Community Forums

vman60 · 06-08-2011, 08:16 PM

I have asked several questions and have had many replies and I can't thank all of you enough, but being my 1st coach I do have questions so bare in mind if you all will.
There is a thread on here that asks if its ok to leave the propane on driving down the road. I knew that was good, but how about the generator? To watch tv or run the a/c"s when it real hot. I didn't think there was an issue with doing so because it has its own exhaust and I know it runs of the coach tank gas, but for the luxury items, you would need it on.
By the way since I am asking, is the house battery charged by the generator or the motor? Thanks for being informative. Tony

OneRVer · 06-08-2011, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vman60

I have asked several questions and have had many replies and I can't thank all of you enough, but being my 1st coach I do have questions so bare in mind if you all will.
There is a thread on here that asks if its ok to leave the propane on driving down the road. I knew that was good, but how about the generator? To watch tv or run the a/c"s when it real hot. I didn't think there was an issue with doing so because it has its own exhaust and I know it runs of the coach tank gas, but for the luxury items, you would need it on.
By the way since I am asking, is the house battery charged by the generator or the motor? Thanks for being informative. Tony

Yes it is alright to run down the road with you propane on but when you pull in for fuel be sure to have the hot water heater and the refer off.

The generator is alright to run while driving also. Just don't watch the TV while driving.

Your house batteries are being charged by your alternator while driving also by the generator while camping.

You are welcome.

whem2fish · 06-09-2011, 05:16 AM

your rv looks like mine what year is it if its hot or grand kids with me i run gen. they can play games on both tvs the gen and alt. both charge battery

vman60 · 06-09-2011, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whem2fish

your rv looks like mine what year is it if its hot or grand kids with me i run gen. they can play games on both tvs the gen and alt. both charge battery

Mine is a 1988 34ft S

whem2fish · 06-09-2011, 08:18 AM

mine is a 1985 28 ft

RonS1985 · 06-10-2011, 07:37 AM

I wanted to chime in on this one. You mentioned that the house batteries are charged off of the alternator. I have a '89 Southwind and I have drained them by letting the kids watch tv on the road. I can't imagine that a tv and DVD uses that much power that it would drain the batteries faster than they can be charged. I'm wondering if that is true for all RV's or if my batteries/charging system is not working properly.

OneRVer · 06-10-2011, 10:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonS1985

I wanted to chime in on this one. You mentioned that the house batteries are charged off of the alternator. I have a '89 Southwind and I have drained them by letting the kids watch tv on the road. I can't imagine that a tv and DVD uses that much power that it would drain the batteries faster than they can be charged. I'm wondering if that is true for all RV's or if my batteries/charging system is not working properly.

Just like any automotive the alternator charges the battery. In a motor home the alternator charges both, the house and chassis. Is your chassis battery staying charged?

poppatello · 06-10-2011, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonS1985

I wanted to chime in on this one. You mentioned that the house batteries are charged off of the alternator. I have a '89 Southwind and I have drained them by letting the kids watch tv on the road. I can't imagine that a tv and DVD uses that much power that it would drain the batteries faster than they can be charged. I'm wondering if that is true for all RV's or if my batteries/charging system is not working properly.

How many house batteries do you have? I found out mine is suppose to have two house and one starting battery. When I got the unit it only had two house batteries and using one house to start the unit. You may not have the correct amount of batteries on board. You should not be out running your alternator and generator. You can however out run your alternator alone. Remember, if the unit is quite old as in mine, they didn't have Tv's, game systems and such back in 73. Well they had Tv's but how many families took them camping in 73? Just some things to think about. We never seem to update the RV components to run our updated toys so to speak...

Senior Chief · 06-10-2011, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonS1985

I wanted to chime in on this one. You mentioned that the house batteries are charged off of the alternator. I have a '89 Southwind and I have drained them by letting the kids watch tv on the road. I can't imagine that a tv and DVD uses that much power that it would drain the batteries faster than they can be charged. I'm wondering if that is true for all RV's or if my batteries/charging system is not working properly.

Don't know if its original or a later modification to our '89 Southwind, but our house batteries do NOT charge from the alternator, but only from the converter/charger, whether hooked up to shore power or on gen.

RonS1985 · 06-10-2011, 05:54 PM

I have one main battery and two house batteries. My main battery is brand new. The two house batteries have seen better days.

vman60 · 06-10-2011, 09:07 PM

My house battery is 1 huge bear. 8D. Its the size of 3 batteries put together. I had to purchase a new 1 this year because I let it sit for so long and not used it. I do have a friend that works ata place that service's semi tractors, and told me they use this size in those trucks. He sold it to me for $165.00 his cost when anywhere else or online it would have cost $300.00 plus. So now I am mounting 2 battery chargers under the hood so I can keep a constant and stablle charge on both house and start batteries, I had been using thhe one I keep my chopper charged with and it does fine. As heavy as that 8D battery is I don't want to have too lift that puppy anymore. I bet that thing weighs 85pds and to lift it and stick in through the hood and down on the frame, you have to be in either great shape or it takes 2 people.