Community Forums

TXBart · 06-21-2014, 02:31 PM

My house batteries were dead today with about 2 weeks in no-power storage (power switch and in refers were all off). I decided to setup Auto Gen. I read someplace that Entegra recommends leaving it at factory settings which is on at 12.5V and off at "Auto". 12.5 seems high which is shared in several posts on the forum; 11.7-12.1 seems to be a preferred on setting.

What is recommended for an off setting? What voltage is "Auto"?

I realize I also need to find why my batteries went dead so quickly.

brobox · 06-21-2014, 03:06 PM

Vance I have been studying the same topic and I am going to set my start voltage at 12.1. That is just above 25% charge for our AGM batteries. I am one that does not like to push the envelope on battery charges as it does cut the life span. 11.8 is completely dead on AGM's. The more that batteries are allowed reach that stage the shorter the life span.

Stop voltage I am thinking 13.5 -13.9 but I am going to look forward to what others are saying. Good Post! Thanks.

MRUSA14 · 06-21-2014, 03:25 PM

Just had an in-depth lecture on this last week from Ted Cook of Entegra at the Spartan owners class. Entegra recommends 11.6 start voltage and set stop at Auto. I don't like the 11.6 as I think it too hard on the batteries, so I have set mine to 11.9.

Most battery authorities say that 50% discharge is at 12.0-12.2 volts resting, and that you should generally not go below 50% for good battery life. You have to realize that the recommendations that you see published are for "resting voltage" which is with no load applied to the batteries during the previous 1-2 hours or more. Since our batteries always have some loads attached they will read somewhat lower. Therefore I have chosen 11.9., which I believe under moderate load will approximate 50% charge. If you want to be super-safe you can set the start voltage at 12.0 or above, but your generator will start more often and you will not run as long on inverter between recharges.

Selah · 06-21-2014, 04:48 PM

I have mine set to 11.9 as well for the same reason as mentioned above, the batteries will most likely have some load so the reading that the generator sees is not the resting voltage. Mine are wet cell batteries.

TXBart · 06-21-2014, 05:23 PM

Ok, auto on set at 11.9-12.0. What about off? "Auto" is not a good option unless we know what "Auto" is.

brobox · 06-21-2014, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TXBart

Ok, auto on set at 11.9-12.0. What about off? "Auto" is not a good option unless we know what "Auto" is.

Acording to page 9 in the manual the "Auto Stop" is when 3 bars are displayed which can range from 13.2v to 14.5. That doesn't seem to be much help and why I chose the number of 13.9...splitting the difference for manual setting

MRUSA14 · 06-21-2014, 06:49 PM

Harris Battery and Entegra recommend Auto for generator stop. You could try that setting and watch how it works compared to some fixed setting. I know that it is not good for batteries to be partially recharged repeatedly. They will last longer if fully recharged after use, so I would be wary of using a setting that does not give a full battery charge.

DSL417 · 06-21-2014, 06:52 PM

Mine is set at 12.0 (which ted cook told me a year ago; don't know why the discrepancy), and auto for shutoff...believe me, it runs plenty to charge up using that approach. And, sometimes on a cool night the generator won't even come on when dry camping, unless I turn it on.

bcp · 06-22-2014, 10:44 PM

Has anyone had this problem?
I set my auto start to start at 12.0 V and stop at Auto. I used the default Quiet Time setting which is 10 pm to 7am IIRC. My coach was parked near my home and I was trying to keep the refrigerator going. The generator started once in early evening. The next day, I stopped by the coach and found the battery voltage was down to about 11.5 and the generator hadn't started. I had to press the Battery Boost button to start the generator. Apparently, the current draw of the fridge and the parasitic draw from the TVs, Dish and other devices that were "turned off" was more than the battery reserves during the quiet period. A day or two later, we were stopped in a rest area and I turned off all the breakers on the inverter breaker box except for the refrigerator when we went to bed. The next morning, the batteries were above 12.0 volts and all was well.

I wonder if this is normal behavior (too much draw for the batteries to stay above 12 volts during the quiet time) or not. This is a new coach, an Aspire with 4 wet cell batteries. If the general opinion is this is abnormal behavior, I think a load test on each battery is indicated. Perhaps I have a battery with a dead cell.
Thanks,
Bryan and Jane
2014 Aspire DEQ

brobox · 06-23-2014, 05:56 AM

Bryan, not auto start related, but sharing how fast my batteries went down and I have 8 AGM's. I am up at my MH storage hanger everyday doing mods, etc. Yesterday I went up and the batteries were dead. I am plugged into 20 amp with only the refrigerator running, inverter on and battery charge on.

The day before I was running #2 A/C fan only and using a shop vac. I popped the shore power circuit breaker sometime in the late afternoon because the A/C fan was running until I turned it off. Yesterday late morning the red lights were on for the battery condition and I found shore power was dead. My Entegra is power hunger if everything is not shut off like you found. I was really surprised how fast the 8 AGM's went down.

MRUSA14 · 06-23-2014, 06:10 AM

Chuck, I don't understand how your batteries went dead while you were plugged in overnight. That doesn't make sense, you should have been charging, not discharging. What am I missing?

brobox · 06-23-2014, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MRUSA14

Chuck, I don't understand how your batteries went dead while you were plugged in overnight. That doesn't make sense, you should have been charging, not discharging. What am I missing?

You missed paragraph two

I popped the shore power breaker sometime late in the afternoon.

Saltydog44 · 06-23-2014, 07:53 AM

Why didn't Auto Gen Start kick in?

az bound · 06-23-2014, 08:26 AM

AGM batteries should only be draining by 1-2 % each month while in storage. Either something is draining them or they are bad.
I have the AGS set at 12.2 which is 50% SOC, and have had the coach in storagre for up to 7 months without the genny ever starting.