A question regarding charging house batteries

JWatkins · 01-31-2008, 05:22 AM

I have a 2004 Adventurer 37B. I notice that when I run the engine or generator that the house batteries do no show any charge rate at the panel. I checked to see that the inverter was on and it was. My house batteries now show a flat 12 volts with a dip to 11.9 when I turn on something.

Shouldn't the panel reflect some charge rate when the gen is running? How about the engine? My chassis battery shows something like 14.6v when the engine is running.
I have the unit into Workhorse for maintenance (having the brake caliper slides greased and the zerk added to the Z-bar, plus the usual fluids and filters) and I am going to bring it home and put a charger on the house batteries to bring them back up.
Thanks,
Joe

JWatkins · 01-31-2008, 05:22 AM

I have a 2004 Adventurer 37B. I notice that when I run the engine or generator that the house batteries do no show any charge rate at the panel. I checked to see that the inverter was on and it was. My house batteries now show a flat 12 volts with a dip to 11.9 when I turn on something.

Shouldn't the panel reflect some charge rate when the gen is running? How about the engine? My chassis battery shows something like 14.6v when the engine is running.
I have the unit into Workhorse for maintenance (having the brake caliper slides greased and the zerk added to the Z-bar, plus the usual fluids and filters) and I am going to bring it home and put a charger on the house batteries to bring them back up.
Thanks,
Joe

John Hilley · 01-31-2008, 05:50 AM

Your battery isolator solenoid isn't functioning properly. It probably has bad contacts. In most cases it is located under the steps, sometimes on the firewall, and looks like the old car starter solenoids, however, it is a continuous duty type. To test, disconnect the house battery cable from the solenoid. With the engine off there shouldn't be any voltage at this terminal, then when you start the engine, you should see 12 volts at this terminal. The solenoid will have either one or two small terminals for the coil, and two large terminals for the battery leads. If you have only one small terminal, it gets the negative connection from the solenoid frame.

Pusherman · 01-31-2008, 05:53 AM

Joe, the engine alternator and the generator should be charging your house batteries when running. You should see a voltage over 12V, as you suggested in the 13-14 range especially if the batteries are undercharged to begin with.

Have you checked whether you are getting a charge on the house batteries when you are plugged into shore power?

I think John's post above is your issue.

At 12V you are about 50% discharged. Full battery charge at rest (no charging circuitry on, no load) should be around 12.6 - 12.8V.

JWatkins · 01-31-2008, 06:08 AM

Hey, thanks for the input John and Pusherman. I will look into that as soon as I get my baby back from the "hospital" !

Joe

BTW, that means that we stayed 3 days in the desert on the new Wally World batteries using the heater and lights all the time without charging at all. They did very well it seems!

skigramp · 01-31-2008, 12:10 PM

JRW ...

What batteries did you buy at Walmart?

Thanks in advance for the info ...

JWatkins · 01-31-2008, 02:43 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by skigramp:
JRW ...

What batteries did you buy at Walmart?

Thanks in advance for the info ... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Skigramp, got a moment of CRS here. I know they are group 29 and they are bright yellow , but i can't remember what they call them. I will get my MH back tomorrow morning and I will give you the complete low-down then... sorry.
Joe

depchief · 01-31-2008, 02:59 PM

I agree with John on his post concerning the solenoid. I recently went thru the same situation.
Before you go into the solenoid please check the following
Are your steps working properly
Does the TV Antenna warning light work when you start up.

Lift the dash and look at the upper right 15 amp fuse in the lower block. This fuse if blown will cut out the charging circuit, along with the warning light and proper step operation.

I was really surprised when I discovered to be my continuing situation.

Most new solenoid's will have 2 small connections, you will have to ground one

Good luck

JWatkins · 02-01-2008, 08:12 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by depchief:
I agree with John on his post concerning the solenoid. I recently went thru the same situation.
Before you go into the solenoid please check the following
Are your steps working properly
Does the TV Antenna warning light work when you start up.

Lift the dash and look at the upper right 15 amp fuse in the lower block. This fuse if blown will cut out the charging circuit, along with the warning light and proper step operation.

I was really surprised when I discovered to be my continuing situation.

