Help! New RV Owner 22 Navion - Battery Question

[Morich]

Originally Posted by wagongirl

Yep...it's just that the latch won't reach all the way up to the cover now, so I cannot re-latch it. I'm on my first solo trip so am on my own. When I get home, I hate to say this but I'll have my husband take a look at it. He is much more mechanically savvy than I am. We all have our gifts and spatial reasoning is not one of mine =).

I like the simple things best! On the latch, you may find there is a threaded part that can be turned to adjust the length of the latching part longer or shorter? Turning that threaded part changes how far out the "hand" reaches and how tight it draws the lid closed.

[Morich]

Doing a bit deeper look at how the 110AC works shows this.

Click this snip and read it something like a road map without worry about how some of the things do their job.


Down at bottom left is where power comes from the power cord or generator to the transfer switch. It is automatic and should choose one or the other before sending power out on the red line to the load center breaker main breaker which is a 30 amp.
That main breaker is connected inside to the breakers on the left of it. One feeds the air conditioner and the other feeds all the rest of the 110 AC powered items in the coach by going to the inverter first.

IF that inverter is turned on, power should come back to the load center to yet another 30 amp breaker.
So you have three 30 amp breakers and ALL have to be on! One in form the inverter, one out to the inverter and yet another when that power comes back!!!
That last 30 amp on the right feeds inside the load center to the three breakers I marked in yellow that feed all the 110 stuff except the air conditioner!

So if the inverter is not working (or turned off) you have a big hole in the road and most of the coach gets no 110 AC power. IF the batteries get too weak, from not getting power to charge them, the 12 volt DC will stop also!

This drawing only shows the 110 stuff so it leaves out the part about your inverter also doing the job of a converter or charger that charges the batteries.

The devil is in the details!

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by wagongirl

Am I correct in thinking that if I'm plugged in, everything should just work with the house battery switch "off" or is that not right?

The House battery switch should always remain on in your RV when you are using it and turned off ONLY when you put the RV in Storage.

Those House and Chassis switches are always on whenever you are using the RV and by "using the RV" I mean not storing the RV away for some time between RV trips.

Lets say you store your RV at a storage facility away from your home. When you go to the storage to pick up the RV to remove it from storage you turn those switch on and leave them on. When you return the RV to Storage you turn those switches off before leaving the RV at the Storage facility.

[wagongirl]

Oh my goodness, this is amazing!! I'm going to print this out so I can study and understand. It's important to me that I know how all of this stuff works! I so appreciate your time and effort!

[wagongirl]

I appreciate the comment about the switches below, too, but I am going to print out the wiring diagram so I can understand everything. This forum keeps attaching my reply to someone else's post LOL.

[squirrel]

Last week i visited a relative with an old house that did not have grounded wiring. I was plugged in, but the inverter would not work. I had to run the generator.

Have you unplugged from the shore power and run your generator?

I can not reach the GFI reset on my inverter. It is on the inside and my fingers are not long enough to reach around.

Good luck.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by wagongirl

Okay...I didn't flip any breakers b/c they were all in the "on" spot, so I will do that next. I'll be busy with work/family for the rest of today but can work on this again tomorrow now that I'm home.

Am I correct in thinking that if I'm plugged in, everything should just work with the house battery switch "off" or is that not right? I am re-reading the post up above that talks about dual posts, with some things being powered by 110 and others by 12V, which makes me think that the house battery switch needs to ALWAYS be on for everything to work, even when I'm plugged in. Is that correct?

You are incorrect. You need to keep the battery switch "on" while using your MH. Plus it will only charge via the inverter/charger when it's "on" This is detailed in the owners manual, pgs 6-7 and 6-8. Note that it uses the term "converter" which may be a hold-over from earlier versions, since I can't find a converter in the parts manual.

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...2/20Navion.pdf

It's not addressed in the manual, but in most cases, your solar will charge the batteries even with the switch "off" so that it will charge in storage.

