Community Forums

augar boy · 06-06-2012, 06:48 AM

I have been parked for a few days and not staying in the coach. Each morning I go out and find the batteries are weak and the genset will not start. I thought you could start the coach and that would build up the house batteries but it doesn't. I have to jump the gen off using the car to the house batteries and it starts immediately. The house batteries are four big lifetime batteries. The coach is an 06 Magna and I'am the second owner and the silverleaf system is new to me. When I bought this coach the dealer didn't take a lot of time to show us how this works. Does anyone know what I need to look for?
Thanks!
augarboy

deandec · 06-06-2012, 10:53 AM

Measure the voltage at the House Battery terminals without the engine (alternator) running.

Then start the engine and after a minute or so measure the voltage again.

You should see the voltage jump to about 13.4 volts or so.

If not, do the same thing at the chassis battery. If no increase to 13.4 volts then you have an alternator circuit problem.

If the chassis batteries charge but the house batteries do not, you may have a battery isolator problem, or a terminal connections problem, or bad batteries. Clean the battery terminals.

The best way to fully charge the dead house batteries is with shore power for about 8 hours. Or the generator for at least 8 hours. If you have not applied power to recharge the house batteries for a substantial period, you are not adequately recharging the house batteries. Hence, they are dead the next AM.

Before you start the generator, take a voltage reading of the house battery. 12.6V is fully charged. 12.2 volts is about 50% charged. Below 11V is pretty much empty.

The storage battery life is governed by the number of deep cycles it can sustain, so each time you run it to empty, you are shortening the life of the battery. Most folks start recharging at 12.2V.

Also, turn off the house battery switch or any loads you do not need running when away from the coach to preserve charge in your house batteries.

augar boy · 06-06-2012, 01:17 PM

Thanks Dean I will try that. I have only had the coach about a month or so and it has been plugged in to shore power all the time and when we left home last week I ran the generator most of the day till we parked.

augar boy · 06-06-2012, 03:02 PM

I checked the house bat. and they are 10 then checked coach bat and they were 12.4 I started coach and house batteries still at 10 with engine running.
Not charging back.

garym114 · 06-06-2012, 03:46 PM

Do you have a battery disconnect switch??
This is for the house batteries. If the 12v lights don't work while the MH is plugged in close the battery disconnect switch.
The batteries probably won't charge with the switch open.

Dale C · 06-06-2012, 06:38 PM

I recently had a situation where the coach and chassis batteries were isolated, the alternator was not charging the house and the inverter/charger was not charging the chassis. It took me quite a while to find but the problem turned out to be a tripped DC circuit breaker in the inverter bay. Once the breaker was reset all was well in the charging world again.

Another possibility would be blown fuses on the Echo Charger, in the chassis battery bay on my coach. The Echo Charger itself is infamous for problems but I'd start with the easy stuff first.

augar boy · 06-06-2012, 07:29 PM

Regarding the house batteries; I had a 45' TS Alante before I got this coach and it had 6 six volts batteries and this coach has 4 12 volt batteries but they are the really big ones like on heavy equipment. Are these batteries deep cycle and are their life as good as the six volt combo?

deandec · 06-07-2012, 10:41 AM

Most CC Magna rigs came with Group 8D 12v Storage batteries. You probably have 4 of them at about 225 amp hours each or 900 amp hrs of storage. You need to have more big batteries to run your power drapes and the residential refrigerator.

Their life should be very good with the proper care. But they are at least 6 years old and could be worn out?

The previous rig probably had golf cart batteries which are also very good but would require 8 of them to equal the 12v bank you have now.

If the alternator is not charging the house battery then check the battery connections. Take them apart, clean them and tighten them down good. That may fix your problem(s).

Your rig might make it a couple of nights with the refrigerator on and other systems working but would likely exhaust the house battery in less than a week.

When Boondocking with a friend who has a 2007 Affinity, he needed 3 or 4 hours of generator time a day to recharge his rig.

Thus you would need to charge the batteries with the generator for about 8 - 10 hours to get a 90% charge back into them. They are dead flat.

Have you checked the house battery voltage with the generator running to see if a charge is being applied.

augar boy · 06-07-2012, 03:35 PM

I have checked the house batteries with the genset running and almost immediately they show to be 12.4 or so. I know if I was to shut the genset downl that the batteries will drop back to the 9 or 10 range so I 'm sure that the genset is charging them.

deandec · 06-07-2012, 06:10 PM

After a couple of hours of generator charging, you should see the voltage at the battery terminals of about 14.2v if the battery is accepting a charge.

This Bulk rate will continue until your battery is about 80% recharged.

At that point the rate will drop to @ 13.5v Absorbtion rate for the remaining 20% until the battery is fully charged, which it likely will never be with the generator.

augar boy · 06-25-2012, 02:15 PM

Ok I just got my coach out of the shop for some other minor issues and while there I had them check the battery and starting problem and found (as someone already suggested) a fuse blown in the inverter. I don't know how this happens, guess just does, anyway found that genset was having regulator problems and charging too much. This fuse was not blown till I jump started the house batteries from the coach batteries with jumper cables. Don't see how this would effect either as I was very careful in the process not to hook jumper up backwards, and to get only 12v.
Thanks for all your help!