Low Voltage - 2021 View 24D

[sunset]

I'd like to get an answer to my question regarding low voltage problems. I have a 2021 View 24D and in response to a call to Winnebago Customer Care, I was instructed to remove a connecting wire as shown in the attachment (I could not figure out how to copy and paste an image).

My question is what is the purpose of this connection and what does it have to do with how the alternator on the View charges the house batteries?

[Morich]

Originally Posted by sunset

This seems like the appropriate thread to get an answer to my question regarding low voltage problems. I have a 2021 View 24D and in response to a call to Winnebago Customer Care, I was instructed to remove a connecting wire as shown in the attachment (I could not figure out how to copy and paste an image).

My question is what is the purpose of this connection and what does it have to do with how the alternator on the View charges the house batteries?

Have you fully tested the solution after making the change? It would seem to conflict with what the online info tells us about the LR lead!

LR is defined in the wiring ID chart here:
https://www.winnebago.com/Files/File...ical_guide.pdf

It says that lead comes from the battery mode switch (aux or boost switch?) on the dash to the mode solenoid. So if that lead is the signal to the solenoid, or in this case the solid state replacement, will the boost or charging work?

I would recommend checking before disconnecting this lead as a solution. It would be my thinking that neither the boost switch nor the charging of the coach batteries from the alternator would now work.

But that thought is based on the information posted on the Winnebago sites and if they have changed the operation or use of this wire, we've got a real problem with trusting their info?
Good time to check carefully to see if it works? I will fully agree that my thinking is wrong if they have changed the operation without telling us!!

Click the drawing to get a better view or go to the info to cross check it?

[Morich]

I'm glad to see this show up as a stand alone post as it certainly is an interesting point to me.
I've looked ath this section on older RV many times and it is a frequent question as the older style solenoid operation takes a real beating that makes the contacts burn/corrode pretty often as they do carry a pretty large current and open and close often, so that is the perfect setup for arcing. The setup has always been for the solenoid to close evry time we start the RV engine, so that over the years, there is a lot of wear on the contacts.
A new style solid state item would be a big improvement and would seem to be very logical as there are lots of forms of solid state to make current flow at different times and different ways.
I'm not saying it could not be done in some way, but what I do question is how they do it if they suggest removing one of the control wires! Solid state items are great but as far as I know they do still need some form of control to get them to react at the right times.

But if we are told to disconnect LR, why is it still there on a new design and new 2021 build of new RV as it can't very well be designed to fit the older solenoids and the solid state item does have a connection point built into it? Does seem odd to have a totally new design for the wire loom and the connection and then not use either?

Maybe somebody has more experience with the question and can shed some light??

[sunset]

Morich,
I greatly appreciate your interest in my issue. To update things, running on shore power for a day got the original batteries fully charged but I decided to go ahead and replace them with a pair of Lion Safari 1300 lithium batteries. Just as I was doing that, I got the following updated email from Winnebago:

"My apologies for the delay in getting back with you on this. The LR wire is necessary part of the Lithium option for the relay between the alternator control module and the Chargemate to allow the batteries to be charged. The LR wire is not needed for wet cell batteries. Since sending us this email, how has the system been charging the batteries? It does sound like the alternator is sending power to the batteries with the engine running. There may be an issue with the house batteries in this case and I would recommend having the batteries load tested by a NAPA dealer."

In response, I reconnected the wire and am still waiting to get the batteries fully charged.

This may or may not be relevant, but I read that Mercedes was not happy with Winnebago providing a connection between the house batteries and the chassis battery.

[Morich]

Oh Boy! Doesn't it sound thrilling to know those folks who build things are still not in full agreement?
Sounds like it is getting out of my realm when there is a new thing called alternator control module to deal with! One new black box to figure, we can look at what is going in and guess at what comes out but if you put two black boxes together and we can't open the lids, it gets really shaken to say we understand what they are doing in the box!

