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chofujohn · 09-12-2013, 01:26 PM

For the life of me I couldn't figure out WHY my house batteries were draining. All I could determine was that there was a draw, but couldn't isolate the source. I had several "experts" on the problem, but none could solve the mystery.

When I first started full-timing I made major upgrades and repairs to my '02 Dutch Star. They say expect to spend about $10k when getting a new/used class A. I spent closer to $30k; new roof, heat pumps, TV's, dish, etc. Some of that money went to new AGM (glass mat) batteries on the coach side. (Regular on the chassis side.) Turns out the "boy" who installed them for me made major mistakes in the installation. He even took a picture with his smart phone so as to not make a mistake.

The first mistake was to leave some of the connections loose. I had intermittent connections on 3 or 4 batteries and nobody, including me, ever detected them as being loose.

Second, when he reconnected the batteries to their respective buses he connected the alternator bus to the HOUSE side instead of the chassis side. Over 2 years of problems, including needlessly replacing a 3,000 watt inverter, and I wasn't any closer to a solution. For me to keep a charge on my house batteries I had to connect a charger to the house batteries, otherwise they would deplete completely and then suck down the chassis's as well. It was quite the conundrum.

Finally, I wandered into the Newmar factory as I just happen to be in the neighborhood motoring to Maine from Montana. Dodging Amish horse and buggies in the countryside my GPS finally got me there. Newmar was most gracious to take me on short notice and at 6 AM on the second morning I was finally in the shop. I gave them a general description of the problems and my tech went to work. I had thought my problem was basically down to failed batteries. He found them to be OK, but with loose connections. That was when he saw the alternator bus was misconnected. VOILA!!! On what I expected to be a $1,000 factory visit turned out to cost me ONLY $150. I will forever sing praises for the Newmar factory. If I ever have a recurring problem without a solution I will only trust it to the factory. I just wish I had that original converter back that I needlessly replaced.

MSHappyCampers · 09-12-2013, 02:20 PM

Glad you got your problem solved!

Fred and Bonnie · 09-12-2013, 06:44 PM

When troubleshooting a issue, always go to the items previously serviced or repaired, as a start point.

fred

**JohnRR** · 09-12-2013, 06:48 PM

Thank you for the update and information.

RickO · 09-12-2013, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred and Bonnie

When troubleshooting a issue, always go to the items previously serviced or repaired, as a start point.

fred

X2

The venue doesn't seem to matter, but so very often something which is now broken is closely related to something which was recently "fixed"

.

Thanks for sharing the story. A lot of lessons here.

Rick

Mr_D · 09-12-2013, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chofujohn

I just wish I had that original converter back that I needlessly replaced.

And I was going to ask if you still had the old one!!

No, not really!

Glad you got it fixed though, and yes, Newmar tech's are great.

chofujohn · 09-13-2013, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred and Bonnie

When troubleshooting a issue, always go to the items previously serviced or repaired, as a start point.

fred

In hindsight you offer great advice. I just never dreamed a battery company could make such gross, multiple errors. Now that I have my major electrical issues resolved I can put it all behind me. Now I can pay attention to my overheating problem on steep and/or long grades.

JD

targaboat · 09-13-2013, 04:06 PM

Send me a pm on your over heating problem. I have been through that issue also.

LeeRevell · 09-19-2013, 06:38 AM

After some forty years of working on various motorcycles, cars, trucks, etc - ANY battery related problems, ALWAYS check the connections first. Seems to fix it half the time.