Trik-L charger problem

Catskillgal · 06-13-2020, 07:02 AM

Hi again. The hubby is still trying to improve on our 2016 Minnie View. He recently installed a trik-l charger under the passenger seat of our unit as per Grandpa Ron’s advice on You tube. Now he can’t shut down the house battery when the chassis battery is connected. What did he do wrong?
Any ideas out there.
Hope all are faring well during these hard times. I for one are really glad we own an RV right now.

Morich · 06-13-2020, 07:53 AM

Probably going to need more definite info on what "shut down" means to him and why and how he wants to do it.
For my use, I want the house battery charged and also the purpose of adding the Trik-l was to keep the chassis battery charged. To conserve on unneeded electrical use, I flip the breaker on things like microwave, tv, and all those little LED hogs that we now find on everything. But I do want to leave the breaker for the converter on as that is what feeds power to the whole remaining system for charge.
Power cord to feed converter which feeds coach battery only and then "loans" power to the start battery. I do not bother to cut off things on the chassis side like the parasitic drains from radio, ignition, etc, as that seems too much trouble for the small expense involved.

Catskillgal · 06-13-2020, 08:36 AM

Thank you Morich
His major frustration is not being able to just shut down the house battery from the charger unless he also shuts Down the chassis battery. He thinks he may have wired something wrong under the seat. The unit flashes “maintaining” when connected. He found a way to transfer the radio connection btw.
Appreciate your response.

Morich · 06-13-2020, 09:46 AM

Still not clear on what /how he wants to shut down the coach battery as most of us want it to stay charged while in storage and it does that if we leave the RV plugged in and the converter breaker still normal. In doing that and adding the Trik-l we can let that operation also "loan" a bit of power to the start battery to also keep it charged to a minimum level. But it is a one way deal and the coach battery will not pull power from the start and run it down as it only goes one way---assuming wired right.
I find the Trik-l very easy to wire as it only needs three wires. We have to find some point where we know we have start battery power, coach battery power and then some ground like the frame or most any metal on RV's. Sounds like he is going straight to a solenoid, which is what the directions suggest, but I found it worked better for me to just put mine in my battery compartment where I KNEW for sure which battery was which. Also my solenoid is under a cover where it was hard to work and reach.
The only downside to setting the gizmo near the batteries is that metall things near batteries tend to get fumes and corrode quicker. But I'm okay with a tiny amount more of things corroding like the battery cables do. Watching and keeping three more little wires clean is not much compared to what's already needed to keep the batteries in good shape.
Directions are sometimes written for the best setup but not if you have to work too hard to follow them?My setup is the Trik-l mounted next to the batteries, one yellow wire to the end of a coach battery cable to get it off the battery post itself, a blue wire to start battery cable to the right and a black wire going down to a set of ground items out of sight behind the battery. The whole space is open to the ground so I don't feel there will be much fume worry as it never bothers those big connections under the black plastic "flap" covers.

Catskillgal · 06-13-2020, 05:36 PM

Thanks again. You’ve been very helpful.

Morich · 06-13-2020, 05:47 PM

Hard times needs to bring out the best in the better of us. Hope it helps.

BobC · 06-14-2020, 05:48 AM

After reading and pondering this, the simple answer is this is normal. The Trik-L-Start connects the house and chassis batteries independent of the house battery disconnect switch. The circuitry is not going to allow the chassis battery to discharge the house battery too far.

Although it's not going to change the "maintaining" light issue, if your husband is concerned that it might be wired wrong, he should probably make sure the Trik-L-Start is hooked up in the right direction, ie. so the house battery charges the chassis battery.

jipper · 06-16-2020, 07:48 PM

There are two ways you can hook up the trik-l-start under the passenger seat on the View/Navion. If you attach the house battery wire to the right side (looking from the front of the seat) of the battery shut off solenoid, the trik-L-start will only charge with the battery shut off switch in the on position. This method works well if you do not have solar panels as the converter/charger needs the shut off switch on to charge the house batteries also.

If you attach the house battery wire to either the left side of the shut off solenoid or the right side of the battery boost switch (they are jumper-ed together) the trick-l- start will charge the chassis battery any time there is enough voltage in the house battery to indicate it is being charged. This method works well if you have solar panels, as they are also connected to the left side of the disconnect switch.

jipper
2019 Navion J