Charging house batteries while driving?

[psandoz]

We bought a 2000 Damon Ultrasport Class A last year and have been under the "assumption" that part of the onboard electronics included an isolator relay circuit to charge the house batteries. I recently learned on a long trip that the house batteries are not charging from the alternator. The rig has an Intelletic Diesel 310 (00-00606310) BCC. Does this seem to be the norm that the house battery would not charge while driving or could we have an relay isolator that is not operating properly? All other relays are functioning - Intellic disconnect, the emergency battery connect relay, the generator, etc. I'm sure I could have a service center check it out but I thought I'd research and look for a DIY solution. Thoughts?

[Gocoffeer]

Psandoz...I do believe your assumption is very correct. House batteries do not charge from ALT. Either GENNY or Plug in.... I have gone the route of modifying the system to solar roof mount charge system and my rig now charges house batteries independently during the day...everyday and keeps them topped and conditioned. Perhaps VSHEETS will jump onto this topic. I used his design and started a year long $1400 project to get 5 panels on my roof....4 each batteries and some inverter circuitry. Though I am not finished with my install....everything is working very well and I have not found a moment where I could find a dead house battery or moment when my inverters were not ready to supply 120v.

[psandoz]

Thanks Craig. There seems to a broad range of answers the more I read on this, many so it should charge, some say not. I'll update this thread as I find out more. Sounds like you have a nice solution that might be worth looking into, but for now I'm trying to assess if its "broke" or never worked that way.

[Gocoffeer]

I do not have a huge amount of experience with the newer rigs...i usually play on older model. But in all the reading I have done...I have not really read about rigs that trickle power off the Alternator over to the house system for top off or charging. I have read about automated systems that will start the genny if the batteries reach a certain threshold. Well... if you find the wiring manual stashed for your BCC let me know if your rig allows for alternator bypass. I am very interested.

[Don and Barb]

My house/coach batteries charge while I'm driving as long as they are switched on. If the disconnect switch is in the disconnect position the batteries are, well, disconnected and will not charge since the ground is disconnected from the battery's. When I first bought the MH I checked the battery level on the panel that shows the levels of everything. They read about 10 Vdc, after I started the engine and checked them they showed 12 Vdc which meant they were charging. It does the same thing when I start the generator.