House batteries not charging

[windsorbill]

Driving down the road. No generator. Chassis batteries charging at 13++ voltage. House batteries not charging. Victron display showing batteries being depleated.

BB Relay is 2 years old and is working. If I press the battery boost switch at drivers seat, I hear it engage. (When I’m stopped). If I press switch when driving, victron immediately shows house batteries charging.

I suspect my IRD is not sending signal to connect. I don’t have a BIRD

Thoughts on testing ird? I don’t think there’s a fuse?

[shootist]

Alternators usually charge at 14 or 14.1. you should check voltage at the chassis batteries with the engine just up from idle, 800 rpm.

[YC1]

Not much to test. Find it and see if it is sending the control signal.

It could be a generator cutout relay. That is, the signal may pass through a relay that is activated when the generator is running so both charging systems are not competing.

I know I have one on our 2008 Endeavor

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by shootist

Alternators usually charge at 14 or 14.1. you should check voltage at the chassis batteries with the engine just up from idle, 800 rpm.

Thanks. I’ll check it out.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by YC1

Not much to test. Find it and see if it is sending the control signal.

It could be a generator cutout relay. That is, the signal may pass through a relay that is activated when the generator is running so both charging systems are not competing.

I know I have one on our 2008 Endeavor

I’ll have to research that relay.

Is the ird failing a common occurrence? This one is original on coach.

[YC1]

Bill, it is not a common failure as much as the Trombetta relay used in many systems or the Salesman solenoid either but they do fail.

My BIRD failed after just a couple of years and it was a long while before I found a replacement. In the mean time I had various work-arounds with success.

If you find yours is bad there are some other setups that work well. As suggested, your voltage has to get to (??13.1 or so) for a couple of minutes as there is a built in delay.

Thanks for the tip on the roof drains btw.

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Bill-

Here are links to two posts I made on another post. One talks about the IRD, and the second has the information to order a BIRD upgrade to the IRD.

Charging Chassis Batteries On Shore Power - Post 9
Charging Chassis Batteries on Shore Power - Post 22

As always, your coach may be different. There are pictures in that thread showing the owner's 2007 Camelot, which may be similar to your coach (or not).

[vyndance]

I'm on the check the alternator side. Believe it needs around 13.5 to connect.

[windsorbill]

I was vague on first post. Alternator is outputting 13.6. According to my research, that should be high enough.

Mark. I did see those posts about the bird. Thanks for reminding me.

I did experiment a little this afternoon. I’m going to test it tomorrow and report back findings.

[windsorbill]

Originally Posted by YC1

Bill, it is not a common failure as much as the Trombetta relay used in many systems or the Salesman solenoid either but they do fail.

My BIRD failed after just a couple of years and it was a long while before I found a replacement. In the mean time I had various work-arounds with success.

If you find yours is bad there are some other setups that work well. As suggested, your voltage has to get to (??13.1 or so) for a couple of minutes as there is a built in delay.

Thanks for the tip on the roof drains btw.

Your welcome

I replaced the trombetta a couple years ago. It going strong and allowing the power to connect when asked from my boost switch. Just not from my IRD

I do have a cable I could hook positive house to pos chassis but it hasn’t been that big of an issue yet. .

[YC1]

Bill, you can just use a small jumper to power the little post on the trombetta where the purple wire is versus having to use a heavy duty jumper from battery to battery.

A simple inline switch could be fashioned as well. You would need to put it on a checklist to prevent forgetting it on when not needed.

The purple wire is the control wire for both the boost switch and the IRD but I know how these snow flakes are and electron are color blind so just put a voltmeter on the little terminals of the trombetta to verify the emergency start button fires off the solenoid.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by YC1

Bill, you can just use a small jumper to power the little post on the trombetta where the purple wire is versus having to use a heavy duty jumper from battery to battery.

A simple inline switch could be fashioned as well. You would need to put it on a checklist to prevent forgetting it on when not needed.

The purple wire is the control wire for both the boost switch and the IRD but I know how these snow flakes are and electron are color blind so just put a voltmeter on the little terminals of the trombetta to verify the emergency start button fires off the solenoid.

Many IRDs and BIRDs modulate the voltage down to about 8 volts, after closing the trombetta with 12 volts.

Just powering it up with a constant 12 volts, long term, can cause it to overheat and fail.

I would stick with the jumper.

[windsorbill]

This morning, IRD worked as designed. About 1 hour later it disconnected and we couldn’t get it to connect. Drove 5 hours.

With engine running, no generator
Chassis batteries reading 13.7
Alladin display 13.5
Chassis/battery cable at front run bay 13.7
Front run bay where IRD plugs into circuit board 12.1—this is the issue.


I don’t have a wiring diagram. Possible bad circuit board?

[96 Wideglide]

Don't believe I've ever seen less than 14.0V from my alternator, although 13.5 or 13.7v still should be enough to close your BB solenoid.