But then there seems to be a pretty large number of things that are still in flux when it comes to whose warranty will cover each part when it is something in the middle. I can see the coach being Winnebago and the start battery being the MB part but they need to get together and sort it out, right?

For simple thought, if we see the coach batteries kind of low like after a night of using the RV with no AC power, that would be a good time to put a meter on the coach battery and start the engine as we would hope to see an immediate jump in the coach battery voltage.
Since the idea of charging is based on it being like water and the high potential spot will always charge the lower spot, the engine has to put out higher voltage than whatever it is going to charge. The same is true of when we use a boost switch on the dah to help the start battery, only in reverse as the coach is expected to be higher than the start and the charge just runs the opposite direction!

But then, do you still have an "aux or "boost" switch on the dash?

What's the new black box doing?? HUMMM!! Don't know!

[sunset]

There is no boost switch as far as I can tell but there might be an automatic solenoid to provide aux power to the chassis battery.

The current situation is that I replaced the OEM lead acid batteries with Lion Safari UT-1300 lithium batteries. They were not charged by the dealer so I plugged into a 30 amp circuit for an overnight charge. By morning, the batteries were only at 40%. The dealer said to keep it on shore power. Not much change. Then, I drove the vehicle to a camp about 50-60 miles away. Upon arrival, the batteries were fully charged. However, although on shore power, the batteries were down 20% or so by morning. Again, with another short drive, they were fully charged.

I have a Xantrax 817-2080 inverter/charger. It shows only 1.2 amps on the charging input, which seems low. I reset the battery type to lithium ion but that did not make a difference. My question is there anything else in the charging circuit that could be limiting the amperage?

[Elkman]

Many people have over the years installed a BIM or battery isolation manager device and I bought one for lithium phosphate batteries for our 2021 Navion. I had it installed under the passenger seat.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I charged my new Lithionics batteries at the house with a portable charger and then took them to the RV and installed them (after adding a HDPE bed and foam sides and lining the battery compartment with 1/4" neoprene sheet material. I also sprayed expansive foam inside the openings for the cable runs to keep out road dirt and oils.

[sunset]

Thanks for the information. Things are looking better. I unplugged the shore power and boiled some water on the induction range to reduce the charge in the batteries. When I turned on the 30 amp breaker, the Xantrax showed 8+ amps going to the batteries, which seems a decent amount. Soon, everything was fully charged.

A potential source of trouble is that the actual Xantrax inverter/charger with all the controls is in a storage compartment under the kitchen area. Apparently, it was switched on at that location (probably when I loaded some chairs into the storage compartment) which interferes with the remote unit inside the vehicle. Now, that it is turned off, everything seems to be working better. For example, the Xantrax shows a red light indicating a low power warning for the batteries even though the batteries are fully charged and stops supplying AC power to the microwave and induction stovetop when they are not being used. I think that this saves power and only the 12 volt refrigerator is drawing power from the batteries. The solar panels seem adequate to keep the batteries charged. It helps that the days here go from 5 am to 9 pm at this time of year.

[sunset]

Xantrex continued not to charge the batteries so I drove back to the dealer in Kalispell Montana with a new inverter purchased from Amazon. Technician determined that the original unit was receiving 120 volts from Automatic transfer switch when on shore power but would not send a 12 volt charge to the batteries. Tried various settings and called Xantrex for assistance. Xantrex remained unconvinced that the unit was bad and wanted it to be repeatedly tested for another 48 hours. After trying various settings, he replaced it with the new unit and everything worked fine. Not wanting to spend more time in Montana, I packed up the old unit and returned to Seattle. Now, trying to figure out how to get some compensation for the $700+ that I spent just for the unit. Not to mention all the time, fuel and mileage for the 1,000 mile round trip, etc. Only (and I do mean only) good thing is that the new unit has a 2-year warranty and can be serviced at a their local service place without dealing with Winnebago or its dealers.

Now, I am focused on getting a new motor for the awning that doesn't work.