Really need the help of 19-22 Vega Touch owners

[Turbojack]

Great catch noticing different firmware. This could be part/the of the problem as to how VT interacts

[bevandtomH]

TurboJack, I can’t lend any insight, but I can confirm what you heard from PJ regarding charging. In my ‘14, house batteries would down to 12.4/6 as soon as I parked.
It bothered me enough to think I had an onset battery failure. Based on his explanation, it makes sense.
Watching all this, software sounds like the real culprit.
Hope you ( especially Chuck) get this figured out🤞

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Magic-carpet

Just something to keep track of:

It seems that there is a hodgepodge of Firmware versions on these panel photos on this thread.

Inverter/Chargers (1.6-1.9)

and the

Bridge firmware of (1.6-1.9).

Chuck, did they update your I/C firmware while you were at Entegra?

Yes, Josh from Firefly did swap my 1.6 bride to a 1.8 before all of the software updates were started. I have to hand it to Firefly, they busted their butts once they saw the problem in real life.

I am going to ask a question of others that know they have a serious battery problem. Has anybody contact their dealer for involvement?

I contacted mine, NIRVC, they had Ted Cook meet me in Nashville to witness the problem and contact Firefly and PJ from my coach explaining the problem before my arrival at Entegra. NIRVC flew Justin from Atlanta to be involved hands on and get training on the new 23 FF systems. Has anybody reached out to their dealer for assistance? For a fact, new batteries are $3,000. and not covered after one year on warranty. Sooner or later, those involved are going to stop listening to me as a single person. Others are going to have to get involved, or have unusable batteries and spend another $3,000 for more unusable batteries when the first set shorts out like mine did.. I know Justin has been up until midnight researching what Jeannie posted and the photos I have emailed...anybody else have a dealer that has any ideas? Anybody know Elon Musk or any of his battery engineers?

I have made the problem known, that we have batteries that don''t work. With the hours I have put into this, I cannot find the problem, nor can the experts at Entegra or FireFly.

I have an aircraft mechanic that is going to try to troubleshoot with me after I purchase a larger battery charger to hopefully save my batteries. We are going to take ohm readings on the cables to see if we can find a line loss. Does anybody have anything that has been tested that might work? Has anybody contacted outside sources that can help? I hate to say this, but this is a not a one person problem.

[brobox]

Originally Posted by bevandtomH

TurboJack, I can’t lend any insight, but I can confirm what you heard from PJ regarding charging. In my ‘14, house batteries would down to 12.4/6 as soon as I parked.
It bothered me enough to think I had an onset battery failure. Based on his explanation, it makes sense.
Watching all this, software sounds like the real culprit.
Hope you ( especially Chuck) get this figured out🤞

The old school of thought going back to the TS days, run the generator 2 hours before going to bed, then 2 hours before leaving in then morning so as not to over work the engine alternator. Batteries, unless bad, have always lasted all night, but not with the new Entegras, why?

[bevandtomH]

Chuck, why EC doesn’t have the engine alternator providing more charge to the house batteries is a little confusing.
I get the coach batteries need top priority but if I drive 5 hours like I will today, my house batteries will be sitting at 12.2/4 as soon as I shut the engine off.
Knowing that is my “normal” as explained by PJ, may be how it is but…..

[brobox]

Originally Posted by 757driver

Chuck,

When you first plug into shore power or run the generator what are the DC amps on each charger and how long does the charger stay in bulk charge prior to going to absorb charge? What voltage do the house batteries get to during bulk charge?

Don,

When I started the generator the other morning when it overheated the charger/inverter. This is the photo I sent PJ shows 13.7v and 100 amps on each inverter. Now that I am home I will time how long the bulk is and the charge rate
This was taken when I started the generator before the overheat error.


The first photo was after driving all day and starting the generator when I first stopped. It does not show bulk, but absorb instead. For some reason the photos loaded backwards

[brobox]

Originally Posted by bevandtomH

Chuck, why EC doesn’t have the engine alternator providing more charge to the house batteries is a little confusing.
I get the coach batteries need top priority but if I drive 5 hours like I will today, my house batteries will be sitting at 12.2/4 as soon as I shut the engine off.
Knowing that is my “normal” as explained by PJ, may be how it is but…..

Tom, this was in my notes to PJ taken before shutting the engine down and starting the generator. I still do the TS method when stopping, generator on for 2 hours to cool the coach down, etc. and run it for 2 hours in the morning, we are usually driving when that is taking place. I have always tried to practice good battery management, and this problem is really concerning for me.

