BAC Forum

General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Paul Bowers on August 24, 2013, 11:05:20 PM

Title: Battery Wires - 2002 Monterey - 3126B
Post by: Paul Bowers on August 24, 2013, 11:05:20 PM

Still having a problem with my chassis batteries maintaining a charge.  Inverter appears to be working.  I have taken the batteries out of the coach and charging them at home, then taking them to be checked for a defect.

I have checked and rechecked my battery connections, but am puzzled about two white wires that are attached to the "Neg" terminal. They come in from the engine compartment and I have not traced them back yet, but can't understand why they are connected to the "Neg" side.  Is there a chance I made a mistake when cleaning the connections and they should be connected the the "Pos" side instead?  Most accessories connect to the positive.  Could this be from my inverter thus causing my problem?

I have checked my manuals and what schematics I have on hand and can't figure the wires out.  I bought the coach used and the previous owner was a "tinkerer" and I have cleaned up several issues since I bought it.

Can any of you Monterey owners confirm that you have these two wires hooked to your battery and to which terminal are they connected?

Thanks in advance...

Title: Re: Battery Wires - 2002 Monterey - 3126B
Post by: Stan Simpson on August 24, 2013, 11:11:09 PM

Paul,

Others with more expertise than me will likely chime in here, but you say "inverter appears to be working". I'm not an expert, but the inverter doesn't charge your batteries, the charger does. Its likely you have an inverter/charger combination, but I would make sure the charger is on, not just the inverter.

Stan

Title: Re: Battery Wires - 2002 Monterey - 3126B
Post by: Paul Bowers on August 24, 2013, 11:13:50 PM

Sorry, an misprint on my part...was reading a post about inverters and typed wrong item... I have an echo charger system.

Thanks for catching my error.

pb

Title: Re: Battery Wires - 2002 Monterey - 3126B
Post by: LarryNCarolynShirk on August 25, 2013, 12:52:06 AM

Paul,

Stan was suggesting you be sure the charger section of your invereter is turned on, on your panel inside the coach.  The echo charger is not a battery charger.  It only allows the battery charger in your inverter, to charge the chassis batteries, after the coach batteries are charged.

Larry

Title: Re: Battery Wires - 2002 Monterey - 3126B
Post by: Steve Huber on August 25, 2013, 01:10:40 AM

Paul,
When plugged in to shore power or with the generator running, you should see 13.5+ v on the house batteries and slightly less 13-13.5v on the chassis batteries. If the echo charger is malfunctioning you will probably still see the 13.5+ on the house units but 12v or so on the chassis batteries.
Steve

Title: Re: Battery Wires - 2002 Monterey - 3126B
Post by: Paul Bowers on August 25, 2013, 05:11:04 AM

Larry, thanks for the clarification. Yes, the charger section of the inverter was turned on inside the coach...proper indications with the lights outside, all switches on and breaker reset.

Steve, that is the situation...removed the batteries from the coach brought them home to put on a commercial charger I have in the garage.  One of the batteries is not taking a proper charge.  Even though the batteries are less than a year old, I believe one is bad and bringing the other down with it.  

Thanks everyone for your replies...

Title: Re: Battery Wires - 2002 Monterey - 3126B
Post by: Paul Bowers on September 04, 2013, 04:15:28 AM

As an update, I removed the chassis batteries from the coach and had them tested.  As I expected, one of the batteries was defective.  Battery replaced and all appears to be normal...

Thanks everyone for your replies.