house batts wont charge

Dalef · 05-16-2020, 06:38 PM

my house batteries wont charge when rv is plugged in, any thoughts

Winterbagoal · 05-16-2020, 06:53 PM

Insufficient data to process request.....what kind of "rv" is it?
Does it have a battery enable/disable switch near the side entry door? Try enabling that.
Check the breakers and fuses in the power control center.
Just guessing.

(hint: Put your RV's year/make/model into your signature under User CP)

Morich · 05-16-2020, 07:37 PM

Trailer or motorhome? Does it have batteries?
Got to give some info to get the best return!

Dalef · 05-17-2020, 08:28 AM

thank you all for your input, 2013 sightseer 33c. battery disconnect switch is engaged, had batteries checked at local parts store, I can hook up a charger to them and they charge fine, im thinking the inverter/charger is bad, what has me so confused is that the inverter shows 14 volts when disconnected from batteries but wont charge the batteries. ive read that they can show volts but not be pushing amps causing charging failure, I hope this is the case as I just ordered one and dropped $500 bucks, any thoughts

**creativepart** · 05-17-2020, 09:08 AM

We can't tell from your post -- do you have a converter/charger or an inverter/charger. Because you shouldn't have both really unless a previous owner added the inverter/charger and left the converter/charger installed but not hooked up.

Also, your statement "I just ordered one" is inconclusive. Did you just order a new converter/charger or did you just order a new inverter or an inverter/charger????

Since we can't really tell, it's difficult to provide "any thoughts."

Dalef · 05-17-2020, 09:20 AM

inverter/ charger

**creativepart** · 05-17-2020, 09:46 AM

It sounds like it could be a bad inverter/charger... or it could be a bad battery or even a worn out battery bank.

If the battery had not had any charge applied to it from a bad inverter/charger then the batteries wouldn't be at 14v. That's a charging voltage. Not a resting battery voltage.

Tell us why you think it wasn't charging - and why you suspected the Inverter/Charger and not a bad battery? I know you said you put a charger on them and they charged fine. Can you provide a bit more detail - did you put a charger on them for days and they reached a full 12.7v after resting for an hour? Did they stay at that voltage for a fairly long time?

If you don't let a battery sit totally unused (no charge no draw) for an hour then a voltmeter will not tell you the true state of charge. Anything else and you'll only see surface charge voltage not actual state of charge voltage.

Are the batteries 7-years old like the MH? What do you have for a battery bank?

Dalef · 05-17-2020, 10:26 AM

batteries were checked by a local parts dealer as previously stated, batteries charge out at 12.6 and hold it, they are about 4yr old, inverter/charger puts out about 14 volts but doesn't charge batteries.

Morich · 05-17-2020, 12:03 PM

When the charger is saying it is putting out 14 volts, is that with a meter or some other item? Does that 14 volts show at the battery terminals? Check on the lug itself in case the battery cable is open.
If yes, check the ground is good to the batteries. Check with an ohmmeter with one lead on the frame and the other on the ground cable lug for continuity with very low resistance.

Jim_HiTek · 05-17-2020, 12:16 PM

Many of those inverter/chargers come with small CB buttons you push or circuit breakers you flip off/on when it's not charging. Make sure that the breakers on the inverter/charge box are ON before installing a new one and tossing yours.

**creativepart** · 05-17-2020, 01:43 PM

I'm kind of surprised you can get an inverter/charger replacement for $500. Most I see are twice that kind of money.

We hope you'll get back to use when you figure this out.

Dalef · 05-17-2020, 03:12 PM

xantrex 1000w inverter with 55amp charge, $500

Dalef · 05-17-2020, 03:13 PM

the circuit breaker button was checked but thank you for your input.

Dalef · 05-17-2020, 03:19 PM

Morich, if you disconnect cable from inverter and check lugs on inverter it shows 14 volts, put a load on it and it reads what battery voltage is, not sure about the other stuff you asked, over my head.

