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Old 09-19-2024, 05:07 PM   #1
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House batteries go dead suddenly

Yesterday I went and started the engine and ran the generator to get ready for today. This morning the house batteries were dead. Generator wouldn't start. It was plugged into shore power all night. Batteries are less than an year old.

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Old 09-19-2024, 09:35 PM   #2
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Possibly bad diode in alternator or something got left on.
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Old 09-20-2024, 05:31 AM   #3
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dugout52-

You may have two problems:

1) As suggested, you left a 12V load on and drained the house battery bank, and/or

2) The charging system is isolated from the house battery bank, either by accident (switch in question 1, below) or failure of a component between the charger and the batteries.

Questions to answer:

1) Is there a switch near the door that's labeled something like "AUX BATT" or "BATTERY?" If so, you could have accidentally hit that switch. Doing so will cut off the house battery bank from the charging system. Try activating that switch a couple of times.

2) If you start the engine, do all the 12V house loads (for instance, the lights) work?

3) If you apply a voltmeter to the house battery bank, without the engine running and without shore power plugged in, what does it read?
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Old 09-20-2024, 08:37 AM   #4
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My bet is the converter is bad or inop, and the house batteries were dead. The sequence of events - starting the engine, then the generator - supports a theory that the house batteries were already dead or nearly so, and the genset started off the engine alternator output. The engine and generator ran for an unknown duration, likely not long enough for the alternator to put a useful charge into the batteries, which then ran dead again overnight due to still inop converter. A few minutes with a meter will identify the issue.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
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Old 09-20-2024, 10:16 PM   #5
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I stopped in this afternoon and the batteries are dead. I shut off the converter and the lights went off. I took it yesterday and went and got a couple of tires and gassed it up.

This happened last year. I tested every piece and couldn't find a problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by l1v3fr33ord1 View Post
dugout52-

You may have two problems:

1) As suggested, you left a 12V load on and drained the house battery bank, and/or

2) The charging system is isolated from the house battery bank, either by accident (switch in question 1, below) or failure of a component between the charger and the batteries. I will put a voltmeter on it tomorrow.

Questions to answer:

1) Is there a switch near the door that's labeled something like "AUX BATT" or "BATTERY?" If so, you could have accidentally hit that switch. Doing so will cut off the house battery bank from the charging system. Try activating that switch a couple of times.

2) If you start the engine, do all the 12V house loads (for instance, the lights) work?

3) If you apply a voltmeter to the house battery bank, without the engine running and without shore power plugged in, what does it read?
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Old 09-20-2024, 10:23 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark_K5LXP View Post
My bet is the converter is bad or inop, and the house batteries were dead. The sequence of events - starting the engine, then the generator - supports a theory that the house batteries were already dead or nearly so, and the genset started off the engine alternator output. The engine and generator ran for an unknown duration, likely not long enough for the alternator to put a useful charge into the batteries, which then ran dead again overnight due to still inop converter. A few minutes with a meter will identify the issue.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM
This summer I took the converter out and tested and it did test fine. We haven't used it since. The generator would not start. I got it started buy jumping the generator terminal on the BCS.
Can a converter have an intermittent failure?

I will put a meter on it tomorrow.

Thanks
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Old 09-21-2024, 01:01 AM   #7
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If the lights inside worked until you pulled the plug, the converter is working.

You have a battery to fuse box/converter issue. There is the battery disconnect that needs to be on and there will be a circuit breaker near the batteries in the cable going to the converter/fuse box area.
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Old 09-21-2024, 10:43 PM   #8
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Quote:
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If the lights inside worked until you pulled the plug, the converter is working.

You have a battery to fuse box/converter issue. There is the battery disconnect that needs to be on and there will be a circuit breaker near the batteries in the cable going to the converter/fuse box area.
i went out this morning to test everything and it's all working fine. I have hunted for this a few times and suddenly it's working. Just out of the blue it's dead. I noticed when I turned on the water pump the lights they flickered a lot. The converter is 40 amp I thought that was weird.

Any Ideas.
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Old 09-22-2024, 07:33 AM   #9
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The nominal draw of a water pump shouldn't make lights flicker. You still have an issue, low batteries, bad converter or a bad connection somewhere. Sometimes you can get lucky and figure out a problem based on symptoms but a voltmeter will trace this problem much more quickly and decisively.

Mark B.
Alvuquerque, NM
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Old 09-24-2024, 06:58 PM   #10
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House batteries go dead suddenly

Based on the intermittent nature of the problem, one possibility is a loose connection somewhere. We were at a campsite on shore power one evening and noticed the interior lights were getting dimmer.??? A few bad moments before getting into the troubleshooting mode. Problem was a loose battery terminal connection. Since then, I check/tighten terminal nuts when I water the batteries. Sometimes it’s simple🤞
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Old 09-26-2024, 09:55 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by TRV1 View Post
Based on the intermittent nature of the problem, one possibility is a loose connection somewhere. We were at a campsite on shore power one evening and noticed the interior lights were getting dimmer.??? A few bad moments before getting into the troubleshooting mode. Problem was a loose battery terminal connection. Since then, I check/tighten terminal nuts when I water the batteries. Sometimes it’s simple🤞
I have been down with the crud. I will run thru the battery connections. The wire run from the converter which is behind the door clear to the front of the firewall on the driver side. Must be almost 20 feet. I have checked everthing several times. But time to do it all again.
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Old 10-02-2024, 04:30 PM   #12
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Update Today

I had to move the motorhome today. I went out started it and moved it out of the way. When I got it back in place. I tried to start the generator, low voltage. I went and test the batteries and they are charged up. I went to the battery control center and the power to it is about 3.5 volts coming in and going out. I climbed under and tried to trace the wire but It disappears in a wire loom. The cable is really long but I wonder if there is a junction somewhere. I didn't see anything that looks like that. I need a wire diagram of the whole wire run. I didn't find anything on Feetwood's site.
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Old 10-02-2024, 04:41 PM   #13
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How old are the batteries?
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Old 10-02-2024, 04:47 PM   #14
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Check all your leads and grounds for corrosion / tightness. Especially grounds.

Mike in Colorado
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