Forum Discussion

SC_Outdoors's avatar
SC_Outdoors
Explorer
Sep 01, 2016

Battery/Inverter Fault Issue

Hi, I have a 2010 Fleetwood Discovery 40g on a Freightliner Chassie. Last used the coach on July 31st. No issues everything worked fine. After a month in storage I went to check on it and the batteries were dead and the Red Fault Light on the Magnum MS inverter was on. The coach was plugged into a 50 amp.

The 6v batteries are 3+ years old with some corrosion on the terminals. I removed the batteries, replaced with 4 new ones, cleaned all terminals & jumpers. As soon as I connected all batteries power was restored and everything was working fine, so l plugged in the 50 amp and pushed the shore button on the Magnum display. All green lights. After roughly 2 hours, the RED Fault Light on the Magnum Display came back on. The display message said Dead Batt, Then Batt Temp. I went to the battery compartment, checked all connections. When checking, I noticed that one battery was hot, while the other 3 were all at normal temp? Read through the Fleetwood & Magmum Manuels trying to trouble shoot. Not much information in either manual.

I am thinking that one of the new batteries (the Hot one) may be bad, or I connected something incorrectly. (Should of taken a pic before disconnecting) if anyone can send or post a pic of a 2010 Discovery battery compartment showing the connections it would be helpful.

Open to any ideas or help.

Turned everything off, unplugged and turned of the inverter switch until I can figure out what is going on.

Thanks,

SCOD

10 Replies

  • SCVJeff wrote:
    It's normal for batteries to ship low on water, usually only enuf to cover the plates. So back to the original question: did you look at the other batteries? It might be a shorted cell, but at the same time the Magnum may also be in trouble.


    read OP last post he solved the problem. battery hooked up wrong like some of us suggested
  • It's normal for batteries to ship low on water, usually only enuf to cover the plates. So back to the original question: did you look at the other batteries? It might be a shorted cell, but at the same time the Magnum may also be in trouble.
  • SC Outdoors wrote:
    Thanks Everyone,

    Roy's post helped me track down the problem

    One of the Jumpers was connected incorrectly & was grounding. The brand new batteries purchase yesterday were also low on water. Believe it or not, I put almost a gallon in the 4 new batteries.

    Everything is working correctly. Have both A/C units running, so the system is under load. No issues for now. Inverter reading Absorb Charging DC 14.2V 45A

    Should shore power button be used when storing the coach? I have always just plugged it in & walked away. The only thing that I leave running is the Fridge.

    Thanks for the help!

    good to hear its what we suggested.by the way its your converter reading 14.2 V at 45A not inverter and running both AC units really has very little bearing on this system the only extremely small amp draw on the 12v side of things is the thermostat
  • Thanks Everyone,

    Roy's post helped me track down the problem

    One of the Jumpers was connected incorrectly & was grounding. The brand new batteries purchase yesterday were also low on water. Believe it or not, I put almost a gallon in the 4 new batteries.

    Everything is working correctly. Have both A/C units running, so the system is under load. No issues for now. Inverter reading Absorb Charging DC 14.2V 45A

    Should shore power button be used when storing the coach? I have always just plugged it in & walked away. The only thing that I leave running is the Fridge.

    Thanks for the help!
  • SCVJeff wrote:
    Well, assuming the first set was in correctly...
    Did you look at these batteries with a voltmeter before wholesale swapping them?
    call Magnum and see what they say, they're a great group of folks


    one would have to assume they were installed correctly
    OP said quote: Last used the coach on July 31st. No issues everything worked fine
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    About the only thing that would result in any of my batteries getting hot like that in a short amount of time would be a shorted internal cell in the battery that is hot to touch..

    If I pulled it from the loop then in my case of all parallel connections for 12VDC batteries I would find that one battery would not charge above 12.2-4VDC. After demanding many AMPS of DC Current trying to overcome this situation the battery would start getting hotter and hotter... It would also be the one that is showing fluids being boiled out of it.

    Haven't played with any dual 6VDC batteries yet but I imagine the same thing will apply...

    In my case again if I have one of my 12VDC batteries REVERSED CONNECTED it would immediately blow some fuses which you have not reported.

    Here again I have not played with two 6VDC batteries in series yet producing a 12VDC source. I guess if you had one of those 6VDC batteries reversed connected then you probably only see 6VDC coming from the dual 6VDC connection. It may even be you see only ZERO VDC coming from the dual 6VDC connection.

    Will be interesting what you find out with your dual 6VDC connections...

    Roy Ken
  • Well, assuming the first set was in correctly...
    Did you look at these batteries with a voltmeter before wholesale swapping them?
    call Magnum and see what they say, they're a great group of folks
  • Since it worked good for couple of hours, you might just have a bad battery. Good to check for hook up errors as well.
  • SC Outdoors wrote:
    Hi, I have a 2010 Fleetwood Discovery 40g on a Freightliner Chassie. Last used the coach on July 31st. No issues everything worked fine. After a month in storage I went to check on it and the batteries were dead and the Red Fault Light on the Magnum MS inverter was on. The coach was plugged into a 50 amp.

    The 6v batteries are 3+ years old with some corrosion on the terminals. I removed the batteries, replaced with 4 new ones, cleaned all terminals & jumpers. As soon as I connected all batteries power was restored and everything was working fine, so l plugged in the 50 amp and pushed the shore button on the Magnum display. All green lights. After roughly 2 hours, the RED Fault Light on the Magnum Display came back on. The display message said Dead Batt, Then Batt Temp. I went to the battery compartment, checked all connections. When checking, I noticed that one battery was hot, while the other 3 were all at normal temp? Read through the Fleetwood & Magmum Manuels trying to trouble shoot. Not much information in either manual.

    I am thinking that one of the new batteries (the Hot one) may be bad, or I connected something incorrectly. (Should of taken a pic before disconnecting) if anyone can send or post a pic of a 2010 Discovery battery compartment showing the connections it would be helpful.

    Open to any ideas or help.

    Turned everything off, unplugged and turned of the inverter switch until I can figure out what is going on.

    Thanks,

    SCOD

    Copy and paste this link. its exactly how your (4) 6 volts are wired(should be) http://familymotorsports.com/selfhelp/batterywiringdiagram/batterywiringdiagram.htm
  • Very carefully recheck your battery connections as it sounds like the hot one is connected reverse polarity. Google " the 12 volt side of life" for a good description and diagrams. If you don't find anything wrong call Magnum and talk to them for further trouble shooting. In the mean time turn off the battery disconnect and remove the negative battery cables. Blessings;kdk