Community Forums

phinneyj · 04-10-2013, 02:00 AM

Alright, so the beast has been hanging out in front of the house for a few weeks. I have noticed a steady decline in voltage on the chassis batteries. These are sealed units so I have not pulled em yet. I Ass.u.me that the chassis batteries will charge off the invertor/charger just as the House bank does.

Apparently that is not the case as the house batteries are holding and cycling a good charging cycle. Everytime I check Chassis voltage at the idiot panel it drops another .1 volts. I know that there are chassis electrical vampires to push the capacity down but at some point the inverter charger should kick in. Current volt level is 12.1

I think that got most of the relevant information. Anymore questions then send em my way. I want to resolve this hopefully without springing for another set.

RV Wizard · 04-10-2013, 02:50 AM

I don't believe Winnebago was putting in a charging system from the inverter to chassis battery bank in 04. You might call them the verify as well as test the chassis batteries.

Gorlininc · 04-10-2013, 04:54 AM

I have a monaco diplomat but had the same issue. I installed a echo charger which charges the chassis batteries when the house batteries are floating. It's good to have if your rig sits more than a couple of weeks and has shore power.

tompen · 04-10-2013, 07:13 AM

It seems you do not have a B.I.R.D system. Echo charger, Trykle Start, or, cheap and easy, pick up an automatic trickle charger/maintainer at Wally World for $20.00 and either wire it in or just use the clamps. I put a switch on my B.I.R.D and shut it off when I am in storage and use the charger. Works great and you can use it elsewhere, like on a Toad. if needed.
Just my 2 cents.

YC1 · 04-10-2013, 08:37 AM

I added the trik-l-start to my Sightseer in 05. Very easy to install and solved the issue. If you add a solar panel it will work with that as well and no worries unless you leave things on.

phinneyj · 04-10-2013, 02:51 PM

I have a portable three stage charger from Stanley that I use on my cars and an unattached deep cycle in a box with connection points. I am assuming that I can hook it up to the chassis batteries without fritzing out some other component, or should there be a cutoff or disconnect somewhere that should happen first.