[brobox]

I just called Justin at NIRVC. they have the weekend off, but there is a 23 Aspire on the lot and another 23 due in next week. He is going to do the unplug test on the newer coach and see if the 23's have the same issue. A lot of changes are on the 23 and some of the cables have been shortened and moved. Maybe???? Still looking for answers......it's going to be a long weekend with everybody off.

[jeff.herren]

Originally Posted by brobox

Don,

When I started the generator the other morning when it overheated the charger/inverter. This is the photo I sent PJ shows 13.7v and 100 amps on each inverter. Now that I am home I will time how long the bulk is and the charge rate
This was taken when I started the generator before the overheat error.


The first photo was after driving all day and starting the generator when I first stopped. It does not show bulk, but absorb instead. For some reason the photos loaded backwards

Chuck, you mention they loaded 1.8 bridge firmware. The pics here show 1.6 firmware for the bridge. Did you get reverted back to 1.6 or did the update not take?

[brobox]

Originally Posted by jeff.herren

Chuck, you mention they loaded 1.8 bridge firmware. The pics here show 1.6 firmware for the bridge. Did you get reverted back to 1.6 or did the update not take?

Jeff they did so many things with Firefly engineers all over my coach for 3 days and 3 different versions of software written before 1.5.8 was released, I do not have a clue what all was done. They also installed a couple of Beta version to test overnight, then took reading the first thing in the morning.

On the first night at my coach, they removed the 1.6 RVC bridge and installed a 1.8 bridge while they did 2 hours worth of testing. That evening they replace the RVC bridge back to the 1.6. and called it a night. What went on behind closed doors for 3 days after that, I don't know. I was not allow to communicate with anyone until PJ filled me in.

Maybe I am not understanding the question. The 1.6 RVC bridge was a physical black box between the inverters that was changed. I do not claim to be the battery expert, and I am learning more than I really want too. If I am missing terminology others are referring to, I appoligize.

[jeff.herren]

Originally Posted by brobox

Jeff they did so many things with Firefly engineers all over my coach for 3 days and 3 different versions of software written before 1.5.8 was released, I do not have a clue what all was done. They also installed a couple of Beta version to test overnight, then took reading the first thing in the morning.

On the first night at my coach, they removed the 1.6 RVC bridge and installed a 1.8 bridge while they did 2 hours worth of testing. That evening they replace the RVC bridge back to the 1.6. and called it a night. What went on behind closed doors for 3 days after that, I don't know. I was not allow to communicate with anyone until PJ filled me in.

Maybe I am not understanding the question. The 1.6 RVC bridge was a physical black box between the inverters that was changed. I do not claim to be the battery expert, and I am learning more than I really want too. If I am missing terminology others are referring to, I appoligize.

Completely understand and it looks like they reverted the firmware. I just read other area of the post for battery values not holding and saw the RVC Bridge version not what you mentioned and wanted to make sure that was seen by folks, just making sure if the revert back to 1.6 was intentional or if it didn't take. It seems to have been intended so hopefully they can find the solution. It will be interesting to hear what Justin sees on the 23's

[Turbojack]

Originally Posted by jeff.herren

Completely understand and it looks like they reverted the firmware. I just read other area of the post for battery values not holding and saw the RVC Bridge version not what you mentioned and wanted to make sure that was seen by folks, just making sure if the revert back to 1.6 was intentional or if it didn't take. It seems to have been intended so hopefully they can find the solution. It will be interesting to hear what Justin sees on the 23's

Jeff, my take is they changed out the bridge with one that had 1.8 firmware. Then they put back the original bridge that had the 1.6 firmware. They did not update the firmware on the original bridge.

I am guessing they are baffled as to what is causing the problem and no idea as to how to solve it.

[757driver]

Originally Posted by brobox

Don,

When I started the generator the other morning when it overheated the charger/inverter. This is the photo I sent PJ shows 13.7v and 100 amps on each inverter. Now that I am home I will time how long the bulk is and the charge rate
This was taken when I started the generator before the overheat error.


The first photo was after driving all day and starting the generator when I first stopped. It does not show bulk, but absorb instead. For some reason the photos loaded backwards

Chuck,

When you first started the generator the Bulk phase, voltage of 13.7v (and increasing) and the 200A plus charge all look normal IF the displayed values are accurate. The next picture of the Absorb phase 14.5v and the decreasing but still significant 120A plus charge all look normal.

While at Entegra if this charging was duplicated did anyone put a clamp on ammeter on the positive two cables coming to the battery bank from the chargers to see if what was indicated on Vegatouch was getting through to the batteries?

[757driver]

Chuck,

When you first disconnect from shore power or stop the generator what is the DC load on each inverter and what else is on at the time other than the fridge?