voltage regulator?

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

Hi,

well here is the problem...today while leveling the coach (IDS) it was almost finished and it quit operating. I took a look at the monitor panel and I noticed a red light and it showed less than 1 volt for the chassis batteries. i started to trouble shoot. i started the coach with battery boost from the house batteries and the coach started but the Xantrex showed almost 16 volts going to the batteries. Have I ruined the voltage regulator? or Have I ruined the batteries? none of the twelve volt things are working. did the Leveling system go to ground or what?

thanks
Jerry

2002 Beaver Contessa with 370 Cummins

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Jerry,
16V to the batteries during charging is not uncommon if they are deeply discharged. Use your generator or shore power rather than the engine to charge them as deeply discharged batteries will put a severe load on the alternator and can cause it to fail.
Something caused the chassis batteries to discharge. If the coach was parked, the solar panel should have kept  the house batteries charged. Keep in mind that the echo charger will charge the chassis batteries IF the house batteries are at or near full charge. They must be at 13V or more. Less than 13v and the echo charger turns off.
Steve

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

thanks Steve.

that is the problem...I cannot get anything that is 12 volt to do anything. I cannot start the generator, none of the 12 volt things are working. The CMP shows that the house batteries are 13.4 but the chassis batteries are 0.6. only when i use the battery boost switch can I start the engine. When I try to start the generator, it shuts off the engine.  Is there a fuse that I should be looking for? Like I said before. this all happened when I was leveling the coach and it stopped mid stream at leveling as if it had blown a fuse. could it be one of the main fuses above the batteries that is no allowing any 12 volt to any system? I will look around more today but not being electrically inclined, any help or suggestion is appreciated.

HELP

thanks,
Jerry

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Jerry,
Sounds like you may have 2 problems. The fact that you have no 12v in the coach and the coach batteries are at 13.4 could be due to a blown fuse. I'm pretty sure there is a large fuse (~250amp) on the output of the coach batteries, after the battery cutoff switch (if you have one). I'd check that first. Not sure of location but think it is in the battery bay.
Regarding the chassis batteries, it could be that you have a bad battery (or 2). That would explain the high charge voltage from the alternator. Can you take them out and have them checked and recharged or replaced. I wouldn't advise running the engine with the discharged chassis batteries as they are putting a severe strain on the alternator.
Not sure  what this has to do with the leveling process though.
Steve

[Gerald Farris]

Jerry,
It sounds like you have a bad battery cable or a blown fuse.

Gerald

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Jerry,
Gerald's right. Could defiantly be a cable. (I didn't think of that).
Steve

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

Well I checked the chassis batteries and they are at 12.2.......so they 7 large type fuses all look to be good. so now to search for the cable. I have checked all connections in and around battery compartment...so no I will go to chassis ground and so on and so forth.

if any more ideas...please pass on before i get someone i got to pay out here to sort it out.

thanks,
Jerry

[David T. Richelderfer]

Just a thought...  Can't the Battery Boost button be used to start both/either the generator and/or coach engine?  I am just thinking you could be starting the generator to charge the batteries instead of using the coach engine's alternator when and if you get the main problem resolved.

[Edward Buker]

There has to be a reason the chassis batteries are down given the good charge levels of the house batteries. That has to be solved first.

Later Ed

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

good morning....


took the chassis batteries out this morning and tested both and they both are showing 12.1...so the cutoff switch above the battery banks show 12.1 coming in and 1.1 going out. Next is to trace the wires and check every connection. when you are 58 years old and the body is not as limber as it once was, it is a challenge to get under the coach and start tracing things and checking every connection. as I said in a previous post, all of the big fuses look good but we will work on it more over the next couple of days. still only showing 0.3 on the CMP so there is definitely a disconnect somewhere.

jerry

[Fred Brooks]

       Jerry,

    A fast way to check the integrity of your main ground cable from the chassis batteries to ground is this: Find a ground that you know is good and connect your test light alligator clip to it. Touch the test light to the ground cable at the battery. If it lights up, the ground cable is not making a good connection to the chassis.
     Regards, Fred

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

Hi,

for those that have a problem similar to this, this is at the end of the day was the problem. it was the battery cutoff switch above the chassis batteries causing the problem. it was bad. needless to say, this switch no longer exists.

Jerry

[Fred Brooks]

       Jerry,
 
   I am not sure how you store your coach when you are not using it. If you by-pass that switch, you still have parasitic loads coming out of your house batteries. These loads such as CO and LP detectors as well as memory to the radio will deplete the house batteries over time. If you have solar panels and store it outside, that will off set the loads or leave it plugged into shore power. Happy to hear you isolated your issue.
    Regards Fred

[Jerry and Kay Hudson]

Hi,

I have bypassed that switch.
 I have a 50 x 14 cover that I store the coach under and we have 50 amp there and stay plugged in all the time when we are at home.

thanks,
Jerry