2005 Navigator Detroit Diesel the engine batteries are not charging while the coach is plugged in. When the engine is running they seem to be charging as normal. But when I plug it in over a week the batteries for the engine are completely dead, the house batteries stay charged fine. The engine batteries are
only one year old and seem to be in good condition.
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You didn't say if this was a new problem and they had been charging in the past or never have charged. A lot of coaches during those years did not have charging capabilities for the chassis batteries when plugged into shore power. I added a Trik-L-Start to our '06 Itasca for the same reason. Some coaches had a BIRD system to keep the batteries charged but that varied from different manufacturers.
__________________ 2017 Phaeton 40IH XSH Maroon Coral - Power Glide Chassis with IFS
Previous '15 Tiffin Allegro RED 38QRA and '06 Itasca Sunrise 35A
'16 Jeep JKU Wrangler Sahara or '08 Honda Goldwing
You didn't say if this was a new problem and they had been charging in the past or never have charged. A lot of coaches during those years did not have charging capabilities for the chassis batteries when plugged into shore power. I added a Trik-L-Start to our '06 Itasca for the same reason. Some coaches had a BIRD system to keep the batteries charged but that varied from different manufacturers.
I also added a Trik-L-Start to my 2006 Monaco Knight and it does charge the chassis batteries while plugged in to shore power. One of my better $80 purchases. Took 10 minutes to install.
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Jerry & Kathy Paine, A Pair of Wondering Wenatchee Wanderers with our Border Collie, Max and our Mini Aussie, Annie
2006 Monaco Knight 38PDQ & 2019 Jeep Wrangler Sport
I don't know about the charging...your manual would be the best source for that info. I would say that if your batteries are going dead in a week there is another issue with battery drain. I have left my coach parked over a month with no power, and the engine batteries have never been dead. Something in your chassis is drawing power when it shouldn't.
Location: Kamloops, BC, 60 miles from the Center of the Universe according to the Rinpoche, of the SF monks.
Posts: 7,397
Sounds like a bad BIRD relay.
The contacts get carbon build-up and it stops charging the chassis batteries.
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Happy Glamping, Norman & Elna. 2008 Winnebago Adventurer 38J, W24, dozens of small thirsty ponies. Retired after 40 years wrenching on trucks! 2010 Ford Ranger toad with bicycles or KLR 650 in the back. Easy to spot an RVer, they always walk around with a screwdriver or wrench in one hand!
A battery charger will help you get by until you get to the bottom of your issues . Look for draw , but a bad battery cell can happen no matter the age on battery my be drawing down the other.
In your rear electrical compartment (pass side next to engine) you have a large Intellitec battery isolator relay called a "Big Boy".
Big Boy isolator relay 77-90006-120
It has large copper contacts inside that are notorious for getting gunked up with burned carbon and not making contact.
You can remove it and clean or replace the contacts, or replace the entire relay.
Be careful in there as there are lots of amps available and you can do some unwanted arc welding.
Attached are the Big Boy rebuild instructions (courtesy of Mike Cantor).
I recommend purchasing a new Big Boy and rebuilding the old one as a spare.
There is another option. Some owners of large Monaco coaches are installing a Blue Sea Systems battery isolator relay. You can use the search function in the above menu to find these threads. The nice thing about the Blue Sea systems relay is it has an unconditional guarantee.
The picture below turned sideways when I uploaded it. Your Big Boy is actually vertical.
Best of luck!
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97 Monaco Windsor- Sold
07 Monaco Executive McKinley- Sold
04 Monaco Signature Chateau IV
Thank you for all the suggestions. I think my problem is probably with the big boy the instructions will be very useful I will give that a try. I imagine I should disconnect the batteries and unplug it before I remove this? Also is the big boy what is referred to as the bird relay? I've also noticed some corrosion on all of the red heavy cables coming into the bottom of that control box. I will clean them also. Thanks again for the suggestions
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Rick ocala Fl.
Holiday Rambler Navigator 43PDQ
Series 60 515 hp
Thank you for all the suggestions. I think my problem is probably with the big boy the instructions will be very useful I will give that a try. I imagine I should disconnect the batteries and unplug it before I remove this? Also is the big boy what is referred to as the bird relay? I've also noticed some corrosion on all of the red heavy cables coming into the bottom of that control box. I will clean them also. Thanks again for the suggestions
Yes, the BIRD controls the Big Boy Solenoid.
A solenoid is just a high current Relay.
vito.a, thanks for posting the pic of the big boy. I've never had this problem since my batteries charge correctly. On the other hand, I've been trying to figure out how it works so I have a chance to diagnose it when it does one day fail. I have a big boy isolation relay but I don't know what it does. I know I must have relays for both chassis and house disconnects and I would expect another (maybe the big boy) for charging both banks. It's just that the big boy is as far away from the batteries as possible (60 feet round trip) and I have yet to discover the controller which engages the relay. I'll keep probing but at least the systems are currently operational and time is on my side.
Well that last post got me wondering again about how this works on my coach so I dug into it a little and found the BCC. What I thought was a fuse box (Power Distribution Center PDC) was actually the Battery Control Center. The BCC combines the functions of PDC and Battery Combining. It's unfortunate that those functions are combined into one unit but it is what it is. Anyway, it's currently working for me so I can turn the page.
Interesting issue. Normally the isolation solenoid is the problem as they stay energized for very long periods of time. HOWEVER...OP says that the house charges when running but not the chassis when parked. Same isolation relay is responsible for both functions. Can't work one way and not the other, unless there is something wrong in the BCC. Check the fuses and check the boost start switch...again same relay.
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Scott Brownstein
Palm Island, Florida
2015 Georgetown 335DS
2017 Phaeton 40IH XSH Maroon Coral - Power Glide Chassis with IFS
On the other hand, I've been trying to figure out how it works so I have a chance to diagnose it when it does one day fail. I have a big boy isolation relay but I don't know what it does. I know I must have relays for both chassis and house disconnects and I would expect another (maybe the big boy) for charging both banks. It's just that the big boy is as far away from the batteries as possible (60 feet round trip) and I have yet to discover the controller which engages the relay. I'll keep probing but at least the systems are currently operational and time is on my side.
Linear Mode
