Class A Coach House Battery Replace

[Lloyd in S.C.]

Greetings!

We have a 2014 Tiffin Phaeton 40 qbh, however I am thinking the brand model does not matter.

Our house batteries are end of life, Need to replace, battery compartment could use some cleanup, painting etc..

So question about the process. I am planning to shut off our Inverter (we are in a park with shore power) and I guess the charger via the magnum power management system. Then turn the battery isolator off and remove the 6 batteries. Leaving shore power on with our fridge and all operational while I go and purchase batteries, cleanup the compartment and reinstall.

Will the above process be okay? Certainly don't want to create a problem with anything while doing this. It may take me a day or 2 to get all the work done, paint dry time etc..

Thanks for your input.

L.

[twinboat]

You may not have any 12 volt lights, water pump and other 12 volt items along with the air conditioning, heat and fridge, 12 volt controls.

Even protecting your cables from shorting to ground, your Inverter/charger will not work. They typically need a few volts from a battery connected, to work.

You could tie together ( nut and bolt ) and wrap the positive cables in tape.

You may also need to tie the grounds together. Some inverter/chargers go to the neg terminals, not to chassis ground.

Then jump across the isolation relay to get chassis battery power, and turn the inverter/charger on to charge.

Can you do it by removing 4 and then the last 2 ?

[Lloyd in S.C.]

Hi Twinboat!

We have a Residential fridge, so it only requires A/C power.

Once I throw the isolator switch, unless I short the cables amongst the batteries,,,, they are completly disconnected from the coach right? Shouldn't have a impact.

Agreed, I maynot have 12 volt at all. I guess I could test that. Shut off the switch and see what I got.

L.

[twinboat]

Originally Posted by Lloyd in S.C.

Hi Twinboat!

We have a Residential fridge, so it only requires A/C power.

Once I throw the isolator switch, unless I short the cables amongst the batteries,,,, they are completly disconnected from the coach right? Shouldn't have a impact.

Agreed, I maynot have 12 volt at all. I guess I could test that. Shut off the switch and see what I got.

L.

If your on shore power, your inverter/charger will be on, charging the batteries. The charging mode needs to be off to prevent 12 volt power out of its cables.

Sometimes the battery isolation/combining solenoid will remain connected until the voltage drops down below 13 volts.

Pull the shore power cord and wait 15, 20 minutes before disconnecting cables.

[garyre]

Just remove chassis battery and replace house batteries with it temporary while you are running around getting replacement batteries for house system. With most of the house batteries out of the way you can also do the maintenance required on some of the areas..

[lwmcguire]

Originally Posted by twinboat

You may not have any 12 volt lights, water pump and other 12 volt items along with the air conditioning, heat and fridge, 12 volt controls.

Even protecting your cables from shorting to ground, your Inverter/charger will not work. They typically need a few volts from a battery connected, to work.

You could tie together ( nut and bolt ) and wrap the positive cables in tape.

You may also need to tie the grounds together. Some inverter/chargers go to the neg terminals, not to chassis ground.

Then jump across the isolation relay to get chassis battery power, and turn the inverter/charger on to charge.

Can you do it by removing 4 and then the last 2 ?

I have seen batteries exchanged using Twinboats suggestion of jumping the relay successfully, seems the simplest way to me

[Gary RVRoamer]

Leave the charging function on - it is also the 12v converter. Just make sure the 12v+ lead to the battery is not grounded, e.g. isolated and preferably wrapped with something to prevent an "Oh crap!" moment. You can shut off 120v power to the inverter/charger temporarily by turning off its feed breaker, allowing you to disconnect the batteries (start with the battery ground side, just be be sure).

[Lloyd in S.C.]

Thanks guys!

Will let you know what I find when I do this.

L.