Community Forums

zzjea · 09-07-2014, 08:50 PM

I am having 12v electrical issues which include the jacks blowing a 15a fuse when pressing the jacks down button, the lights will dim when turning more lights on, the battery disconnect switch does not actually disconnect the 12v system, the interconnect switch (battery boost) does not seem to work. It does not seem to matter if the batteries are being charged while any of these issues occur.

Some or all of this has developed while working on the generator starting problem I have been struggling with for some time. It seems that all of these issues could be from low amps. Voltage is ~14 when charging and ~12.9 when not. The original batteries may be about 8 years old.

I had all 4 batteries tested with a hydrometer and they all showed good. Then I had them load tested and one showed bad. I replaced that battery with a new Trojan T-105 the other day but all the issues still remain.

If one or more of the older batteries are actually bad or poor, would they pull everything down and cause most or all of these issues? I am planning to get 3 more new batteries tomorrow unless someone can point in another direction.

And why would the batteries show good on hydrometer and load test if they are bad or low? And yes,I have cleaned and secured every ground I could find.

John

"007" · 09-08-2014, 10:56 PM

12v and battery issues can maybe help you in this link.
You need to make sure all the battery cables to chassis frame are clean and tight plus Gen, inverter/converter grounds to frame also.

zzjea · 09-09-2014, 10:28 AM

I just put in 3 more new Trojan T-105 batteries and nothing has changed. They are charging in the coach now but were at 6.25 when installed. I had hoped this would have solved most if not all of my issues.

The old Interstates were about 8 years old, so I don't feel too bad about replacing them anyway.

Still open for ideas or suggestions......

John

BFlinn181 · 09-09-2014, 10:37 AM

I'd check all cable connections, especially the ground connections to the chassis. It sounds like there is resistance preventing power getting to your 12 v systems. The fuse blowing to the jacks indicates that resistance. As voltage goes down, amperage goes up to power things. The jacks could be drawing enough amperage at lower than expected voltage to cause the fuse to blow.

If the connections are hard to find, test the hypothesis by using a jumper cable to connect battery ground to chassis. See if the issues still show. If not, then you have more incentive to track down the 'dirty' ground.

TRD1976 · 10-26-2014, 12:06 PM

I am having the same problems have you figured it out yet

bobbyl · 10-26-2014, 12:12 PM

is the problem the same when the genset is running or you are connected to shore power? Does the voltage on the house batteries still show low when on shore power?

zzjea · 10-26-2014, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRD1976

I am having the same problems have you figured it out yet

Yes. After 4 new T-105 batteries and a new starter. I am ok with this however as the batteries were about 8 years old and the starter had a stuck bendix.

However, the issue with the generator, the jacks and lights dimming, it was a loose nut on the hot side of the disconnect solenoid. I tightened it and everything worked. The solenoid was hidden behind the 12v distribution panel and was not easily seen. Would have looked earlier but the loose nut was not noticeable. It looked ok to the eye.

Hope this helps. Of course I cleaned and tightened all the grounds before I found the positive bad connection. Spent a lot of time and $ looking for a bad ground....

John

BFlinn181 · 10-26-2014, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zzjea

Yes. After 4 new T-105 batteries and a new starter. I am ok with this however as the batteries were about 8 years old and the starter had a stuck bendix.

However, the issue with the generator, the jacks and lights dimming, it was a loose nut on the hot side of the disconnect solenoid. I tightened it and everything worked. The solenoid was hidden behind the 12v distribution panel and was not easily seen. Would have looked earlier but the loose nut was not noticeable. It looked ok to the eye.

Hope this helps. Of course I cleaned and tightened all the grounds before I found the positive bad connection. Spent a lot of time and $ looking for a bad ground....

John

I'm glad you found it was a loose connection. Did you try using a jumper cable to ground to check if the ground was the bad connection? I find using a jumper wire to test goes a long way to finding such issues. It can determine if it's a ground connection, a bad switch or relay contacts, etc.

zzjea · 10-26-2014, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

I'm glad you found it was a loose connection. Did you try using a jumper cable to ground to check if the ground was the bad connection? I find using a jumper wire to test goes a long way to finding such issues. It can determine if it's a ground connection, a bad switch or relay contacts, etc.

Yes I tried that early on. I finally tried 'jumping' from the pos. battery terminal directly to the gen/jacks cable at the 12v dist. panel. That gave me encouragement (good voltage) so I then knew it must be the 12v dist. panel or one of the solenoids (interconnect or disconnect).