Engine battery charge problem

[appredim]

2000 Damon Intruder model 341on a ford chassis.

Engine battery will not stay charged while plugged into shore power. It used to stay charged but suddenly it started going dead after a couple of weeks. There must be a relay or something that has malfunctioned. Any ideas?

[C-PHartley]

How old is the battery? Are you sure the battery is good? You can have it tested at any auto parts store to verify it. That is where I would start. Once that is proven good, that is when I would start looking for other problems. I hope this helps.

[clyon51]

Are you absolutely sure the system use to maintain the chassis battery? That would be unusual for a 2000.

If the battery was in good shape and you were lucky the parasitic loads weren't that high, the battery could go a month and still start the coach. As the starting battery aged and wasn't kept topped off, it would soon fail.

If you are sure it did, then you had a B.I.R.D. system.

http://www.ecovantageenergy.com/cata...ms/item995.htm

This means the controller went bad or more likely the continuous duty solenoid has failed. However, if the coach is being charged with engine running, most systems use the same solenoid. So that means it's fine. Of course it depends on the individual systems.

If you discover you don't have a BIRD, than one of these is the way to go to maintain a chassis battery.

http://www.lslproducts.com/TLSPage.html

[kb7uxe]

check for AC ripple out of your charging system. AC will kill a battery ...
be sure when shore power connected, ( but not connected to battery )
you see DC 12 V ( 12-14.8 volts DC ) then check voltage on AC mode.
AC should be 0.09 or less.. although depending on charger , I would not be surprised to see as much as 0.2.. any more than about 1 volt AC and the charging system may be broken.
then check the battery voltage. then reconnect the cable to battery and check voltage again while charging. charging voltage should be 12V or more depending on how smart the charger is. ( 12V to just under 15 V )
use a quality meter that is smart enough to know AC and DC ( will not read dc when switched to ac ) but it sounds like the charging system may have a shorted diode, or is not connected to the battery.. this stuff is easy if I'm standing there.. 8-)

[Gary RVRoamer]

Are you absolutely sure the system use to maintain the chassis battery? That would be unusual for a 2000.

Not really. All Fleetwood and National RV brands since the early 90's had that function. It was mostly Winnebago?Itasca models that did not.

If you are sure it did, then you had a B.I.R.D. system.

Not all electrical system designs use the B.I.R.D. component - there are other systems that do similar charge control functions, e.g. the Intelletec BCC or the RV Products Battery Control Center.

[clyon51]

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer

Not really. All Fleetwood and National RV brands since the early 90's had that function. It was mostly Winnebago?Itasca models that did not.

That's my basic understanding too. However, I know 3 people personally that own late 90s NRVs (including me) that do not have that function. Of course it doesn't surprise me a mfg would have a certain function one year and not the next. I understand Winnie had it off and on too, and even used Trik-L-Starts a few years.

Not all electrical system designs use the B.I.R.D. component - there are other systems that do similar charge control functions, e.g. the Intelletec BCC or the RV Products Battery Control Center.

I used the wrong term....just thinking Bi-directional. My RV Custom Products BCC (01033-10 REV1) went south last year (my fault) and they sent me REV 6 I believe. I was hoping that had the bi-directional function, but no. Anyway, threw in a Trik-L-Start, so I'm happy.

[Dunner]

I have an `04 National Sea Breeze(F53) and it charges both battery banks on shore, generator or with the engine running. My buddy has an `04 LX(WH) and it doesn't charge the chassis battery while on shore or generator. Go figure. His is either broke or was never wired the correct way.

[Gary RVRoamer]

The NRV 2002 Dolphin LX we had charged from shore power. It used a RV Custom Products BCC. So did a friend's 2004 Seabreeze LX.

But we are digressing from appredim's original question...