What Charges My Batteries?

[George Lewis]

I just don't remember. Does shore power charge both my house and chassis batteries? Does the generator charge both house and chassis if day camping? Does the V10 charge the house batteries while driving?

I know different manufactures have different systems.

I have a '99 Fleetwood Bounder 34J, Ford V10, with two 6v deep cycle, Onan gen.

[KIX]

To know for certain you need o break out your Volt/Ohm Meter (VOM). Just read the voltages at each battery bank using the various potentially charging modes you mention.

[Tony Lee]

To back up what KIX said, on mine, the solar charges both house and engine batteries via a duo regulator, with the house batteries getting preference.
Shore power only charges house batteries
Generator - same as shore power.

[bluepill]

Originally Posted by KIX

To know for certain you need o break out your Volt/Ohm Meter (VOM). Just read the voltages at each battery bank using the various potentially charging modes you mention.

This is indeed the best way to know. Even if the manufacturer designed and equipped the vehicle for a particular charging strategy, a failure of some component such as an isolator or a Trik-L-Start could disable the factory functions.

[Gary RVRoamer]

For your Fleetwood Bounder, the answer to all three questions is YES (assuming everything is still "working as designed"). Shore power charges both house and chassis batteries. The generator powers the same charging system as does shore power, so it functions the same. And when the engine is running, the engine alternator charges both battery banks.

[George Lewis]

Thanks, Gary. I thought this was the case but was not sure after my recent converter problem. It was solved with a new one.