie question Power/inverter

[woodymichael]

Very new owner of Class A Entegra Anthem. When we have RV parked at home and plugged in to 30 amp shore power between trips, does the main power switch have to be on for the inverters to charge the house batteries? We have had the RV plugged in for at least 2 weeks. We left to take a short ride to find any 'bugs'/ issues. We only were gone for about 30 minutes before the Vegatouch gave a warning that the house batteries were drained. We thought that when we were driving down the road, the chassis batteries would help continue to charge the house batteries. We were not running any lights, ac, etc.

[Sky_Boss]

If you are referring to the battery disconnect switch I would think it must be on. On my system that means NOT in the "store" position. (Perhaps another EC owner can be more specific with this setting?) If you are plugged into 30 amp service there would not be any reason I can think of to use the battery disconnect switch.

You should have a charging system that takes a portion of your ALTERNATOR output to charge the house batteries but if they were totally drained, that would be a tall order for the alternator. Conversely, when you are on shore power a portion of the charge for the house batteries goes to your starter/chassis batteries.

So, the first thing to do is get the coach back on shore power and keep the house batteries on line. If you don't have AGM batteries I would also check the water level before putting it on shore power.

Assuming all systems are working normal and you simply drained the batteries you should be good to go. HOWEVER...depending on how long the coach sat on the sales lot you might find your batteries are not in the best of shape. This is because dealers often screw things up by leaving the batteries connected and thus drained a few times. If after you get the batteries charged up and you feel that they are discharging too fast you may need to get them load tested to see what kind of condition they are in.

[BFlinn181]

If you're plugged in, your converter(inverter)/charger will maintain the batteries and cover any drains on the 12v system. There's no reason to use the battery disconnect switches in that case. If you have no 120v power, then turning the BDS off will reduce battery drain and storage can be extended.

I'd use a multimeter and check voltages on all batteries with shore cord unplugged. Then take a second reading with the engine running. Do a third reading with the engine off and shore cord plugged in. There might be a short delay before charging starts, so wait a minute or more before taking readings.

A fully charged battery should read about 12.7v. When there is a charging voltage present, all batteries should read 13.2v or more. This little test will show if both chassis and house batteries charge on the engine and shore power. Since your generator will also provide 120v power, you can assume that it also will charge all batteries.

If you find house batteries don't charge on engine alternator, or chassis batteries don't charge on inverter/charger, then your battery disconnect (or B.I.R.D.) isn't functioning.

[SuperWinnie]

Very Newbie,
Not sure if I got A deal or a nightmare,First trip out,needed new batteries,bathroom and hall flooded and the she just wont start
at all.towed to shop and await the news.....1991 Winn Super Chief....22k miles....looks taken care of,paid 8k for her

[BFlinn181]

Originally Posted by SuperWinnie

Very Newbie,
Not sure if I got A deal or a nightmare,First trip out,needed new batteries,bathroom and hall flooded and the she just wont start
at all.towed to shop and await the news.....1991 Winn Super Chief....22k miles....looks taken care of,paid 8k for her

In the green bar with all the drop down choices, there's a "New Posts" tab. Always better to start a new topic on a new thread.

[MSHappyCampers]

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Not sure what you are referring to when you say "main power switch"! If you are talking about the battery disconnect switch, then yes, it should be on when plugged in. I am of the opinion that the house batteries should be charging when you are plugged in at home. Keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by SuperWinnie

Very Newbie,
Not sure if I got A deal or a nightmare,First trip out,needed new batteries,bathroom and hall flooded and the she just wont start
at all.towed to shop and await the news.....1991 Winn Super Chief....22k miles....looks taken care of,paid 8k for her

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Congrats on the new rig! Keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[Jpcoleman]

I made the mistake of thinking that if you turned the battery switch "off" on my Suncruiser it was the same as the disconnect in the coach. It is not. This resulted in the isolation of the batteries with no charge during storage and dead batteries.