Charging House Batteries from Alternator

[SS573]

Great!! I hope it goes well. I've read on here and other forums that many others have had the same problem. I'm amazed that this issue has not been resolved by either Thor or Trombetta......sad.

Good luck!!


2015 Thor Palazzo 33.2

'97 Ford Ranger Toad until I can get something new.

[ABrask]

Originally Posted by SS573

Great!! I hope it goes well. I've read on here and other forums that many others have had the same problem. I'm amazed that this issue has not been resolved by either Thor or Trombetta......sad.

Good luck!!


2015 Thor Palazzo 33.2

'97 Ford Ranger Toad until I can get something new.

Well I replaced it, but since I had no access to shore power in order to measure for a voltage difference between the small and large posts, I guess I won't have confirmation that it has solved my problem until I travel with the refrigerator running and the house batteries don't deplete. I did turn off the chassis power at the cutoff switch and was able to start the coach from the house batteries, however. Would that work if the relay was not closing?

[SS573]

My chassis batteries ran down while in the garage with shore power connected. I knew then they were not being charged. I tried to start the engine using the emergency start but nothing happened. If you can....sounds like your problem is solved :-)

You should read the same voltage on each sets of batteries while they're being charged.

Congratulations !!!


2015 Thor Palazzo 33.2

'97 Ford Ranger Toad until I can get something new.

[doublebs]

It would seem that after traveling 150 miles, running the invertor and refer only, we stop for some lunch and the generator auto starts? I would assume all batteries would be charged after 150 miles. Rig is always plugged in and I maintain the water level monthly. This has happened twice while on the road but not constantly. Alternator charging normal voltage. I notice my 2016 came with the cheaper trombette, could this begining to fail, my rig only has 6000 miles on it.

[SS573]

That sounds typical. Mine had about the same mileage when it quit. Since these contractors are rated for high current I'm wondering why they fail so often.

A few minutes ago I cranked ours and verified the engine is still charging the house batteries. Hopefully the -020 model has resolved the issue.


2015 Thor Palazzo 33.2

'97 Ford Ranger Toad until I can get something new.

[HappyCamper7]

Originally Posted by doublebs

It would seem that after traveling 150 miles, running the invertor and refer only, we stop for some lunch and the generator auto starts? I would assume all batteries would be charged after 150 miles. Rig is always plugged in and I maintain the water level monthly. This has happened twice while on the road but not constantly. Alternator charging normal voltage. I notice my 2016 came with the cheaper trombette, could this begining to fail, my rig only has 6000 miles on it.

That would be my bet. The good news is that the more expensive one seems to have a longer life. I keep a spare part in the motor home.

[MisterT]

I wouldn't think that traveling 150 miles, let's say 6 hours max, would require the batteries to be charged with only the fridge on...

several things to check:

-have someone take a look at the Magnum panel over the door while you are driving, checking what the amps usage is, +/- ... and the voltage, to make sure it's charging...
...any items plugged in could be requiring amps, such as computers, satellite receivers, etc.

-check the number you have your AGS set to come on, if it's too high, the generator will come on much more often than necessary. Ours is set at 11.9 and seems to be the number we found that works well for us.

We've never turned our inverter/charger off, and have the AGS set to come on in the case we do drop too low, whether while driving, dry camping/parked, or even if we have lost 50a plug power and don't know it...

[Don Voyage]

Thanks for information! On a trip now and when I stopped at a rest area I checked the house batteries level and they were low also!
Checked the solenoid and it is also the -010, and will order the new -020 from amazon tonight!

Question: Hopefully this will resolve the problem. Then it's that Bi-directional on back wall is next???? Not sure how to test a computer board? Just replace I guess if new solenoid doesn't work?

Thanks!
Don

[doublebs]

You have made a good point regarding AGS set point. I have mine set at 12.2 and after looking good at the charging chart is probably to close to 50% of discharge. Your other remarks on watching the settings while going down the road are excellent and will do.
Thanks Bruce

[NettieRegina]

Originally Posted by doublebs

You have made a good point regarding AGS set point. I have mine set at 12.2 and after looking good at the charging chart is probably to close to 50% of discharge. Your other remarks on watching the settings while going down the road are excellent and will do.
Thanks Bruce

Most charts that relate battery voltage to % discharge use the "no-load" voltage. So while the chart says 12.2v=50%, that is only accurate with no load on the batteries which is rare in your coach.

