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Papaj71 · 05-12-2017, 10:01 AM

It's a Schumacher charger for 6 or 12 volt batteries. It is fully auto accept for charge speed. It was at about 12% when I first hooked it up.

Charlie 5320 · 05-12-2017, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papaj71

It's a Schumacher charger for 6 or 12 volt batteries. It is fully auto accept for charge speed. It was at about 12% when I first hooked it up.

Your coach looks a lot like my 98 Daybreak. I would remove the ground cable until you get both batteries charged. You have to have charged batteries before your disconnect switch will work. If it is in the disconnect mode now you have to have 12 volts in order for it to operate. Those batteries not charging from the chassis is another problem, we'll get to later. Get one item at a time. My Daybreak had a large wire coming from the breaker panel that I don't see on yours. You need to trace the wires from the POS side of the batteries. One of them should go to the disconnect solenoid, on my coach it was under the hood on the drivers side, black solenoid with a 5 amp fuse in the top of it. If that fuse is blown the disconnect switch won't work. There should also be a large wire that goes to a circuit breaker then to the distribution panel. You can't go by color code on these things, so until you trace the wires don't go by red and black for pos and neg. It does look like you may have a red wire going to ground, if so paint it black for future.

By the way your step should be powered from the coach batteries, with only the signal wire going to the ignition, to close the step when the ignition is turned on.

Papaj71 · 05-12-2017, 05:07 PM

Well I have cleaned up the ground and now it will charge with the charger. The disconnect switch is working I actually had 3 lights on inside! Hmmm wonder why the batteries are dead. However they don't seem to want to charge past 52%. The batteries that they put in say golf cart batteries? I'm not sure if I need better batteries?

Papaj71 · 05-12-2017, 05:08 PM

Also my onan generator turns over but batteries are to weak to keep it going to start.

BFlinn181 · 05-12-2017, 06:51 PM

Do you have a voltmeter? The % readings really don't tell accurate conditions. Batteries rated for golf carts are generally pretty good, but it's not a brand name. I'd charge for 24 hours then take them to an auto parts store and have them tested.

Papaj71 · 05-12-2017, 06:59 PM

Exactly what I was thinking. I have then on a slow charge now.

Papaj71 · 05-12-2017, 07:01 PM

Thank you to everyone who has replied! I work in a body shop and have been painting cars for 28 yrs but this is my first motor home and it's a learning experience! If anyone needs advice on refinishing and metal prep I'd be happy to help!

Lifemember · 05-12-2017, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

Do you have a voltmeter? The % readings really don't tell accurate conditions. Batteries rated for golf carts are generally pretty good, but it's not a brand name. I'd charge for 24 hours then take them to an auto parts store and have them tested.

X2 what BFlinn181 said

Papaj71 · 05-13-2017, 07:49 AM

These are the specs for the batteries they put in my rv....
SKUGC2-4
BrandEast Penn / Deka
Battery Voltage6 Volt
Amp Hour Rate215 Ah
Reserve Capacity Minutes105 Minutes (@ 75 Amps)
BCI Group SizeGroup Size GC2

Very cheap batteries I believe.

Charlie 5320 · 05-13-2017, 08:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papaj71

These are the specs for the batteries they put in my rv....
SKUGC2-4
BrandEast Penn / Deka
Battery Voltage6 Volt
Amp Hour Rate215 Ah
Reserve Capacity Minutes105 Minutes (@ 75 Amps)
BCI Group SizeGroup Size GC2

Very cheap batteries I believe.

Nothing wrong with that type of battery, but there are bad ones in every kind. Running a battery completely dead is pretty harmful on any battery though. You will have to find out what is using power in your coach once you get them charged back up. My buddy has a 96 Storm and it runs the batteries down if he don't disconnect them. His has a LP detector that runs a solenoid on the LP tank and it uses power all the time. My 95 Challenger, nor my 98 Daybreak had that feature, and if it would have I would have removed it. My LP detector and my smoke detector use very little power because I haven't had my coach plugged in for over a month and the batteries are still up, and mine are about what you have. Different label but may be even made by the same company. There are only a few companies that actually makes batteries.

[ I actually had 3 lights on inside! Hmmm wonder why the batteries are dead. ]
Lets hope this maybe the problem.

Papaj71 · 05-13-2017, 11:36 AM

Well I have new batteries. The other batteries tested bad. They had a charge but as soon as they put a load to them they tested bad. He told me I'd never get a full charge out of them and they would drain fast. Once I figured out what switches were I found many in the on position including the radio which I thought didn't work but does. I'm going to put these in and make sure my battery disconnect is working properly now. I'm thinking about putting in another disconnect as a precaution. Would that be a good idea? Also now maybe these batteries will take a charge while driving.

Duracell Ultra High Capacity Battery for Trojan replacement.

12 Month Free Replacement Warranty
6V high capacity Deep Cycle power
230AH at 20 hour rate
Twist and release vent caps for easy watering
GC2 footprint with DT, SAE/M8 Stud, SAE/M8 Threaded Post, WNT terminals
Trojan TROJAN105 Replacement battery

Lifemember · 05-13-2017, 11:58 AM

I have one on mine that I disconnect the negative terminal when the MH is in storage for a long period of time. It just unscrews and takes all of 30 seconds to take on and off.

BFlinn181 · 05-13-2017, 11:59 AM

I have battery disconnect solenoids on both house and chassis batteries. They do not 100% prevent phantom drains. On my chassis system, the disconnect does work 100% because it's an older, mechanical diesel with no ECU. On the house system, it does not disconnect 100% so I have mechanical knife switches mounted on the battery terminals. With those off, I've left fully charged batteries through outdoor winter storage for 5 months and not had any meaningful drain of the batteries. One winter we left for extended visit in AU and returned in the Spring and it started with no issues and within a hour or two of generator running they were fully charged again.

Charlie 5320 · 05-13-2017, 01:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Papaj71

Well I have new batteries. The other batteries tested bad. They had a charge but as soon as they put a load to them they tested bad. He told me I'd never get a full charge out of them and they would drain fast. Once I figured out what switches were I found many in the on position including the radio which I thought didn't work but does. I'm going to put these in and make sure my battery disconnect is working properly now. I'm thinking about putting in another disconnect as a precaution. Would that be a good idea? Also now maybe these batteries will take a charge while driving.

Duracell Ultra High Capacity Battery for Trojan replacement.

12 Month Free Replacement Warranty
6V high capacity Deep Cycle power
230AH at 20 hour rate
Twist and release vent caps for easy watering
GC2 footprint with DT, SAE/M8 Stud, SAE/M8 Threaded Post, WNT terminals
Trojan TROJAN105 Replacement battery

One way to find out if they will charge while driving is to take a volt reading, then start the engine wait a few minutes and test the voltage again. Is your batteries disconnect under the hood? Your coach may have the system they call the BIRD, where there is a bidirectional system. It will charge the chassis battery when plugged in and it will charge the coach batteries from the alt. if the system is working correctly. One way to tell is plug the coach in and after an hour or two check the voltage on both sets of batteries.

I don't recommend putting a disconnect on the chassis battery because your coach is fuel injected and the ECM will have to relearn every time you disconnect the battery. If the chassis battery does run down find and fix the problem, both of my Damons sat for months during the winter and always started in the spring without jumping.

I got to thinking about those switches on the dash, one of the switches with the light is probably for the under hood light and it looks like it may be on. Check to be sure it's off.