Question on battery temp warning

[sunset4k]

If any Journey owners could help with this is I would appreciate it. Returned home from 8 hours on the road. Ran the generator the last three hours to keep living area cool. We have a 2005 Journey. We pulled up, turned the generator off, and then the engine when it cooled a bit. I screwed up and did not turn off the AC before shutting off the engine. DW plugged us up to shore power and the AC came back on. But on the One Place panel, a "check panel" warning light came on and the panel read "high battery temp". Can't find anything on this in the Journey manual. Any ideas as to what I did to cause this??

Thanks
Jerry

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by sunset4k

If any Journey owners could help with this is I would appreciate it. Returned home from 8 hours on the road. Ran the generator the last three hours to keep living area cool. We have a 2005 Journey. We pulled up, turned the generator off, and then the engine when it cooled a bit. I screwed up and did not turn off the AC before shutting off the engine. DW plugged us up to shore power and the AC came back on. But on the One Place panel, a "check panel" warning light came on and the panel read "high battery temp". Can't find anything on this in the Journey manual. Any ideas as to what I did to cause this??

Thanks
Jerry

If you have an inverter in that rig and it is wired to the main panel and if it tried to run the AC then the batteries would have seen a huge load and that could be it, or something else.

As a precaution I would take a look at the battery wiring to see if anything looks overheated. Check the current battery voltage, and if it is okay then just let it go.

It is also possible that the converter has malfunctioned and overcharged the batteries while the genny was running, you can pop the generator on again for awhile and check your pattery voltage and if it is over 14.2 ish for very long then that may be it also.

That's all I can think of, but I don't have a Winnie, so others may have the real answer

[grtharris]

sunset4k, Your inverter is not wired to the main panel, it is connected to a sub panel. More than likely the batteries just got warm from the engine heat after you stopped and shut the engine down. Check the coach battery voltage when connected to shore power and then check it when you are going down the road. Should not be much over 13.8 VDC. When was the last time you check the water level in the batteries?

[sunset4k]

Originally Posted by grtharris

sunset4k, Your inverter is not wired to the main panel, it is connected to a sub panel. More than likely the batteries just got warm from the engine heat after you stopped and shut the engine down. Check the coach battery voltage when connected to shore power and then check it when you are going down the road. Should not be much over 13.8 VDC. When was the last time you check the water level in the batteries?

I checked the voltage today and both house and coach are in the normal range, 12.8 and 13.1. Water levels are fine. I'm guessing the batteries just got warm. We were in rush hour traffic for over an hour and the temp was 99. Engine and oil temp were well within normal. Since this was our very first trip, with our first DP, I just didn't want to do something stupid.... Still learning!!!

[tomsm]

Jerry - I don't think you caused it. The explanation is in the Dimensions inverter manual. Basically, there is a temp sensor connected to the most inboard battery. If it indicates too hot the inverter/charger just stops charging it and gives you that message. It could just be engine heat.

Unfortunately, my experience was that it indicated one of the batteries was failing and would not charge. After getting that message a few times, I ended buying a new set of batteries and the message never came back. I also had never seen the message before and I've owning the coach for 11 years.

[tomsm]

oops - you gave an update while I was posting... Hopefully, you're correct and it'll be a one time thing...

[garbonz]

Originally Posted by tomsm

oops - you gave an update while I was posting... Hopefully, you're correct and it'll be a one time thing...

AND "the rest of the story" is:

We were in rush hour traffic for over an hour and the temp was 99.

AND the temp sensor is really a great feature as it won't allow the batteries to be charged when hot and tapers the charging voltage and/or current as the batteries warm up. I am guessing all is GOOD.

[sunset4k]

Originally Posted by garbonz

AND "the rest of the story" is:

We were in rush hour traffic for over an hour and the temp was 99.

AND the temp sensor is really a great feature as it won't allow the batteries to be charged when hot and tapers the charging voltage and/or current as the batteries warm up. I am guessing all is GOOD.

Yep so far all is good!! I certainly appreciate everyone's input. it's nice to be able to get great advice from experienced owners!!!