Community Forums

Dawn590 · 06-17-2018, 11:26 AM

Problem.... electronic door malfunction almost caught fire.... so fire co tore the batteries apart so called Decatur about this.....sending out a technician.....in the meantime I called a guy to hook up the batteries....the batteries are putting out more voltage than they should be .... but plugged into shore and we have the microwave, TV, and outlets....how could these be working? Please explain to me what is going on. And NO A/C and it’s almost 90 here

Old-Biscuit · 06-17-2018, 11:36 AM

You have TWO electrical systems
One is 120V AC power---shore power to MAIN AC Panel where individual circuit breakers are
One is 12V DC power....battery power to DC Dist Panel with Fuses for individual circuits

Probably have an 'inverter' that take using DC Input and has AC output
Inverter also would have a 'charger' to maintain batteries

Otherwise a 'converter/charger'....AC Input---DC Output and battery charging

Batteries putting out TOO Much voltage........shorted cell OR batteries wired together wrong

12V Batteries should be wired---Parallel for 12V output

6V Batteries should be wired----In Series for 12V output

photopilot · 06-17-2018, 11:56 AM

Year/make/model of your rig so your question can be better answered?

As Old Biscuit said, you have two electrical systems. The 120V system seems to be working fine.

There seems to be a problem with the 12V system - most likely the battery is wired incorrectly. Do you know if the voltage was high before the overheating? That may have caused the problem. Your A/C is most likely controlled by a thermostat that runs on 12V, so if your 12V isn't working properly, the A/C won't turn on if 12V isn't present. How high is the voltage? If you're lucky, a fuse will blow, but the high voltage could fry some other things besides the lock controller.

Just wild guesses on my part. You'll know when the technician shows up.

Walt

Dawn590 · 06-17-2018, 12:32 PM

We had a problem with the door lock and the module almost catching fire...198 degrees hot....if there was a problem with the batteries it didn’t rear it’s ugly head until then....2 batteries are showing 18 volts and I am pissed to put it mildly about this. The module should have just stopped working not to cause problems.....and to top it off in melted a heater hose....coolant all over....

Dawn590 · 06-17-2018, 12:34 PM

And there is absolutely no power....no lights also

MSHappyCampers · 06-17-2018, 12:36 PM

Hi !

Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

Old Biscuit is the man!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

Dawn590 · 06-17-2018, 12:46 PM

2017 Holiday Rambler Endeavor

**TonyDi** · 06-17-2018, 02:28 PM

Glad to have you here in the forum with us. You're gonna like it here.

Happy Trails!!!

rpasetto · 06-17-2018, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawn590

We had a problem with the door lock and the module almost catching fire...198 degrees hot....if there was a problem with the batteries it didn’t rear it’s ugly head until then....2 batteries are showing 18 volts and I am pissed to put it mildly about this. The module should have just stopped working not to cause problems.....and to top it off in melted a heater hose....coolant all over....

Welcome to the forum.

The statement about "2 batteries are showing 18 volts" is puzzling and a bit scary. We need to know first if you are plugged in or not when you measure that 18volt reading. If you unplug, so the inverter-charger is not operating, voltage should be around 12.5 volts.... see chart below. If you find this is the case, the charger is charging at waaay too high a voltage (it should be around 14). There could be electrical damage in the 12v system if you keep it connected so I advise you to disconnect to avoid anything worse.

If the batteries still show 18 volts with no charging circuit connected it is likely you have the batteries wired incorrectly. For example, three batteries in series would have that result.

Dawn590 · 06-17-2018, 04:33 PM

Unplugged when it was checked....I need shore power...

Alan_Hepburn · 06-25-2018, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dawn590

Unplugged when it was checked....I need shore power...

If you are measuring 18V with the RV disconnected from shore power, and the engine not running there are 4 possibilities:

1. You have 6V batteries connected in series for a total of 12V - it is impossible for them to put out 18V so we can eliminate this option.

