Battery connection '02 Travel Supreme

[britshken]

HI
I have just got a 40ft 2002 travel supreme Diesel.
I pulled out the battery tray and it tipped out due to the back bolts being done.
my problem is how do I re-connect the batteries in order and are they 6 volt ?
I know I need a manual on this model.
Can some one help me
ken

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by britshken

HI
I have just got a 40ft 2002 travel supreme Diesel.
I pulled out the battery tray and it tipped out due to the back bolts being done.
my problem is how do I re-connect the batteries in order and are they 6 volt ?
I know I need a manual on this model.
Can some one help me
ken

A picture of the barrery bank would be nice. If the batteries have 3 caps each, they are 6 volts, so that is the answer to one question. How many batteries are there? Did the cable disconnect and or the batteries spill or something like that. I am trying to visualize your situation.

Here is a pic that may help.

[mahon1993]

Originally Posted by garbonz

A picture of the barrery bank would be nice. If the batteries have 3 caps each, they are 6 volts, so that is the answer to one question. How many batteries are there? Did the cable disconnect and or the batteries spill or something like that. I am trying to visualize your situation.

Here is a pic that may help.

Ditto on the hook-up. If they spilled any acid [water] be sure to rinse it down with plenty of fresh water. Using baking SODA will neutralize the acid. This would be a good time to remove the batteries, clean and repair any damage to the tray, clean and test the batteries and replace if necessary. If the battery cable pulled out of the connector you should get a replacement cable made and not use one of those bolt together repair connectors.
Greg

[Mac99]

Another reason to consider AGM batteries, they don't spill
anything, and they vastly reduce corrosive gasses in the
battery compartment.

[rhusak]

Originally Posted by britshken

HI
I have just got a 40ft 2002 travel supreme Diesel.
I pulled out the battery tray and it tipped out due to the back bolts being done.
my problem is how do I re-connect the batteries in order and are they 6 volt ?
I know I need a manual on this model.
Can some one help me
ken

Ken..
You might post your question on the Travel Supreme owners forum under the owners forum here at IRV2 forums.. There are several posters there who have 02 coaches.. I have an 04 and am not sure that they are wired the same.. Don't want to confuse the issue..
Hope you really get to enjoy your new coach.. I have mine..
Ron

[gemini5362]

Originally Posted by garbonz

A picture of the barrery bank would be nice. If the batteries have 3 caps each, they are 6 volts, so that is the answer to one question. How many batteries are there? Did the cable disconnect and or the batteries spill or something like that. I am trying to visualize your situation.

Here is a pic that may help.

That is a great picture however some people may not be able to understand it. If you don't mind I am going to try and do a description to go along with it. This description is for 6 volt batteries if that is what you have. 6 volt batteries will have three caps on them.

1. You are going to hook two sets of 6 volt batteries to make the equivalent of two 12 volt batteries we will call these set 1 and set 2

2. We will call the batteries in set 1 Battery A and Battery B, We will call the batteries in set 2 Battery C and Battery D

3. Connect the Negative (-) post of Battery A to the Positive (+) post of Battery B.

4. Connect the Negative (-) post of Battery C to the Positive (+) post of battery D

5. Connect the Positive (+) post of Battery C to the Positive (+) post of
Battery A

6. Connect the Negative (-) post of battery D to the Negative (-) post of Battery B

At this point you will have one and only one connection to all of the battery posts of the 4 6volt batteries. You will not have any posts without a connection. To test the cables are good take a DC voltmeter and put the positive lead on the positive post of battery A put the negative lead of the meter on the negative post of battery B if the batteries are charged this should read very close to 12 volts dc.

Take the meter and put the positive lead of the meter on the positive post of Battery C and the negative meter lead on the negative post of Battery D this should again read very close to 12 volts DC

7. Take the Positive lead for the coach batteries ( the cable that connects the batteries to the coach ) and connect this to the Positive post on Battery A. This post should now have two connections on it.

8. Take the Negative lead for the coach batteries ( the cable that connects the batteries to the coach) and connect this to the Negative post of Battery B This should now have two connections on it.

This should now be hooked up as a series parallel circuit to allow you to run four 6 volt batteries as the equivalent to two 12 volt batteries.

If you have connections for a charger you can connect them with the red charger (plus lead) to the Plus side of battery a which will give three connections on this post.

You can hook up the black (negative lead) of the charger to the negative post of Battery B which will give three connections on this post

If you have any questions please feel free to send me a message.

[ImagineIF]

The narrative thread is one way of doing it, but not preferred. The coach should connect to one of the 2 batteries making 12V. In his description that would be battery A. The coach's other connection should be to the 12V pair. In his case it would be battery D. The illustration also did a poor job of illustrating which batteries were actually connected to the coach.

The reason to connect the coach to each battery is to help the batteries share the load when be discharged and to be equally charged. If you go with what was posted, the battery C and D 12V set will not actively participate in discharging or charging.

