2006 Coachmen house batteries

Were the lights inside bright?? Inverter/converter breaker might be tripped on the inverter unit.

I was in a similar situation last week and learned the difference between coach & chassis batteries, as configured on my coach. Basically, plugging in to shore power charges the coach batteries but not the chassis batteries. Because my chassis batteries were about five years old, ended up doing a full replacement. This after a bunch of troubleshooting, cleaning, servicing & ineffective charging.

I have a conditioner charger on the chassis batteries right now and ordered the famous Trik-L-Charge solution this morning

This does not directly answer your question, but gives you some issues to consider.

Cheers, Good Luck & Enjoy The Ride.

PS - start a maintenance log now to start documenting what went wrong and how it was resolved.

With it plugged in you do not need the inverter so I would turn it off. Checking the breakers on the inverter converter is a good idea because it sounds like it is not charging your batteries. Until you have over 13 votes on the house batteries they are not being charged.

I'll check the volts today and look for the breaker.

Thanks

Rico

Haven't check the volts yet but I did notice that the two house batteries are connected from positive to the negative on one battery and that goes to the positive on the other battery. The ground is only on the negative side of the one battery.
Does that seem like its correct. would have thought that the positives could piggyback but not with the negative in the middle.

It's kind of like this RV+ cable to + on battery #1. Jumper from battery #1 + to - on battery #1. Jumper from Battery #1 - to + on battery #2. Then battery #2 neg is grounded.

Thanks
Rico

Probable a good starting point is at 12 Volt Side Of Life which should answer you questions and those you haven't thought of yet.

If the two house batteries are 6V batteries (typically golf cart batteries), they should be connected in series, the positive of one to the negative of the other, and the remaining terminals to the RV (- to ground, + to the positive system). If two twelve volt batteries, they should be in parallel—the two positives together (to the + system of the motorhome), and the two negatives together (to ground). In neither case should a battery have its positive terminal shorted directly to its negative terminal.

I think your chassis battery was dead or nearly so. On my '98 Coachmen class C motorhome, the generator starter is powered from the chassis battery, not the house battery, which was not what I expected initially. I don't have any slides, but they might also reasonably be connected to it. The chassis battery is often not charged by the converter.

If it was dead or discharged, it could be because of age (if it wasn't replaced with the house batteries) or because something was left on that should not have been—maybe mirror heaters or a cab area dome light, for instance.

If the chassis batteries are almost dead then wouldn't the RV not start? The RV cranked right up.
Does anyone know if the house batteries power the slides or the chassis batteries?

I have been working but will have time tomorrow for further investigation.

Thanks for the assistance so far.

Rico

Volts on house batteries at 6.7 I took them out and will be taking them to NAPA to have them tested.
It seems that the slide and generator works off the house batteries.
I will update the battery condition later.

Thanks
Rico

Getting closer.

Keep the INVERTER "off". No need for it unless you make coffee when not hooked up to shore power. Drains the batteries real fast. Keep it off. You might also check your CON-verter. My coach, two different units. Recently, found my CON-verter (13 years old) was putting out 12.4 amps.
Usable, but wearing out. (13 years old) bought a new one (Parallax 55 amp) for $209 on-line. 2 wires (+ and -) plus a copper chassis ground. Heck...even I could do that....
My generator starts with the 2 6V coach batteries. Shore power charges the coach batteries but not the 12V starter battery. The starter battery gets charged by the engine alternator...and when running, the engine alternator ALSO charges the 2 -V coach/house batteries. Go figure.
My slide-out (Powergear) works off the 2 - 6V house batteries. No matter what brand batteries I use, I seem to always need to change them around the 3 year mark. Right now, I'm using DEKA for all 3. 2nd year. So, for me, with batteries, I go for the buck when buying them...seeing any brand I buy simply lasts the same amount of time.

FWIW, my Powergear hydraulic jacks, the control panel works off the 2 - 6V batteries but the pump/motor works off the 12V battery.