Morich · 05-17-2020, 04:55 PM

Okay, no big thing. When you disconnect from the inverter and see 14, that is okay as the output is there. when we connect it to a lower voltage, the reading is a combo of the lower voltage but the higher voltage is still coming out and given time you should see the voltage begin to climb higher. what I was getting at is to make sure the battery ground side is connected and making good contact.
Sorry about slipping into the old school teacher language! Continuity is just checking for a good path for the current. Good solid connections make for low resistance.
So I could have been better to say, make sure the ground side is good as well as the positive side where it is charging??
Not sure of how much experience you had on batteries but they can be simple but really confusing at times.
Maybe not a big problem but just expecting something different?
So how long has it been plugged in to charge as it sounds like it should be doing it. But if we connect a charger, a good quality charger will start out charging pretty high but as the battery gets closer to fully charged, the good charger has circuits that gradually back off and charge slower, so that they don't overcharge or boil the batteries dry.
Part of the confusing thing is that we get what is called a surface charge at first. The chemical reaction has to go on all through the battery but when we look at the posts on top, we don't really see that full story but just the point right where the post is.
Kind of like if we had a big barrel of water and added black paint to the water. When we stop adding paint and look through a hole where we added it, we might see really black water but give it some time and when we look that paint has faded into ALL the water and doesn't look near as black.
Same thing when we add voltage to the post and then test it with a meter, it looks really fully charged but it fades into the rest of the battery and may not really be fully charged and after a few hours we may test it and the voltage will have gone down!
So if there are things in the RV that are using the battery and we wait, we can look like we didn't do anything at all.
So make sure you are not just looking too soon and it really is not a problem but it takes several days to actually fully charge the batteries. Different types and age of batteries do it different amount of time but if batteries are way down like after storage, it can seem like it takes a really long time to get them back fully. chjarge it for an hour and look and it may say full but come back in 6 hours and it may tell you it did hardly anything.
If any of this sounds right, try giving it more time as I'm just guessing without knowing really what you have done . There could be a problem but it sounds like the charger is getting the power to the battery, so maybe not a problem?
Hate to see a guy beat it too hard just to not find anything wrong? Good luck and let us know how it works out.

Dalef · 05-17-2020, 06:36 PM

ive cut off every thing and the batteries receive no charge at all for a couple days at a time, if they are at 10volts they stay there, if I charge them up with a battery charger as long as everything is off they will stay at 12.6 until I start turning on lights, ive got a new inverter/charger on the way im going to try that, if not the fix its going to a qualified repair shop like it should have in the beginning, I don't have the knowledge, patience, or desire to repair my own stuff, I just want to go camping

Morich · 05-17-2020, 07:06 PM

Okay, know the feeling of just wanting to USE it! So not to beat a dead horse if it is to that stage-- but one more question before you go???
If the battery charge is getting to the battery at 14 more or less, they should charge. When you say you cut everything off, might check to be sure turning things off doesn't cut off the power going to the charger so that it is not charging.
Not knowing how you are turning things off, is it possible that a breaker, etc is cutting off some power that is needed to control of some sort to the charging system?
I'm also wanting to hit the road but we are in an area where the infection and eath rate are going higher each day and my wife and I are both on the really sure "hit list" if we get the virus, so trips are out for at least several months.
We love the RV but not willing to die to do it!!!
I'm thinking of building a squirrel launcher for entertainment! Maybe watch this a few times and you will feel better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIbY_IWT3fk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5-d3rZZ-_M

NeilV · 05-24-2020, 09:21 PM

If the charger is putting out 14 volts and 14 volts is making it to the batteries then they should be charging. If 14 volts is present at the charger but is not making it to the batteries you might want to double check the wiring between the charger section and the batteries before purchasing and installing a new inverter/charger.

When you disconnect the house batteries does the converter run the 12 volt items in the coach when plugged into shore power? Do the house batteries charge when you run the engine? In with the relays there should be a 50 amp breaker which traditionally was behind a false panel on the riser above the top step however if that is tripped your house batteries would not be getting drained by the lights, etc in the coach.

Have you gone through the trouble shooting section of your Xantrex Freedom HF 1055 owners manual and if there are any error codes displayed on the unit what did the manual say they indicated? Did you try resetting the unit back to the factory defaults as outlined in the owners manual? What did customer support at Xantrex or Winnebago tell you when you contacted them?

If you do not have the owners manual you can view it at this link: http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Inv...wnersGuide.pdf

That unit appears to be a pretty advanced unit that indicates via its control panel what charge levels its providing and has a number of switches and settings that if they get incorrectly reconfigured can cause problems with charging.

Dalef · 05-25-2020, 08:11 AM

Inverter/charger fixed the problem, thanks everyone for your input

Chuckmor · 05-25-2020, 08:13 AM

Our batteries weren't charging when on shore power or generator, the CONVERTER/charger was suspect. After much head-scratching, I found the output wires were loose or even not making contact, so output was not getting to the batteries. Saved the purchase of a new unit.