[wagongirl]

Thank you SO much!! That's exactly what I needed to know...I made the mistake of not having the inverter on so my batteries did not get charged when I was plugged in. I only realized it when my fridge started beeping due to low battery and then I was wondering what the heck happened. I'm just so grateful for everyone taking the time to help me with this. I LOVE the Navion - we had a 25 ft Airstream travel trailer for 5 years and I'll take the Navion any day of the week. It's so great to just get in and drive with no hitching. And it's way more comfortable. It's important to me that I understand how everything works and not just depend on my husband to have it figured out. Thank you so much!

[BobC]

Soon, someone else will have the same problem and you'll be the first to answer.

[Morich]

Much of the confusion can be due to the way things are named!
When we had trailers and came around to wanting to charge batteries, we had converters which used AC to make DC.
Then we had folks who wanted to have a few little things like cell phone chargers or laptops that wanted to use AC so they started adding inverters to change the battery power in the trialer to what we could plug a little power supply into.

Next step was when folks "needed" to watch TV for several hours so we built bigger inverter that put out more power.
They started building inverters and putting converters in the same box and called them inverter chargers.
So now in some RV they are called inverters or inverter chargers or inverters with converters!
Kind of like the cell phones? We all might call them different things, camera, telephone or computer as we all know those parts are in the little box but most of us do call them cell phones-----I think!
But don't go far looking for the converter as it is likely hidden in the same box some call the inverter!!

What's a kid going to do when they ask for a flashlight and you hand him your phone??

[wagongirl]

Ha! Exactly. Definitely the naming of things makes it difficult, as does the fact that it's not really obvious to us newbies that you always need to have the inverter and batteries on whenever you are driving or the RV is in use. It might say it somewhere in the user guide that's hundreds of pages long, but if it did, I missed it and/or forgot. For me, I learn by doing, so making this mistake and then taking the time with you fine folks to figure it out will keep me from ever doing it the wrong way again! I was thinking I was going to need to take the RV in for service LOL....I thought, "There has to be a better way and people smarter than me probably know what the problem is." Turns out I was right!

[creativepart]

I read your Operator's Manual from the online PDF and it's just worded carelessly. They don't really differentiate between "storage" and "use" very clearly.

They do tell you to look at the Xantrex Inverter/Charger's owner's manual for more details. Over time you'll learn that, for a great many things, referring to an items specific owner's manual or better yet calling their Support lines is the best way to learn about the operation of your installed devices.

And, FYI... most of us have learned from experience that the Dealer is many times the least knowledgeable and least trustworthy place to turn for info or help. Many of us avoid the dealership for all problems we encounter.

[BobC]

You might want to go to the User CP in the toolbar and set up a signature block similar to creativepart's and mine, listing the details of your MH. That way we'll always know if you forget to mention it.

Also, if you enter a location (even if it's approximate) in your profile it will help us if our answers might be climate related.

[Pusherman]

Originally Posted by wagongirl

Hi, all....boy there sure are a lot of smart people on this forum! I've been reading through the threads to see if I can find an answer to my question, but no luck (and/or the conversations got so complicated I couldn't follow LOL).

I have a 2022 Navion. I do not have the lithium batteries. I am plugged into shorepower and noticed that my house batteries (reflected on the solar charge panel) have gone down and not up (or stayed steady) after my one-night stay in an RV park. I started at 13V and now I'm down to 11.4V. I had the coach battery ON and the inverter OFF this whole time.

I just turned the coach battery off and most of the stuff in my RV stopped working even thought I'm plugged in. What DOES work is the: microwave, TV, stove. NOTHING else is working....what the heck?? Everything went off besides those things until I turned my coach battery back on. Awesome.

Thank you to anyone who can take the time to help me. I really appreciate it!

I have now upgraded to a 2022 Navion. You must have your inverter switch 'on' to charge the house batteries when plugged into 120V. I think this will solve your problem as it is an inverter/charger. Give it a try. Learning my new coach as you are.

[NavOwner]

The round dial by the door needs to be ON to charge. You have an inverter/charger combo. Join the view/navion Facebook page.

[BobC]

Many, if not most, MH do require that the house battery bank be on in order for the house battery to charge while on shore power. Your lights, water pump, etc. all run off your house batteries so nothing will run on with the switch "off", even while on shore power.

Most solar installations will charge your house batteries with the switch off.