Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 06-15-2020, 09:41 AM   #1
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 72
2020 View J electric problem

On Saturday I was on generator power with the roof a/c running. My wife turned on the microwave and everything bogged down and the a/c quit. I shut off the micro and a/c for a minute and then turned the a/c back on and everything seemed fine. Left the rig for the night with just the fridge running and everything seemed fine, inverter was turned off. Put her back in storage and plugged her in under a roof. All other times the Zamp solar charger would go dark because being under a roof, but this time it stayed on, dimmer, but still on. This morning the Zamp was still on showing 12.8 volts while the inverter panel showed 13.5. I unplugged and drove for 20 minutes and both the Zamp and the inverter showed 13.0 amps. I have never seen my batteries (lithos) that low. It is back under roof and the Zamp is still on. Any ideas?
Dmarcian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2020, 07:25 PM   #2
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 259
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmarcian View Post
On Saturday I was on generator power with the roof a/c running. My wife turned on the microwave and everything bogged down and the a/c quit. I shut off the micro and a/c for a minute and then turned the a/c back on and everything seemed fine. Left the rig for the night with just the fridge running and everything seemed fine, inverter was turned off. Put her back in storage and plugged her in under a roof. All other times the Zamp solar charger would go dark because being under a roof, but this time it stayed on, dimmer, but still on. This morning the Zamp was still on showing 12.8 volts while the inverter panel showed 13.5. I unplugged and drove for 20 minutes and both the Zamp and the inverter showed 13.0 amps. I have never seen my batteries (lithos) that low. It is back under roof and the Zamp is still on. Any ideas?
What were the circumstances on you running the generator? Was the coach sitting for a while? The 3200 watt onan should easily run the AC and the Microwave. I'm sure you would know if other heavy power items were plugged in. Were you using the induction range by chance? If not, and if your lithium batteries were really low (part 2 of your question), the charger is capable of sending 80 amps to your batteries. So if you had AC and your charger running at 80 amps, the microwave would cause the surge.

You mentioned you keep your coach plugged in, if so your batteries should have been about 13.4 volts. The zamp controller can stay on if you have slight light breeding through from your cover.
crah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2020, 07:37 PM   #3
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 72
That is why I as surprised - the batteries were fully charged and I was able to run the a/c and microwave together in my older Navion. No light comes through the roof at all. I have some more investigating to do but I smell a problem brewing. My batteries did seem to be fully charged later in the day today after plugging in again. But the voltage can drop significantly when unplugging for a short time. We are traveling across country for three weeks soon and battery problems would be a nightmare.
Dmarcian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2020, 08:10 PM   #4
Winnebago Master
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Pflugerville/Austin, Tx
Posts: 7,371
Batteries are one of those things which seem very simple and we often look at voltage as a measure of the charge but that is where things begin to get messy as it can fool us.
Different battery types react differently but I assume you have lead-acid type batteries and that is one which may require some different thinking to understand the voltage idea.
One of the first shocks can be that a voltage reading can be totally misleading due to what is called "surface charge".
Just because we have had a battery on charge and it reads a good voltage soon after we disconnect the charger, it doesn't necessarily mean the whole battery is charged, but can mean that only the first cell has a good charge and after a few hours, that charge moves over and spreads out into the other cells and we may find we are reading a low voltage again! It can actually take a long time like a full day to fully recharge a battery and we really should not rely too much on voltage as a way to find the state of charge. We really should let a battery set a few hours and become stable before we look at voltage.
So charging for a few hours to get a good reading which goes down a few hours later is not unusual but it takes a bit to get used to that idea and it is often confusing.
Specific gravity readings on all the cells in the battery is a better way to test but it is messy and not done by many of us.
Perhaps do some reading on surface charge on batteries to get more info? Perhaps no mechanical or electrical problems but just needing a different look at what the voltage is telling you?
__________________
Richard
Why no RV year, make and floorplan on MY signature as we suggest for others?
I currently DO NOT have one!
Morich is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2020, 08:16 PM   #5
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: May 2020
Posts: 72
You might be right. I have some strengths but electrical issues is not one of them. When I want to recharge my house batteries (lithiums) quickly should I run the motor or the generator?
Dmarcian is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-15-2020, 10:13 PM   #6
Winnie-Wise
 
Join Date: Dec 2019
Posts: 259
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dmarcian View Post
You might be right. I have some strengths but electrical issues is not one of them. When I want to recharge my house batteries (lithiums) quickly should I run the motor or the generator?
Run your gen for that. Your inverter/charger combo can put in 80 amps to those lithium batteries. Your 2020 view has Lithionics lithium iron phosphate batteries. It already has a BMS (fancy battery monitor) that you can view through your phone via bluetooth. It will tell you the exact charge status instead of the dummy gauges on your remote inverter monitor or solar charge controller. Down load the lithionics app to your phone. PM me if you need help on this.

My hunch is that your batteries were not charged on shore power (need to get to the bottom of that). The great thing about your particular lithionics brand battery is that you can't run them down to the point of damage. It has a built in self protection in the BMS.
crah is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2020, 07:10 PM   #7
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 59
Blog Entries: 1
batteries

I have found running the engine charges my batteries faster than the generator. Twenty minutes of idling charges better than 45 minutes of generator. Also a lot quieter.
plrude is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 09-02-2020, 06:53 PM   #8
Winnebago Owner
 
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 71
Doesn't the zamp panel show the output from the solar panels and the inverter panel shows the battery charge? I'm not sure you had an issue. You can also check the other OnePlace display that shows the tank levels and battery levels as a second check (press the battery level button). It should show the chassis battery charge and and the coach battery charge and should confirm that your coach batteries were at 13.5 volts (or whatever they are currently at).

I think I'm correct with this. My zamp display shows different output depending on shade/sun/evening/noon....based on the panel output. I usually have it displaying amps though......
__________________
Dave-Oh
2020 View 24D
2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
Dave-Oh is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
2020 Winnebago View-Lichtsinn RV crah Winnebago Class C Motorhomes 54 02-24-2020 03:59 PM
2020 view solar question Smbuddy46 Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 7 01-20-2020 03:54 AM
2020 Winn View 24D Bobbettyl Winnebago General Discussions 1 09-17-2019 07:43 AM
Is the 2020 view built on the latest version of the MB chassis? pequeajim Winnebago Class C Motorhomes 11 08-30-2019 08:25 AM
2020 Winnebago View 24D Bobbettyl Winnebago Class C Motorhomes 1 08-08-2019 08:55 AM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Winnebago Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:14 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.