Battery HELP / Orange County, CA

[Jill Stevens]

All sympathy to KOliver, we are experiencing similar problems and have no electrical experience.  New to us 2001 Beaver Patriot Ticonderoga (37 feet) with Cat 3126.  Our chassis batteries keep draining.  They are sealed 12V batteries and dated a year ago.  We have a Xantrex Prosine 2.0 invertyer * Charger.  The green light in the battery compartment works, the display inside says the house batteries are charged 13.5 V and +11 amps ... but, after 4-5 days (twice now) the engine won't start and neither will the generator.  Bill got a new charger and today we charged the chassis batteries with it (took about 7 hours) to 100%.  We had opened the metal flip thing (supposed to turn off the chassis batteries if the PDI was right) for this charging.... I next used the charger as a "tester"  on the house/coach batteries and they also show 100%.  It will be interesting to see how they test in a few hours when Bill gets home, I am using a light and have the hyrdro hot on electric as I usually do during the day.
 
My call for help would be if anyone can recommend where to take the coach and have the electrical looked at and the batteries checked, we would be very grateful.  Bill checked today at a local shop that always seems to have large coaches there...but we hate to go in "cold".... THANKS!!  Anyone on the forum own this model/year?  I have other questions about switches etc.  

[Les Marzec]

Electrical problems are a pain!  I feel for you.  

Try this guy.  He is in Fountain Valley.  I have not used him, but a friend of mine, with a Beaver, had some work done, including replacing his refrigerator.  Speaks highly about Bret. When I was in Huntington Beach in December, I had a problem and called Bret. I was leaving the area,and we could not get together.  But, he helped me figure it out myself, and I was able to leave the next day.

He is mobile, so he will come to you.

South Coast RV Repair
Fountian Valley, Ca
Bret Loudenback
714-531-6600

There is a web page that I have used to find repair facilities when I travel and need help.  Like all of these sights, you have to be careful and ask a lot of questions. Pick the state that you are in, and it will show you shops that people have rated, both good and bad.

www.rvservicereviews.com

Good luck

[Gerald Farris]

Jill,
If your coach (house) batteries are at 13.5V, the Echo Charger green light is on steady, and your chassis batteries discharge, you have a bad fuse or connection in the Echo Charger output circuit or a bad Echo Charger

Check the inline glass 20A automotive fuses that are about six inches from the Echo Charger (if bad replace fuse). If they check good, check the output voltage at the Echo Charger when the green light is on (if no voltage replace Echo Charger). If the voltage is 13V or above, repair the wire between the Echo Charger and the chassis batteries.  

Gerald  

[Jill Stevens]

Thank you Gerald and Les!!  We will check the fuses first (can certainly manage that!) and call the mobile tech second.  A rally friend has used him before and spoke highly of him too!!  I will let you all know how it turns out next week.  We are off to a family wedding for the weekend tomorrow.