Charger problems.

[Deliverance]

Me and the family bought a 2002 dolphin 36' last year and we have been boondocking a few times and we are having problems with the heater staying on all night without getting up and turning on the coach to charge the batteries.

I'm running 2 new 6volt batteries
I have bench tested my converter/charger
And i have tested the outlet that the chsrger plugs into

But its still notncharging the batteries im guessingnitnhas something to donwith the circuit board that the charger/converter goes into any ideas are appreciated.

[Rsponsford]

Need a little more info. What charger/converter do you have? Is there any method of charging the batteries that is working; via alternator while driving, when plugged into shore power, when running generator, solar? When you say you have to get up and start the coach are you starting the engine or the generator? What generator do you have and is it working properly? Have you checked all breakers including the rest on the charger/converter? You mentioned you bench tested the charger/converter, what were the test results? What was the result from testing the outlet the charger plugs into? What furnace do you have?

[twinboat]

What state of charge are the batteries at, once you shut down what ever your charging the batteries with ?

Does the heat last thru the night on the first night ?

How long do you charge, and with what, before the second night ?

What else, besides heat, are you running, and what is the outside temps ?

2, 6 volt batteries isn't a lot of capacity.

[speed racer]

What batteries do you have.

[Deliverance]

Yes the heat lasts thru the night on night 1 and progressively hets worse each night i run the generator for 7-8 hours throughout the day

Originally Posted by twinboat

What state of charge are the batteries at, once you shut down what ever your charging the batteries with ?

Does the heat last thru the night on the first night ?

How long do you charge, and with what, before the second night ?

What else, besides heat, are you running, and what is the outside temps ?

2, 6 volt batteries isn't a lot of capacity.

[Deliverance]

[Not sure what brand of converter but its 50amp, yes my alternator charges the batteries so night 1 it lasts all night because the drive, when i wake up i turn on the coach so the alternator kicks on i jave a brand new 5500watt onan all breakers are good and when i bench tested the charger it was purting out 15 volts

QUOTE=Rsponsford;4654201]Need a little more info. What charger/converter do you have? Is there any method of charging the batteries that is working; via alternator while driving, when plugged into shore power, when running generator, solar? When you say you have to get up and start the coach are you starting the engine or the generator? What generator do you have and is it working properly? Have you checked all breakers including the rest on the charger/converter? You mentioned you bench tested the charger/converter, what were the test results? What was the result from testing the outlet the charger plugs into? What furnace do you have?[/QUOTE]

[Deliverance]

Just put 2 costco interstate golf cart batteries

[Isaac-1]

If you have tested, what is the output voltage?

[Richard S.]

Sounds like you need to replace the interconnect solenoid, left side of the bcc board.
Replacement of the solenoid has corrected many charging problems.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Richard S.

Sounds like you need to replace the interconnect solenoid, left side of the bcc board.
Replacement of the solenoid has corrected many charging problems.

The interconnect ( isolation solenoid ) has nothing to do with the converter charging the house batteries.

The OPs interconnect is working because he can charge his house batteries, with the engine charging system. That's what its for.

[twinboat]

If you loosing capacity, day after day, while dry camping, your not recharging you batteries enough, each charging session.

7 to 8 hours should be more then enough time If the converter/charger is working up to capacity. Its an older style and may be a single voltage model, and its probably not going to do it.
Another problem is that the RV builders use inadequate wiring, from the converter/charger, to the battery.

Order a stand alone 3/4 stage, smart , 55 amp, converter charger. Mount it close to the batteries with 6 or 8 gauge wires to the battery and plug it in.

You can run both or switch off the old one. The new one, close to the batteries, will get your batteries recharged in 4 to 5 hours, maybe less. Then you should, at least get over 80% charged and be able to get thru the next night.

The best way to recharge is to run the generator a few hours in the AM and then again just before bed time for 2 to 3 hours.

Use one like this and your batteries will thank you.

[Deliverance]

My converter chwrger is putting out 15volts its g9tta he something with the circuite board or beyond that

[twinboat]

Was that measured at the converter or the battery ?

If you measured the converter output without the battery, That's a false reading.

If your measuring at the converter, with the battery connected, that's not accurate either. The output could be 15 volts while the batteries are only seeing 13 volts, due to voltage drop in the wiring.

With the batteries partially discharged, measure the voltage at the battery and see if its getting up to about 14.6 volts.

[Deliverance]

Twinboat what im saying is the converter charger is putting out and its plugged into the circuit board i posted a picture of how ever the batteries are recieveing no charge so there is a problem somewhere between the circuit board and the batteries i ran my batteries to 11.5 volts then turned on the generator (powering the charger) and after an hour inwas still at 11.5 volts