Community Forums

JOC1212 · 05-11-2019, 09:33 AM

1.Why is the 2000 Intrigue Generator starter wired to the house batteries?? If we run our house batteries down we have to start the main engine and let it run to be able to start the generator.

2. How can I tell if the house batteries are being charged when I'm driving down the road??? Cigarette lighter seems to be wired to the chassis battery. I've plugged in a volt meter there and it seems to be controlled by the chassis battery. Where can I measure house voltage inside the coach?

3. What voltage is the in dash volt meter reading??

Thanks for your help

phays · 05-11-2019, 10:05 AM

#1, Don't really know except most are wired that way. Could be that best to keep the chassis batteries doing just that and not running other items to prevent them from becoming discharged.

#2 Need to locate a 12 volt wire in the dash area that is powered by the house batteries. Use your wire list to help identify a wire. Something like the water pump switch if located over the dash would work. But, be aware that with all the connections between the house batteries and the dash you could read voltages slightly below house batteries. I've wired a dedicated wire from the front run bay to my upper dash but when I compare that reading with my Link 2000 controller, it reads about 0.2 volts low. The Link 2000 is a data link to the inverter and is a digital signal coming forward so no loss because of connections.

You have extra wires from the front run bay to the lower and upper dash area that you can use to pull house battery voltage from a fuse position on the fuse panel to a location that is convenient. I've done that and used wire #122 that goes to the upper dash.

#3 Dash gage reads chassis battery. That way you know the alternator is working.

twinboat · 05-11-2019, 10:21 AM

#1, look for a boost switch, possable on the dash. That connects the charged chassis batteries to the house batteries. Its there to boost the house battery if low. It can also boost the chassis battery If it gets low, while on shore power.
How low are you running down the house batteries. Max will be down to about 11.5 volts. If your waiting until the lights dim, your killing your batteries.

#2, There should be a lighter plug in the rear somewhere or a battery gauge of some sort.

#3, Anything on the dash should be related to the chassis operation.

Smitty77 · 05-11-2019, 10:22 AM

Set your engine to fast idle, and go to the Chassis Battery and take a reading of voltage. Should be 13V or greater, being fed from the Alternator.

In your coach, do you not have a voltage gauge on your dash? If so, that should mimmic what you are seeing at the actual battery. If not, and if you have room in your dash, a good shop (Say Oregon Motor Coach or Premier or Eric Oldstrum's) should be able to cut you in a gauge, and run the wiring to provide in the coach chassis voltage input from the alternator.

Your era coach probably has the Echo like type charger in it. As I recall, it's a one way charge, from house bank to the chassis. (Maybe a full BIRD, which is bi directional, depending upon a batteries voltage level. In which case when the Chassis is fully charged, the BIRD will divert some voltage over to the House.)

I know we have some veteran owner's with your era coach, they'll correct me where I'm probably wrong. (We changed out systems over to the Magnum Inverter/Charger, along with the Smart Battery Combiner (SBC), in place of the OEM unit we had. So works a bit differently now.)

Best to you,
Smitty

deandec · 05-11-2019, 10:00 PM

House batteries are charged via shore power so your generator should be able to start if you have shore power or solar where you are parked.

Your chassis batteries likely have less power draw when parked than do the house batteries of the same vehicle. So the engine can start when you need out of there

Hopefully, one or the other of the two batteries will be available to get the engine started.

Several times I have started my engine with the generator running and low house battery and chassis battery power.

If both the generator and engine were started from the same battery bank, how then would you start the generator or the engine if the chassis batteries were low?

JOC1212 · 06-07-2019, 09:10 PM

Our Power Tech CD8000 seems to always run hot. Sometimes even shutting down. Had Country Coach/Winnebago service install oil and water temp gauges a year ago and on this trip we actually saw the gauge go to 240F with the red light coming on around 180F.
Gen set did NOT shut down. SinceI doubted the gauge was correct I let it run. after about an hour I got a very short low voltage alarm on my AC system monitor. Then it shut off and ran fine for another hour. When it went off the second time I shut it all off.

Any suggestions on what's going on and how to fix it???

**CountryFit** · 06-08-2019, 08:31 AM

Did this happen only when you were stationing?

JOC1212 · 06-08-2019, 10:49 PM

It also happens when driving at 60 mph

CntryCoachRV · 07-26-2019, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOC1212

1.Why is the 2000 Intrigue Generator starter wired to the house batteries?? If we run our house batteries down we have to start the main engine and let it run to be able to start the generator.

2. How can I tell if the house batteries are being charged when I'm driving down the road??? Cigarette lighter seems to be wired to the chassis battery. I've plugged in a volt meter there and it seems to be controlled by the chassis battery. Where can I measure house voltage inside the coach?

3. What voltage is the in dash volt meter reading??

Thanks for your help

You should have a panel over the entry door which shows house battery condition, you could connect a 12 volt meter to the input side of the battery condition switch to monitor the house battery voltage. Or you can replace the inverter on/off switch with a smart panel which gives you a lot more information. It is an easy do it yourself install, just disconnect the phone cord from the inverter on/off switch and connect it to the newly acquired smart panel from Xantrex.
I can give you more detail on the panel if you are interested.
Good luck.

CntryCoachRV · 07-26-2019, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JOC1212

Our Power Tech CD8000 seems to always run hot. Sometimes even shutting down. Had Country Coach/Winnebago service install oil and water temp gauges a year ago and on this trip we actually saw the gauge go to 240F with the red light coming on around 180F.
Gen set did NOT shut down. SinceI doubted the gauge was correct I let it run. after about an hour I got a very short low voltage alarm on my AC system monitor. Then it shut off and ran fine for another hour. When it went off the second time I shut it all off.

Any suggestions on what's going on and how to fix it???

First step would be to check radiator coolant level then check the radiator for some kind of air flow restriction, I.e., debris or road grime or oil build up on the radiator and also check to see that none of the insulation material has come loose and is blocking the radiator air flow.
With generator cover removed, start the generator and check to see if generator cooling fan is running normally.
You might also need to replace the radiator cap or at least take it to an auto parts store and have it pressure tested.