When you set 12.2 on your AGS, you are using the highest setting of the available range (10.0-12.2v). The default setting is 11.0v. I think you could safely set your AGS start voltage a bit lower if you find the generator is starting too often.

Gary

[Don Voyage]

Called the company that sells them through Amazon. Currently at a camp ground in Minnesota til Friday and needed it right away!
They charged me $43.00 for the unit and $12.00 3 day postage. Postage would of been way cheaper thru Fedex ground if I could wait 5-8 days. Price was cheaper direct than on Amazon....go figure?

MurCal, Inc.
41343 12th Street West
Palmdale, CA 93551

Phone: 661-272-4700

PS: I have my auto-gen-start set at 11.9 Volts

Don

[NettieRegina]

Originally Posted by Don Voyage

Thanks for information! On a trip now and when I stopped at a rest area I checked the house batteries level and they were low also!
Checked the solenoid and it is also the -010, and will order the new -020 from amazon tonight!

Question: Hopefully this will resolve the problem. Then it's that Bi-directional on back wall is next???? Not sure how to test a computer board? Just replace I guess if new solenoid doesn't work?

Thanks!
Don

It's relatively easy to test this function of the BIRD module and even easier to check the Trombetta contactor with only a multimeter.

[MisterT]

here's how I learned important lessons about the AGS setting for the generator:

We drycamped at the Walmart Corp headquarters huge parking lot on a Saturday nite January 2015 in Bentonville, AK. At that point, I had used our generator very little and had not much experience with the Magnum panel or the AGS settings.
Because the temps were close to freezing, and we had no external power options, I decided to keep the batteries from dropping too low overnight by applying the AGS setting to automatically start the generator anytime the batteries needed it.
I had read some information about what number best to set it at, but honestly the information was confusing - so I picked a number, 10.9.

What I didn't realize is that the generator uses the SAME house batteries to start... so, when the AGS tried to start the generator during the night, the house batteries, at 10.8, were too low to provide enough voltage to get the generator started!
I actually heard the AGS trying to start the generator, and when I realized by the slow gate of the 'ticks' that the batteries were too low, I jumped out of bed and applied the 'Aux Start' button to provide a connection to the CHASSIS batteries to get it finally started.
Of course, I then realized what was happening and changed the AGS setting to 12.0.
While this means that the generator gets started more often, it keeps the batteries from falling below an appropriate level for the AGS to get the generator started.

other notes:
-you can also choose how LONG the generator runs when the AGS starts it, we use 30 minutes
-there is a setting also for 'RV' and 'Other' within the AGS settings profile. If you ever turn your generator OFF after the AGS has started it, the 'RV' setting will 'disable' your AGS from restarting it in the future. The 'Other' setting allows it to continue providing the AGS start when required.

[boostme]

Originally Posted by MisterT

here's how I learned important lessons about the AGS setting for the generator:

We drycamped at the Walmart Corp headquarters huge parking lot on a Saturday nite January 2015 in Bentonville, AK. At that point, I had used our generator very little and had not much experience with the Magnum panel or the AGS settings.
Because the temps were close to freezing, and we had no external power options, I decided to keep the batteries from dropping too low overnight by applying the AGS setting to automatically start the generator anytime the batteries needed it.
I had read some information about what number best to set it at, but honestly the information was confusing - so I picked a number, 10.9.

What I didn't realize is that the generator uses the SAME house batteries to start... so, when the AGS tried to start the generator during the night, the house batteries, at 10.8, were too low to provide enough voltage to get the generator started!
I actually heard the AGS trying to start the generator, and when I realized by the slow gate of the 'ticks' that the batteries were too low, I jumped out of bed and applied the 'Aux Start' button to provide a connection to the CHASSIS batteries to get it finally started.
Of course, I then realized what was happening and changed the AGS setting to 12.0.
While this means that the generator gets started more often, it keeps the batteries from falling below an appropriate level for the AGS to get the generator started.

other notes:
-you can also choose how LONG the generator runs when the AGS starts it, we use 30 minutes
-there is a setting also for 'RV' and 'Other' within the AGS settings profile. If you ever turn your generator OFF after the AGS has started it, the 'RV' setting will 'disable' your AGS from restarting it in the future. The 'Other' setting allows it to continue providing the AGS start when required.

Interesting point that having freshly installed a new battery bank and ags setup I had not considered. This limits the usable amount of AH that can be taken out of the bank for me. I may actually have to consider installing a separate battery for starting the Genny...donzinger? What are you doing with this?