Most new solenoid's will have 2 small connections, you will have to ground one

Good luck </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Thanks, depchief, my steps and antenna light work fine. It looks like my solar "may" have been charging the house as well, since I picked it up this AM from service and the voltage on the house batteries is up to 12.5 from 12 a day and a half ago? At any rate I will take a look at the solenoid situation as soon as the drizzle stops.
Joe

JWatkins · 02-01-2008, 08:31 AM

Skigramp, the Wally World batteries are group 29 and they are called MAXX.
Joe

JWatkins · 02-09-2008, 02:16 PM

I have finally gotten a chance to look at why my gen doesn't seem to charge my house batteries and I was following the suggestions of John Hilley and Pusherman. I opened the stair compartment and found this:

[IMG:left]

[/IMG]

I am not sure but I think the one on the right is the disconnect and the one on the left is the battery mode solenoid. Which side do I disconnect? I turned off the disconnect but still had voltage (engine off, gen off) on both sides of the solenoid. The right side had about 1 more volt than the left side. I can't tell where the red leads come from, so I was hoping that someone would help me out here. I disconnected the battery leads and the voltage on the left side was still there as well as the right. I started the gen after re-connecting and the voltage reading at both sides were the same as before. The voltage on my central panel read lower than the voltage at the solenoid. Any ideas? I am lost.
Joe

Petro · 02-09-2008, 02:42 PM

JWatkins;

You are correct. The solenoid on the right is your coach disconnect. The one on the left is the battery charge/emergency start solenoid. When your engine is running you should have about 14.5 volts on the left post and about the same or a little less on the right post. The yellow wire in the center should have about 14.5 volts also. If you have voltage on the yellow post and only about 12 volts on the right then the solenoid contacts are bad. I had the same problem on mine.

Don

JWatkins · 02-09-2008, 07:21 PM

Thanks, Petro. I had less voltage on the left than on the right with nothing running. I will try tomorrow with the engine running. There wasn't any change with the gen running.
Joe

John_Canfield · 02-10-2008, 04:13 AM

Hmmm - my charge solenoid looks almost exactly like the one on the right.

It should be trivial to find out for sure - have an assistant operate the coach's battery disconnect switch and listen/feel the solenoids. The one operating should have a noticeable sound and you should be feel the contactor operating.

Petro · 02-10-2008, 06:28 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John_Canfield:
Hmmm - my charge solenoid looks almost exactly like the one on the right.

It should be trivial to find out for sure - have an assistant operate the coach's battery disconnect switch and listen/feel the solenoids. The one operating should have a noticeable sound and you should be feel the contactor operating. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John;
My 97 Adventure and my 2003 Chieftain look exactly like Joe's picture. Warpath handed out RV Upgrades 2007 accessories catalog at Branson in July. On page 346 part # 55-8989 is the switch identical to Joe's and mine. In fact I had to replace this identical solenoid on both motor homes for the charging issue. The 3 terminal switch (55-8989) is internally grounded and the 4 post switch(55-8990) is externally grounded. On page 88 of the 2006 Winnebago Parts & Accessories catalog is listed part # 008188-01-000 Battery Change Over Solenoid which appears to be identical to 55-8989. Perhaps our gas coaches are different than the diesel powered coaches which I am not familiar with.

Don

JWatkins · 02-10-2008, 06:48 AM

Thanks, John. I had a moment of clarity and discovered that I could feel the operating one!

It is the one on the right. Thanks,
Joe

movin-on · 02-10-2008, 07:11 AM

I guess there is some confusion here...I have an 02 Horizon...The wiring diagram lists the one on the left in the picture (3 terminal)as the aux start solenoid and the one on the right as the battery disconnect solenoid...I'll check it with the aux start switch when I can get to my coach...

John Hilley · 02-10-2008, 07:16 AM

It looks like the feed from the coach batteries is connected to the large right side terminal of the left solenoid and is then jumpered to the left large terminal on the battery disconnect switch. One thing that might confuse things is where your solar is connected. If it is just the small one on the chassis battery it won't be an issue, if it is connected to the coach batteries, you could get a misleading reading. If it is fused, just pull the fuse.

Tom N · 02-10-2008, 07:35 AM

I checked your pictorial wiring diagrams on Winnebago's website. I suggest you down load them.

-Tom

Tom N · 02-10-2008, 07:47 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JWatkins:
I have a 2004 Adventurer 37B. I checked to see that the inverter was on and it was.
Joe </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You inverter has nothing to do with charging.

Your converter charges your coach batteries when plugged into shore power or the generator is running.

-Tom