On the road - 2022 Travato 59K battery not charging

[ajikacey]

On a road trip with my 2022 59K and my house battery stopped charging. It doesn't charge from the alternator or shore power -- I haven't fully tested solar or generator charging.

The battery boost switch does increase the voltage read on the battery status panel so I think that means the solenoid is okay.

What should I check next?

 

[Morich]

Some more details may help?
Do you mean the coach battery has stopped charging while driving or do you mean the chassis/start battery?
Do you have a way to test voltage at various points, other than the monitor?
The problem with the monitor reading is that it may not actually be at the battery itself but along the wiring that "should" connect to the battery!
We would like to know that was true and the same but it is not always reliable, so I prefer looking directly at different points to make sure connections are good.

But to get you going, perhaps the monitor can help?
When you start the RV engine and rev the motor, both the chassis and coach battery voltages should follow the engine speed(RPM) . Higher as the motor speeds up!
If the voltage at the monitor goes higher as the engine speed goes up, the charge should be getting to the coach and chassis batteries through the solenoid.

The problem may be as simple as a corroded/dirty connection that is letting the charge show at the place where the monitor connects but not actually reach the post on the battery.
OR it might be that the batteries are no longer good enough to take and hold that charge?
The value of having a meter is that we can test the clamp or wiring and then move to the actual post on the battery and test there to prove out that the connection is good!
Sometimes the clamp can look good and clean but we can't see the space that may be corroded between the clamp and post!
Are you aware of the location of the solenoid near the batteries?
Click to get better view!


The question is if the voltage for coach charge is getting to the solenoid, is it then getting from that point to the actual connection at the coach battery posts?
I marked up some things on the solenoid if you get to that point. Red for chassis, yellow for the coach as those cables should have tape markers of those colors for ID them. Blue LR and FM are the battery and ground from the dash switch or when the engine runs to make the contacts in the solenoid close.
Basic idea is power from engine alternator comes off starter connection to solenoid, if solenoid closes, that power is connected to coach through cables to batteries. If alternator is working to charge chassis batteries, but not charging coach, where is the break?

 

[ajikacey]

The one place system shows low (<11 volts) power on generator and engine. It's only showing high (>12 volts) on shore power.

 

[ajikacey]

This is house battery, apologies for not originally specifying.

 

[ajikacey]

Thank you for the detailed response! Yes I'm going to pick up a meter at an auto parts store. But I'm pretty sure the problem is real because the fridge was warm when I arrived at this location after driving 10 hours, so it wasn't getting power I think. Everything seemed to be working fine the day before, I even took a shower etc and food remained cool the night before.

 

[Morich]

Okay, more info gives better ideas!
What you describe is also most certain to be bad cable connections as there are two different ways to charge3 and both are not getting it done.
When the engine is running, the charge comes from the engine alternator and that "could have been a bad alternator, etc. Can we assume the chassis/start battery for the RV shows no sign of being weak? The engine starts, lights and horn work okay?
But when the shore power is connected, the charge should come from the RV converter changing the AC cord power to DC to charge the batteries and use for lights, etc.
If we assume both charge sources did not fail at the same time, the more likely thing is some of the cables are not making good contact!

If not used to dealing with a meter and looking at battery voltage, there are a few hints to avoid some confusion.
One is that you really don't need to worry too much about which meter probe go on ground and which for the battery post. From a techie view, having them the correct way is good but from just working on cars, RV, etc. I never worry which probe goes where!
Get the two probes reversed on where they are connected and it will show you have negative 12 volts instead of positive 12 volts but we know that is not true because most of the time we only have positive on auto work! In most cases, all we want is the number and if it tells us the wrong answer, we can assume we got the probes wrong but not care as long as you have the two probes in the right holes on the meter to test voltage or resistance!
Always test with one probe on some metal of the RV, like the metal of the battery shelf but scrape it around to get through any paint, rust, etc to good clean metal. Most of the metal is ground, except something like a screw someplace in wood.
Then for the other probe, it is good to be careful that we test with the probe on the battery post and also on the metal of the battery cable clamp. If those two are not very near the same, the connection must be corroded or dirty, etc. Don't walk past the real problem while you are there testing!
Never forget to test the negative/ground cable is clean and connected well ! It often meets the frame ground down and behind the batteries where it is hidden and we can forget it has to be good, too!

When new to testing batteries, it is easy to forget they are slow chemical processes and need time for those chemical changes to happen before we can trust the voltage reading.
If we run some kind of charge, we see a high reading while it is charging and for several hours after we stop charging. Lead/ acid normal batteries will only hold 12.8 or so. If you see 13 volts, that means the battery has not had time to settle! It's NOT an extra good battery, just testing too soon!!
If electrons were thought of like thick paint poured into a hole, you may just be seeing a pile of paint that soon spreads out and the barrel may not be full at all!
If you drive the RV to get a meter and come back, turn it off and test the two batteries, you may see both chassis and coach above 12. 8, maybe 13, but they are not settled, so don't trust that answer right away!

Batteries are so simple, they can get terribly confusing! I'm guessing there are bad connections.
Best of luck and keep in mind it's one of the bigger, most common things on Rv. We let them set and build up corrosion and then we go out and find they stopped working!
Maybe we should use them more often to keep the dirt knocked off?

 

[ajikacey]

Thanks! More new information: the voltage at both batteries read 13.7V, my interpretation is that means charge is getting to them but not downstream from them.

 

[ajikacey]

Hmmm, strikes me I'm also getting a lot of direct sun now -- was overcast earlier -- so this could just be solar charging?

 

[Morich]

Yes, If you are getting a reading of 13+, it is NOT the battery voltage but what is CURRENTLY pouring in from some charge source!
In the idea of syrup and looking in a hole in a barrel? With your meter or monitor, you are looking at or near the hole in the barrel and seeing lots of charge going in! But how much is already in the barrel (or actual power in the battery) is not what you can see.
If it were a bucket you were filling with a hose, you are looking right at the end of the hose sticking in the bucket but not at how high the water in the bucket! There may be a big hole in the bucket but you can't tell that because all you see is a bunch of water going in!
We talk about it being something thicker and slower moving as the chemicals move much slower than water levels out. As long as some item like solar, the engine alternator or the converter when cord is plugged in are still trying to charge the batteries, you will see higher than what is actually IN the battery.
We can connect even the worst battery to a charge and may see 13+ volts at the post. But if that battery is so worn out/ruined that it doesn't hold a charge, that voltage we see will go away when we stop the charging!
We may see what looks like a charge going in but does it stay there?
One of the things an auto parts shop can do is put a load on a battery we think we have fully charged. For a load test, we put a charge in and then they put an artificial load on and see if the battery can actually handle that load! They have a meter on the tester to tell them how much they are able to take out and if it goes flat too quickly, they tell us the battery is bad!
But if they tried to do that while they were still connected to a charger, they would not get a good idea of the battery because there would always seem to be power there!