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Neal D · 08-24-2021, 04:20 PM

On a recent trip, with roughly 7.5k miles on our motorhome, we ran into an issue with the Battery Light on the dash (idiot light). We were running the inverter for our residential fridge, nothing else was powered up at the time other than a few USB devices on chargers. We were not running the generator and we do have the 2000-watt pure sign inverter and 2 solar panels. It was interesting as it would come on and off, and in fact turning on the generator did in fact keep it off. So, I assume we were just drawing too much from the alternator. Well, I decided to check the codes when I got back it read code P0562 (system voltage low) and recommended either replace the battery or alternator. The dealer told me nothing was wrong, or at least they couldn’t find anything. So, I thought I would check and see if anyone has a recommendation or something I can direct the dealer to do so this does not occur in the future.

Skip426 · 08-24-2021, 10:42 PM

Did the dealer test ALL the batteries , chassis and coach ?

2000 watt inverter should have a 4x6 volt battery bank , minimum , is that what your coach has ?

Were the coach batteries fully charged before the start of your travel day ?
Were you running the dash A/C ? Headlights on ?
Do you have the spec sheet for the fridge saying how many watts ( or amps ) it draws with the compressor running ?
Do you have your chassis spec sheet , that gives the alternator capacity ?

If all the batteries are in good condition and fully charged at the start of the day , an alternator with 100 amp+ capacity should have kept up the charging with the fridge running off the inverter.

Neal D · 08-25-2021, 07:01 AM

I doubt they tested all of the batteries, but will certainly ask them to. Yes, we have the 4x6 battery bank.
The batteries were fully charged prior to the start of our travel day, and yes we did have the dash a/c on as well as the headlights (I always drive with my headlights on). I don't have the spec sheet on the fridge, but can certainly look for it as well as the alternator capacity.
I tend to agree with you, I would think this would only occur if I have either a battery or alternator issue.

Mike8253 · 08-25-2021, 02:19 PM

I suspect that light was regarding your chassis battery and not your house batteries. Sorry I can't contribute any more than that, but I don't think you'd see anything on your dash regarding house electrical issues.

Skip426 · 08-25-2021, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike8253

I suspect that light was regarding your chassis battery and not your house batteries. Sorry I can't contribute any more than that, but I don't think you'd see anything on your dash regarding house electrical issues.

Mike ; with the engine running all the batteries in the RV are interconnected and hooked to the alternator for charging , if the charging rate falls below the warning light limit ; be it due to low alternator output or excessive charging required by bad batteries , or overall load on the charging system ( charging batteries , dash A/C, headlights ), then the light comes on , all possibilities have to be investigated .

Neal D · 10-21-2021, 07:48 AM

Just quick updated after leaving our coach with Ford for two days. They determined that both the generator and battery were bad and needed to be replaced. Thankfully both were still under warranty. Just seems odd the a new unit with only ~7400 miles would have this sort of issue. I can only assume that it started with the alternator which eventually damaged the battery as well. The good news is that we are now back on the road and hopefully (fingers crossed) do not have that issue again in the near future.

Skip426 · 10-23-2021, 09:53 AM

Thanks for wrapping up your post , glad that you're mobile and hopefully problem free.

With both alternator and battery bad , it's a "what came first , the chicken or the egg "debate .
Chassis battery , if drawn dead , even a couple of times before the coach was completed will shorten it's lifespan considerably, so I'd suspect battery then alternator . JM2CW of course.