Batteries deader than dead

[brobox]

Al, thinking out loud, I wonder when you were having the inverter problem if the charger side was even working properly starting the deterioration of the batteries? I have to agree with Jim on his statement of the Discovery batteries quality. Mine also died on the way to our PDI, or at least that is when I noticed they were bad. They were not from the lack of charging as I store plugged in. Thankfully they were replaced with East Penn's as the Discovery vendor was closed during our PDI.

There was a post on these batteries a few weeks ago. Dave & Ginny installed a set and I think a few others did as well. They seem to be priced right, but that is all I know about them. DC Series Batteries

Here is the post others were discussing and researching batteries if it will help. It also gives the correct size for the Anthem, Lifelines as well with some good prices. http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/batt...es-352103.html

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Al-

Here's a link to order Lifeline GPL-4CTs online. Shipping is direct from the factory, for about $21 each, added to the price shown. Here's the link to all the Lifeline batteries you may order via that site.

I agree with trying to understand what's going on before replacing the coach batteries, though!

Does your Anthem have a battery monitor (such as the Magnum BMK or Trimetric 2030)? They act like a "fuel gauge" for the batteries, so can help track down battery drains.

I'm in the habit of removing the battery ground cables if my coach is going to be without AC power for more than two weeks- or so. This is the only way I can be sure that the batteries retain their charge.

Sorry to hear about your broken leg. I broke my right foot once, and as it was the "olden days" I was in a plaster cast for nine weeks. It was tough to drive a car, even an automatic!

[jestal]

Anything is possible with the inverters screwing up...which is what scares me. All the settings were correct and readings seemed fine but...??? I'm more worried now about making sure I do not ruin a new set of house batteries right away before I can get the system up and running and check all the settings. the new inverters are an unknown right now as they seemed to have the house batteries up to full charge plugged in but I need to check the settings again to be sure.

It seems odd to me that the generator will not run unless it is connected to a 12 volt source. When I disconnect the generator main feed to the front of the left frame rail where there is an isolated junction block I can jump start the generator but it will not stay running if i remove the 12volt jump start voltage to reconnect the wire to the battery pack junction block. The house batteries are so dead they just act like a direct short when I reconnect the generator. I would think the generator would be self sustaining as it is useless for recovering from a dead house battery pack without 12 volts.

I tried to charge the chassis batteries off line and no joy. I have never seen such dead batteries that I couldn't get to take a quick surface charge and get one start. Looks like they are just toast. Not too surprising as I had them out about a year ago and had them reconditioned at the local battery store and they had seemed fine since. I'm working on replacing those tomorrow and chasing down options on the house batteries.

Charging wise the house pack acts like a direct short to ground when trying to charge them or jump start the generator so I may disconnect them to start the Cummins so as to not melt something or overheat the alternator when it starts.

I would love to put the LifeLine batteries in but may be be cost prohibitive right now. Our boon docks are generally just an over night stop so I would love to have the max capacity battery pack but realistically probably would never use the extra capacity. Something like the East Penns may be what I end up with. My most trusted battery source is big on his house brand Deka batteries that are made in Pennsylvania (along with a myriad of other brands obviously) I'll use Deka for the Chassis batteries but have to find out what his affordable AGM alternatives are for the house.

Mark, I have the Magnum BMK hardware and will install when house batteries are out of the trays and I can have a cable made that is needed.

[brobox]

Al, speaking of East Penn's. Just had the Entegra in the shop for the A/C compressor for 6 hours with the refrigerator and basement freezer running. Battery readings on the inverters were 12.9 and 13.1. Very pleased with that for 6 hours in hgh 80 temps.

How long they will last remains to be seen.

[jestal]

Back into operation today. Getting a coach with all the batteries dead is a bit of a challenge unless you have the Mother of all Chargers or a massive jump box.

I ended up disconnecting the generator 12v feed line from the junction block at the front of the left frame rail. Pulled the fully charged battery from my car. Attached the generator 12v cable to the spare battery - hard connection, not using jumper cables. Doubled up the jumper cables for a ground connection to the generator chassis. Generator fired right up and ran fine. Went inside the coach, turned on the main breaker on the left side breaker panel as well as the two breakers for the inverters. Checked Magnum panels and both had their fault lights on. They showed a message (dead battery charge.) and were not charging. The inverters will not start charging until they see 12 volts on the house batteries and mine were so flat it would not charge. Worked around this by using a jumper cable to jumper the 12 volt cables at the junction block where I had disconnected the generator lead with 12v from one of the . This tricked the inverter into seeing voltage on the battery connections to the inverter.

Bulk charging commenced shortly thereafter . Just remember that with totally dead house batteries charging will not happen unless you "tickle" the 12 volt circuit. Charged for 2 hours and the house batteries had sufficient charge to replace the generator lead back to the junction block.

[brobox]

Nice update AL, but one I would have to see to understand. Are the batteries holding a charge and were you able to move the MH?

[757driver]

Al,

Interesting work around to get the batteries to take a charge. Glad you are back up and running.