2. You have 6V batteries connected in parallel for a total of 6V - again, impossible to get 18V in this configuration.

3. You have 12V batteries connected in series for a total of 24V - a total of 3 cells are shorted, giving you 18V. The shorted cells will also emit a significant amount of heat so the battery that contains those shorted cells will be HOT. Note that this is an incorrect configuration for batteries, unless you have a specialized vehicle that requires a 24VDV supply.

4. You have 12V batteries connected in parallel for a total of 12V - pretty much impossible to get 18V out of a 12V supply.

So, number 3 is the most likely scenario. Did you recently change batteries, and opted for 12V instead of 6V batteries?

rpasetto · 06-25-2018, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan_Hepburn

If you are measuring 18V with the RV disconnected from shore power, and the engine not running there are 4 possibilities:

1. You have 6V batteries connected in series for a total of 12V - it is impossible for them to put out 18V so we can eliminate this option.

2. You have 6V batteries connected in parallel for a total of 6V - again, impossible to get 18V in this configuration.

3. You have 12V batteries connected in series for a total of 24V - a total of 3 cells are shorted, giving you 18V. The shorted cells will also emit a significant amount of heat so the battery that contains those shorted cells will be HOT. Note that this is an incorrect configuration for batteries, unless you have a specialized vehicle that requires a 24VDV supply.

4. You have 12V batteries connected in parallel for a total of 12V - pretty much impossible to get 18V out of a 12V supply.

So, number 3 is the most likely scenario. Did you recently change batteries, and opted for 12V instead of 6V batteries?

... or
5. If the coach has four 6v golfcart batteries, with three of the four 6v batteries in series, the third (somehow) out of the circuit. (A complement of four 6v golfcart batteries in series/parallel is pretty common for Monaco coaches, possibly also for Fleetwood and other brands.)

6. One 6v deep cycle is connected in series to a 12 volt chassis battery ... or the entire group of 6v house batteries are connected to the 12v chassis batteries in series.

I am sure there are some other possibilities which haven't occurred to anyone. Hopefully #3, with shorted cells, is not going on as the generated heat here can be dangerous.

The best recommendation to the OP is to take a picture of the battery array showing the wiring. In the meantime it may be prudent to disconnect batteries., just in case.

nothermark · 06-25-2018, 03:02 PM

With no 12 VDC you have no control voltage for the A/C, furnace, refrigerator, or water heater. None should be working unless it's a residential refrigerator.

Seriously doubt the batteries caused the problem if they had been working OK. Failure was probably a blown transistor in the module causing it to draw too much current for a while. Not enough to blow the fuse but more than enough to heat it up.

You can count the filler caps or plugs in the filler holes to estimate the battery voltage. Cells are ~2 V each so three cells/filler holes on a 6 V and six on a 12 volt. May be whoever put them back wired them wrong. Hard to judge from your description.

Alan_Hepburn · 06-25-2018, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpasetto

... or
5. If the coach has four 6v golfcart batteries, with three of the four 6v batteries in series, the third (somehow) out of the circuit. (A complement of four 6v golfcart batteries in series/parallel is pretty common for Monaco coaches, possibly also for Fleetwood and other brands.)

6. One 6v deep cycle is connected in series to a 12 volt chassis battery ... or the entire group of 6v house batteries are connected to the 12v chassis batteries in series.

I am sure there are some other possibilities which haven't occurred to anyone. Hopefully #3, with shorted cells, is not going on as the generated heat here can be dangerous.

The best recommendation to the OP is to take a picture of the battery array showing the wiring. In the meantime it may be prudent to disconnect batteries., just in case.

The OP stated he measured 18V on 2 batteries, so I ignored any configuration that involved more than 2 batteries. I'm thinking that the original problem might have been caused by an issue with the converter putting out too much voltage, which fried the controller. Then the batteries (probably 12V batteries) were disconnected. When the batteries were reconnected, they were connected wrong. Because of the over-voltage from the converter there are now 3 shorted cells in the batteries, resulting in a reading of 18V in the incorrrectly configured 12V batteries.