Community Forums

royals1212 · 04-29-2016, 01:47 PM

There is a installation manual on magnums website that gives step by step instructions for all setups. Battery types charge rates erc

midasman · 04-30-2016, 08:12 AM

Around a week ago you sent me your settings and I adjusted mine accordingly. Although my house batteries are always fully charged, the chassis batteries may not be. I just went back after turning on the inverter for a few hours, and the chassis batteries seemed to have climbed from 12.5 V to 12.7V (full?). I will continue to monitor them to see if they:
1. Only drop to a certain point whether Inverter on or off
2. Only charge with Inverter ON.
Your picture on the AGS helped me a lot--I was running (to the back of the bus) to check chassis voltage with my Multimeter. Didn't realize the AGS could save me a lot of exercise! It ALSO appears that the voltmeter on the tank level display reflects chassis voltage and NOT house voltage. As an aside, when my chassis batteries gave out after 8 years on my 2006 Ambassador, I jumped it off from my Rubicon--looked kind of foolish! Oh, another thing-5 or 6 years ago, we brought our grandson to Oshkosh and saw the FIRST North American showing of the 787--a thrilling experience!
Thank you for your help.
Pete

757driver · 04-30-2016, 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midasman

Around a week ago you sent me your settings and I adjusted mine accordingly. Although my house batteries are always fully charged, the chassis batteries may not be. I just went back after turning on the inverter for a few hours, and the chassis batteries seemed to have climbed from 12.5 V to 12.7V (full?). I will continue to monitor them to see if they:
1. Only drop to a certain point whether Inverter on or off
2. Only charge with Inverter ON.
Your picture on the AGS helped me a lot--I was running (to the back of the bus) to check chassis voltage with my Multimeter. Didn't realize the AGS could save me a lot of exercise! It ALSO appears that the voltmeter on the tank level display reflects chassis voltage and NOT house voltage. As an aside, when my chassis batteries gave out after 8 years on my 2006 Ambassador, I jumped it off from my Rubicon--looked kind of foolish! Oh, another thing-5 or 6 years ago, we brought our grandson to Oshkosh and saw the FIRST North American showing of the 787--a thrilling experience!
Thank you for your help.
Pete

Pete,

Now I remember, sorry. When you say you turn the inverter ON are you referring to the Inverter ON/OFF button or the Charger ON/OFF botton? The only one that will charge your batteries (either set) is the Charger ON/OFF button.

The other day when you mentioned the house batteries were at 13.3v do you remember what the approximate outside temperature was?

If the inverter has the top PWR light ON, and the CHG light ON, and the display shows a charge stage Bulk, Absorb, or Float then the house batteries are getting a charge and by monitoring the chassis batteries on the EC-30 panel you should see the voltage slowly drop to a value below 12.6v and then begin charging up to your float voltage shown on the inverter panel.

757driver · 04-30-2016, 08:57 AM

Pete,

One more question, do you have solar panels installed?

midasman · 05-01-2016, 08:19 AM

No solar panels. Temp was at least 80 or so. Good question--float voltage drops as OAT increases. Inverter on/off to me means inverter button--not charge button. It is possible that I am seeing no charge of chassis until it drops to the 12.5 V, just as you said. I'll verify with the inverter OFF for a few days that it eventually comes back up to 12.7V using the EC30 gauge. Surprised me that you had to select either House or Chassis voltage. I do normally leave the inverter OFF unless engine is running or we are parked briefly.

757driver · 05-01-2016, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midasman

No solar panels. Temp was at least 80 or so. Good question--float voltage drops as OAT increases. Inverter on/off to me means inverter button--not charge button. It is possible that I am seeing no charge of chassis until it drops to the 12.5 V, just as you said. I'll verify with the inverter OFF for a few days that it eventually comes back up to 12.7V using the EC30 gauge. Surprised me that you had to select either House or Chassis voltage. I do normally leave the inverter OFF unless engine is running or we are parked briefly.

Pete,

The chassis batteries have to drop to a value below 12.6v to trigger the relay to close and start charging the chassis batteries.

Turning the inverter off has no effect on any charging of any battery. Unless you are putting your motorhome in storage there is no reason to turn the inverter off at all. Even when camped without shore power you need the inverter to power the fridge.

If your chassis batteries were at 12.5v one time and 12.7v later then they are getting a charge at some point. You may be looking at the voltage of the chassis batteries when the charging is not taking place.

While doing some more research on this I found that the Battery Isolation Manager not only looks for a chassis battery to be below 12.6v but also a house battery to be above 13.0v. For the type of batteries you have the recommended Float voltage was 13.0v. As this value is right on the threshold for the BIM relay might I suggest you raise your Float voltage under settings on the inverter panel to a value of 13.1 or 13.2 volts but no higher.

See if this makes a difference on how often your chassis batteries are getting a charge.

midasman · 05-03-2016, 01:28 PM

I checked chassis batteries today and they were 13.1V. They had been 12.5V yesterday. Plugged in 24/7 with inverter OFF. So like you guys said, they do not charge until they drop to around 12.5V and are brought up to 13.1V +/- depending on outside temperature. Two hours later, back to 12.7V (100% Charged). It doesn't matter whether the inverter is ON or OFF.

757driver · 05-03-2016, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by midasman

I checked chassis batteries today and they were 13.1V. They had been 12.5V yesterday. Plugged in 24/7 with inverter OFF. So like you guys said, they do not charge until they drop to around 12.5V and are brought up to 13.1V +/- depending on outside temperature. Two hours later, back to 12.7V (100% Charged). It doesn't matter whether the inverter is ON or OFF.

Pete,

Glad things worked out and your chassis batteries are getting charged.