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Old 06-27-2022, 01:45 PM   #1
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2014 Journey 36M Battery Issue?

I recently bought a 2014 Journey 36M. It has the residential fridge and solar on the roof. It seemed to be ok to run the fridge overnight without the generator.
The problem is I had the motorhome plugged into a 110 outlet at the house using an extension cord. I drove off without disconnecting the cord and it apparently shorted out. Since then the batteries wont last more than a few hours. I have replaced the batteries with 6. 100ah lithium batteries and installed 2. 100 watt solar panels. The fridge will still operate only about 4 hours before it kicks off the inverter.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 06-27-2022, 01:54 PM   #2
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Hi and welcome.

I'm not sure how driving off without unplugging plays a role in this problem. Maybe it does and maybe it doesn't

The issue may be with your Inverter perhaps it has shorted somehow. What inverter do you have a Dimensions MSW or one of the newer Magnum PSW inverter/chargers?

We have recently seen a few posters with older Dimensions Inverters that have had issues with the charger portion of the device. Perhaps you have an issue such as this and your batteries are not being fully charged?

Lets wait for some others to chime in with some other suggestions of what might be happening.
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Old 06-27-2022, 02:14 PM   #3
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Im not sure which inverter I have. Supposed to be the factory 2800.
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Old 06-27-2022, 02:56 PM   #4
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I would need to have some real numbers on what the charging is doing and also what the batteries are doing for holding that charge.

When driving away, it probalby did damage the cord or connections for the 110 Ac part but from there to the rest, there are likely to be fuses or breakers to protect things in the RV. A short should have tripped the house breaker for the outlet used!

Step one on checking the AC part is to check if 110 items like the air cond. and microwave work as those are high power 110 AC and any problem is likely to show there. AC outlets in the RV all working?

Second question is getting that AC turned into 12 Vdc and at a high enough voltagelevelto first start off hihg at 13-14 volts and then as the batteries get charge, the voltage from the charging should begin to drop for "topping off" the batteries at a lower/slower level.

Caustion on reading the voltages as we expect to see the 13-14 volts while the charge is happening and shortly after it is disconnected but to get a more reliable idea of whether the batteries hold that charge we need to come back in 6-8 hours and find near 12. 6+ as that is all they can hold at around 12.7-12.8 but since there are small drains working to run them down, slightly lower is usually okay.
While waiting for things to settle and get stable with the batteries, turn off the coach battery disconnect to reduce any loads that might lead to the batteries discharging more than we know about.
If the inverter/charger is not sending good voltage to the batteries, there is a fuse located next to the batteries which may need checked.

While there, it is always a good idea to check for dirty/corroded cables as a way to head off trouble later.

Click this snip for better view!
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Old 06-27-2022, 03:20 PM   #5
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Thank you for your responses. I am trying to locate the inverter. Do you know where it is located? I will get more info on the charging and and voltages this afternoon
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Old 06-27-2022, 05:59 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by azdad53 View Post
Thank you for your responses. I am trying to locate the inverter. Do you know where it is located? I will get more info on the charging and and voltages this afternoon
Got some pics of location and "maybe" some ideas of getting to it? None that don't need chacking, though!!

The parts catalog here has interactive drawings to turn thing all around and get a better look at things, but takes some time to get into it.
https://catalog3d.winnebagoind.com/menu/Parts.htm

Click these pictures to get a much better view of them.

I found the inverter looks like about half way back from the front passenger door. Get to it from a compartment?

I could not see that but it seems to have what they call a "closeout panel" inside and about even with where they show a fireplace, if you have that option? Second snip is turned and looking down and toward the passenger side to show where the fireplace might be compared to the "closeout panel".

Third pic is closeup and looking under and behind the panel at where they show the connections being on the inner side of the unit rather than access from outside??? Maybe a small cutout at the side to help?

It does show a 2800 pure signwave if you have option 15L, so that sounds like a match to what you indicate!
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Old 06-27-2022, 06:07 PM   #7
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Maybe better location info if you know where the battery cutoff switch?
Maybe inside a compartment on the outside and up high?
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Old 06-27-2022, 06:09 PM   #8
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Here are a couple of photos showing my control panel with the generator running. I’m thinking that the error code has something to do with my trouble
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Old 06-27-2022, 06:14 PM   #9
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I have an inverter shut off switch in my big compartment with the full slide
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Old 06-27-2022, 06:58 PM   #10
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If your House and Chassis batteries are showing 12.8v while your generator is running that says to me that the charger in your inverter charger is no longer charging.

Perhaps it needs reset? That "error" could mean many things???
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Old 06-28-2022, 06:47 AM   #11
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I agreewith Creative on this as the readings do not show any charging and if he thinks a reset is in order, he has much more experience with that system than me!
I tend to like to go much lower tech and not trust the monitor panels very far as they tend to throw a second level of problems when dealing with batteries.

We can get battery problems fromsimplle things like dirty connections but then we can also get confusion if those dirty cables are causing the monitor not to get the right readings!

