Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > THE OWNER'S CORNER FORUMS > Thor Industries Owner's Forum
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 05-03-2020, 11:36 AM   #1
Junior Member
 
NativeAz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 5
House batteries not charging - Questions

Hi,


I have a Thor GR22 with 2 deep cycle 12v house batteries.



I checked battery water levels, and both are full.


I start the generator every weekend and run it at a minimum 30 minutes while cleaning, maintenance, etc.


Yesterday I tried to start the generator and it would not turn it over, just a clicking sound. I started the vehicle engine, and again tried to start the generator and it turned over and it started up.


I ran it for 45 min, and shut down the generator, and shut vehicle engine off



This morning I checked the 2 house batteries charge with the following results:


- Engine off, generator off, external power supply to RV disconnected.
Battery1: 11.4V Battery2:11.6V


- I ran the generator with no problem turning it over and starting up.
Battery1: 11V Battery2: 11V


- I turned on the A/C
Battery1: 10.4V Battery2: 10.2V


- 30 min later, with gen running and A/C running
Battery1: 7.6V Battery2: 7.4V


- I turned off A/C and gen
Battery1: 10.6V Battery2: 10.8V


- I started vehicle engine, ran for 10 min

Battery1: 14.2V Battery2: 14.0V


- I stopped vehicle engine and plugged in RV to home power receptacle.

Battery1: 12.0V Battery2: 12.0V




My questions are:


- It appears gen and external power connected to RV are NOT charging house batteries. Running vehicle engine does charge house batteries. Am I assessing this correctly?



- What charges house batteries with only gen running, engine off and no external power connected to RV ?



- My assumption is that running only gen, OR only vehicle engine, OR only external power connected to RV without the others should charge house batteries. Is this correct?



- Based on what I found above, and my assumptions, whatever charges the house batteries when only the gen is running, or only the external power is connected to RV is bad. Is this correct?


- I am suspecting the Converter or main battery switch relay (low probability)


- Anything else to check?


thanks in advance
__________________
Thanks,

NativeAz
__________________
Thanks,
NA
2018 Thor Quantum GR22
NativeAz is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 05-03-2020, 12:31 PM   #2
Member
 
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Sun City West AZ
Posts: 46
I would start by checking all of the battery connections. Look for loose or corrodied. That is a general first step. I'm not directly familiar with your system so I'm going to make an assumption that the generator gets it starting power from the house batteries and then charges the house batteries first. Check your generator to see if it has a breaker on it. Most do. If that breaker were tripped, the generator would start but it wouldn't supply any power...to anything. Generators in general produce DC current but usually have a solidstate inverter that converts the DC to AC. Then I'm assuming you have an Inverter/Charger. If you have AC power when disconnected you have an inverter. What you want to do is make sure your generator is producing 110 volt and supplying that to your charger. Again I'm making some assumptions that your system is somewhat conventional and has a charger for the batteries. If you have power to the charger the next step is to see if the charger is producing about 13+v at its output. I have no exact details for you particular vehichle but this process is pretty standard for most RVs. Hopefully it is just the braker on the generator and an easy fix. Else you get to use a volt meter work through your system to find the failure.
__________________
-------------------------------------------------------------
2020 Fleetwood Discovery LXE 44H
2017 Fleetwood Discovery LXE 40E
ecsproull is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2020, 01:00 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 35,349
There is a converter/charger that charges the house batteries.

First step is make sure the battery disconnect switch ( use/store ), near the door is on. It must be on for the converter/charger power to get to the battery.

If that's working, the converter/charger is incorporated in with the circuit breaker panel.
There should be a converter or conv. breaker, check that.

Next check is for a breaker or fuse on the positive cable near the house battery. It may be tripped or blown.

Last, there are 2 reverse polarity fuses on the converter/charger. They only blow if you had some sparks and crossed cables last time the batteries were out.

One fixed and charging, your going to need a day of generator or shore power charging to get your house batteries up to snuff.

Maybe you can take it home for a day and plug it in.

As you discovered, the engine charging system also charges the house batteries. Once you found the problem, start the engine and run it A few minutes to charge the house battery enough to start the generator.
twinboat is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2020, 01:13 PM   #4
Junior Member
 
NativeAz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 5
thanks for the replies!


It is getting pretty hot outside (95 and rising), and the RV is not in the shade But, I could not let this wait out of curiosity and RV-OCD .


I tracked down a bad connection of one of the smaller gauge wires on one of the batteries. Shut everything down, fixed it, reset everything, and viola!


Fixed charging problem.


Now I am letting batteries charge until tomorrow, then see if they still hold a charge and hopefully no damage.


Thanks!
__________________
Thanks,
NA
2018 Thor Quantum GR22
NativeAz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2020, 08:12 AM   #5
Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 60
Multi-meter

Suggest you use a muti-meter to check the converter/charger voltage going to the batteries. Disconnect batteries. With shore power connected or generator running (rv engine off), check voltage on the disconnected battery cables.

Or, with batteries still connected you can check voltage with multi-meter at the battery terminal connections with and without shore power connected/generator running. If the converter/charger is working the voltage at battery terminals will be higher when the converter/charger is on vs when it is off and you are just measuring the battery voltage.

To charge the batteries a converter/charger must provide a higher voltage than what the battery puts out.

You can get an inexpensive multi-meter at Harbor Freight if you don't have one.
bsheet2 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2020, 09:45 AM   #6
Member
 
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Sun City West AZ
Posts: 46
Quote:
Originally Posted by NativeAz View Post
thanks for the replies!


It is getting pretty hot outside (95 and rising), and the RV is not in the shade But, I could not let this wait out of curiosity and RV-OCD .


I tracked down a bad connection of one of the smaller gauge wires on one of the batteries. Shut everything down, fixed it, reset everything, and viola!


Fixed charging problem.


Now I am letting batteries charge until tomorrow, then see if they still hold a charge and hopefully no damage.


Thanks!
Glad you got it fixed. Also if you want to fix that AZ heat issue, we corrected it by driving north. 🙂
ecsproull is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
batteries, charging, house batteries



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Charging house batteries with the built in charging system - 2005 Mountain Aire 4304 Doug427 Newmar Owner's Forum 16 04-01-2020 02:32 PM
Engine batteries not charging house batteries. Fordphares Palazzo Motorhomes 20 07-21-2017 05:32 PM
Charging Batteries, Running Refrigerators, and Charging Batteries NM.West 5th Wheel Discussion 12 07-01-2017 03:27 PM
House Batteries Not Charging while driving? UPDATED 3/15/06 Old Snipe Winnebago Industries Owner's Forum 15 04-28-2017 09:29 AM
House Batteries Not Charging - Appears Converter Not Working - But Don't See Why? vsheetz RV Systems & Appliances 12 01-21-2013 07:50 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:41 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.