["007"]

Welcome to irv2 ,Ken.
There maybe a placard near your batteries that will give the original lay out of your batteries.
The positive and negative posts have to laid out correctly for all cables and smaller wires to reach their proper posts.
If someone with your same year coach shows up it will help you much more, here is a link to the TS FORUM on irv2.
If you need I can move your thread to that forum if things get to confusing.
This link has battery info and much more.

[Argosy]

Originally Posted by ImagineIF

The reason to connect the coach to each battery is to help the batteries share the load when be discharged and to be equally charged. If you go with what was posted, the battery C and D 12V set will not actively participate in discharging or charging.

Why won't C & D charge or discharge, they're hooked in parallel with A & B?

More minor but the diagram is marked 12v and ground, which is fairly typical for any type of power supply or battery bank. I'm not sure what you expected?

[ImagineIF]

Originally Posted by Argosy

Why won't C & D charge or discharge, they're hooked in parallel with A & B?

More minor but the diagram is marked 12v and ground, which is fairly typical for any type of power supply or battery bank. I'm not sure what you expected?

Resistance.

When the load is connect to a common battery in a multiple battery battery bank the remaining batteries will not discharge or charge at the same rate as the one connected to the load. Of course, I'm referring to each pair of seroes connected batteries as a single 12V battery.

Here's a simple test. If you have an IR thermometer check the battery temperatures when you're on inverter power or when the batteries are being recharged after be partially drained. You will find the two 6V batteries that make the 12V battery connect to the load will be much warmer than the other 2.

The problem becomes even worse when you have more than 2 12V equivalent batteries. Search the web. You'll find many that will go into more depth on what I'm saying is true.

[ImagineIF]

Here's an illustration showing how they should be wired.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...kvaYJAlB4MlNrZ

[Argosy]

Your link and the OP's drawing are electrically the same. The link has the batteries side by side while the OP's are vertical, but the power and ground both come off one set of batteries in each diagram.

If you're trying to balance resistance swapping the ground to the other set will be an improvement.

Even better would be to use an equal length ground for each battery individually and use a common + feed with equal length cables to the + of each battery.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by gemini5362

That is a great picture however some people may not be able to understand it. If you don't mind I am going to try and do a description to go along with it. This description is for 6 volt batteries if that is what you have. 6 volt batteries will have three caps on them.

1. You are going to hook two sets of 6 volt batteries to make the equivalent of two 12 volt batteries we will call these set 1 and set 2

2. We will call the batteries in set 1 Battery A and Battery B, We will call the batteries in set 2 Battery C and Battery D

3. Connect the Negative (-) post of Battery A to the Positive (+) post of Battery B.

4. Connect the Negative (-) post of Battery C to the Positive (+) post of battery D

5. Connect the Positive (+) post of Battery C to the Positive (+) post of
Battery A

6. Connect the Negative (-) post of battery D to the Negative (-) post of Battery B

At this point you will have one and only one connection to all of the battery posts of the 4 6volt batteries. You will not have any posts without a connection. To test the cables are good take a DC voltmeter and put the positive lead on the positive post of battery A put the negative lead of the meter on the negative post of battery B if the batteries are charged this should read very close to 12 volts dc.

Take the meter and put the positive lead of the meter on the positive post of Battery C and the negative meter lead on the negative post of Battery D this should again read very close to 12 volts DC

7. Take the Positive lead for the coach batteries ( the cable that connects the batteries to the coach ) and connect this to the Positive post on Battery A. This post should now have two connections on it.

8. Take the Negative lead for the coach batteries ( the cable that connects the batteries to the coach) and connect this to the Negative post of Battery B This should now have two connections on it.

This should now be hooked up as a series parallel circuit to allow you to run four 6 volt batteries as the equivalent to two 12 volt batteries.

If you have connections for a charger you can connect them with the red charger (plus lead) to the Plus side of battery a which will give three connections on this post.

You can hook up the black (negative lead) of the charger to the negative post of Battery B which will give three connections on this post

If you have any questions please feel free to send me a message.

Thanks for expanding the post on the pic, AND I certainly don't mind.

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by ImagineIF

Resistance.

When the load is connect to a common battery in a multiple battery battery bank the remaining batteries will not discharge or charge at the same rate as the one connected to the load. Of course, I'm referring to each pair of seroes connected batteries as a single 12V battery.

Here's a simple test. If you have an IR thermometer check the battery temperatures when you're on inverter power or when the batteries are being recharged after be partially drained. You will find the two 6V batteries that make the 12V battery connect to the load will be much warmer than the other 2.

The problem becomes even worse when you have more than 2 12V equivalent batteries. Search the web. You'll find many that will go into more depth on what I'm saying is true.

Yep, you are right but it is a small point for someone with a battery tray on the ground, not knowing 6 from 12, potential battery acid on the ground, and the illustration is probably the way it WAS set up stock.

Your way is better tho, I just hope it doesn't confuse the OP further than they already are. Hopefully he/she can get thing hooked back up in a way that at least works and then look into the subtleties of proper battery wiring and management.