For my personal methods, a voltage reading taken right on the batteries is more direct as we can read whie touching the probe tothe post and then test again on the cable clamp to show that it is a good connection if we get the same reading.

But then my way is not always the only way!!
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Old 07-03-2022, 07:06 PM   #12
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Quote:
I have replaced the batteries with 6. 100ah lithium batteries and installed 2. 100 watt solar panels.
Several thoughts: Your Li batteries should be showing 13.4 volts at "float" or resting state. It would appear that you are not charging the Li house batteries adequately.

12.8 volts on a LiFePO4 battery is 80% discharged-and this is going to be hard on those very expensive six 100 Amp hour battery. You need a specific 110V charger for the LiFePO4 batteries.

200 watts in solar panels is not going to be adequate to keep those six batteries charged with the panels alone.

I like to use a meter like the Victron 712 which gives amps in, amps out, and state of charge, rather than the meter used with the inverter.
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Old 07-03-2022, 07:24 PM   #13
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Several thoughts: Your Li batteries should be showing 13.4 volts at "float" or resting state. It would appear that you are not charging the Li house batteries adequately.

12.8 volts on a LiFePO4 battery is 80% discharged-and this is going to be hard on those very expensive six 100 Amp hour battery. You need a specific 110V charger for the LiFePO4 batteries.

200 watts in solar panels is not going to be adequate to keep those six batteries charged with the panels alone.

I like to use a meter like the Victron 712 which gives amps in, amps out, and state of charge, rather than the meter used with the inverter.
ARGH! I missed the point where they changed the rig design. Once mods are made, there is little point in looking at what was built originally as the changes are likely to throw it all out the window!
Changing types of batteries is not a simple one-step process but takes lots of thought!
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Old 07-04-2022, 04:03 PM   #14
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Working through the issues

Thank you all for your response’s. I have replaced the controller, the wiring from the three 100 watt panels to the controller and the wiring from the controller. I also ran a second set of wires to the roof for a second string of two 250 watt panels and a new charge controller.
My next question is, I have a wire that is connected to one of the mid string battery ground terminal. I am trying to get the wiring diagram to figure out what it is for. I was under the assumption that the negative and positive wiring should come off opposite ends of the string of batteries. Is this correct?
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Old 07-04-2022, 04:12 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by azdad53 View Post
I have a wire that is connected to one of the mid string battery ground terminal. I am trying to get the wiring diagram to figure out what it is for. I was under the assumption that the negative and positive wiring should come off opposite ends of the string of batteries. Is this correct?
The way your battery bank is wired is correct. There are times you want the wiring to be at each end - but that's in smaller 2-battery banks.

You have an inverter and Winnebago splits up power into and out of your bank between the Alternator and Inverter.

You'll find your battery bank wiring diagram here:

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ire_183752.pdf

Here is a screen shot of your 2014 Journey 36M's battery installation wiring:
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Old 07-04-2022, 04:23 PM   #16
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I have a 2013 Journey that I converted over to lifepo4. You probably have the same transfer switch I have and I can not see how driving off is effecting your batteries discharging but it would definitely effect the ability to charge from the grid. If you damaged the transfer switch the generator may not be able to charge the batteries either.

Your basic problem is you don't know much about the voltage, current, state of charge, or charge parameters. Your charger may not be setup properly, you may have a fuse problem, a wiring problem or both. Your solar system is not capable of supporting the refrigerator. I estimate it takes about 400watts of batteries under ideal conditions to support the fridge and 600W in typical conditions.

1. Take the solar out of the equation you don't have enough.
2. Fix your AC line and or transfer switch, it isn't that hard to get to and you should be able to spot the damage. I find it hard to believe an extension cord damaged it but if your 50A cord was dragging behind the coach for a long time that thing could easily have pull hard enough on the transfer switch to cause damage. Dig in and see what you find.

3. You probably have a magnum 2800 inverter. You invested a good bit in those batteries. Finish the job and get the ME-RC or better remote so that you can configure and monitor your inverter.
Set your inverter according to the manufactures specs. These are example settings


Battery Type Custom
Absorb 14.2
Float 13.6
Equalize 14.2
Final charge Float
Charge Rate 100%
Absorb time .1 hour

3. Decide if you are going to upgrade your solar to be sufficient.

3a Not going to upgrade solar, get a magnum BMS
3b Going to upgrade solar select a company like BlueSky (good) Victron (better) and install a solar charge controller and advanced remote with BMS (battery monitoring capability)

I'm guessing you bought battle born batteries which have no bluetooth or other remote status. This is contributing to your lack of data about your system. If you had purchase Victron or Lifeblue or any of a number of other batteries with BMS instrumentation you would know what the problem is. They provide you with the instrumentation necessary to monitor your battery health, load, and state of charge. If you put the battle born batteries in the compartment where your AGM were in the sub basement I hope you got ones with heaters or at least a BMS that protects against low temp charging. If not you had better monitor it your self.
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Old 07-04-2022, 08:19 PM   #17
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Thank you. That helps a lot.
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