Does Chassis batteries charge when plugged in

John & Angela wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

The Trik-L-Start will work. The tech does not understand you are not attempting to "boost" the chassis battery with the Trik-L-Start.

Some RV's do have the ability to charge the chassis batteries while plugged in.

Totally agree with the above. The tech may have thought you were attempting to charge the batteries when in fact all you are trying to do is maintain an existing charge. The trikl start among others is a very good solution for your situation.

Although some coaches have systems that charge the chassis batteries after the coach batteries are charged I don't believe yours is one of them. There is a forum member named Bounder Lew who has a lot of knowledge on the bounder line that may be able to give a better answer.

I do beleive the OP question has already been thourghly answered in previous posts.Surely any tech worth his salt would have quized him as to what he needed the battery minder system for?

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

The Trik-L-Start will work. The tech does not understand you are not attempting to "boost" the chassis battery with the Trik-L-Start.

Some RV's do have the ability to charge the chassis batteries while plugged in.

Totally agree with the above. The tech may have thought you were attempting to charge the batteries when in fact all you are trying to do is maintain an existing charge. The trikl start among others is a very good solution for your situation.

Although some coaches have systems that charge the chassis batteries after the coach batteries are charged I don't believe yours is one of them. There is a forum member named Bounder Lew who has a lot of knowledge on the bounder line that may be able to give a better answer.

Simply put, all Fleetwood Class-A Coaches have had the capability, via the BCC, to charge both the CHASSIS and HOUSE batteries from shore power for nearly 20 years..

You may have a problem with the solenoid and/or BIRD circuitry that is supposed to perform this function. IF your house batteries, also do NOT charge from the engine alternator or IF the aux start function does not work, you have a bad solenoid. There are other techniques to determine a failing BIRD.

If you know what a BCC is, and if you know where to find it in your coach, you can easily find and fix your problem.

BTW - since your coach is a diesel, the subject solenoid is external to the BCC and located in a bay very near the batteries.

You can always just use a jumper cable between the larger terminals of the solenoid to get charging until you get the solenoid replaced.

I'll PM you with a link to all the trouble shooting procedures and diagrams you need to fix your problem.

Inverter/Chargers are NOT designed or connected to charge the chassis battery. CORRECTLY installed Inverter/Chargers are wired directly to the COACH batteries. That said, some OEM's and you can also install additional smart equipment to charge the chassis. Some use a relay called a BIRD (Bi directional), some like Tiffin and a few others use a trickle charger(maintainer) like for stored Motorcycles/boats/ classic cars, that are wired direct to the chassis battery wiring and charge anytime the unit has 120 power to the RV. NOT ALL motorhomes have this capability, it depends on the year and what the OEM or previous owner installed. Doug

Had a similar problem. When the rig was new, all I had to do was plug in to electricity and the chassis battery would be charged. But after a number of years, all I ever had was a dead or dying battery. Techs kept telling me that I was wrong, and that charging the chassis battery was never a function of my inverter. Finally, I gave up arguing and attached a Trik-L-Start. I no longer have a problem. The chassis battery is always fully charged and ready to go.

dog house Jim wrote:
I offered the tech the Trik-L-Start, which was suggested here on the earlier post and he laughed when he saw its size and the gauge of wires to attach. Then said I don't need it. I'm confused as to what to do.

Maybe the tech is part of the problem? :W

Not knowing if yours is supposed to get charged in the first place let us assume you do not have the system set up for charging. The Trik-l-Start is an excellent device to keep the batteries from running down due to things like engine computers, clocks on radios, automatic steps, propane detectors etc. The Trik-L-Start is now standard equipment on many rv's so to say it is useless is just not the case. I installed one on my last rv and it worked perfectly. It only hands off 5-10 amps so is not designed to be a fast charge system. Look it up and find out for yourself.

Now let us assume you do have the system that will charge both banks. In that case with shoreline connected just measure the voltage on each bank of batteries. If they are the same the system is working. If not you need to do some simple checks. Follow the large + leads to where they come to either side of a device with two large nuts and possibly two smaller ones. This should be your auxiallary start and or charge solenoid. The voltage should be the same on each side of the large nut connections. If not. Measure the voltage on the small terminals. One should be 0 volts and the other should be 13.5 or so. If you find that then the solenoid is defective which is a common failure item. If you do not see the 13.5 on one of the smaller terminals you have a different issue. Something is not activating it. Have someone press your emergency start button at the drivers seat to see if the voltage shows up. If it does you should hear a large clunk and the voltage on each of the large nuts should be the same now. If you get this far let me know.

The reason you got two different answers is because there are two different answers. It all depends upon your coach. Some "do" charge the chassis batteries from shore power and some "don't".

Easy way to check is to plug into shore power and then check the voltage on both sets of batteries. If both are showing between 13 and 14 volts, then yes, both are being charged. However, if only the house batteries show this voltage, then no, the chassis batteries are not being charged. Simple!

Now, whether or not your coach is "suppose" to be charging both from shore may be a different discussion. If it is, you may have a bad relay or other problems, if it isn't, then the Trik-l-start would be the way to go.

My coach does NOT charge the chassis batteries (2 ea 12v batteries) while on shore power, so I purchased and installed the Trik-l-start and it keeps them fully charge while the coach is connected to shore power (all winter long while parked at home).....even with the very small wires provided.

Hope this helps

Ron

Hi,

The Trik-L-Start will work. The tech does not understand you are not attempting to "boost" the chassis battery with the Trik-L-Start.

Some RV's do have the ability to charge the chassis batteries while plugged in.

Jim,
I just had the same problem, American Tradition 2004. AC told me the charge system first charges the House batteries and when they are full switches to the Chassis batteries. My problem was the relay that handles that function was bad. It is also the relay that combines batteries for the Aux Start function. the next time you find the Chassis batteries low, try the Aux Start and see if that works. That would be a way to check the relay if it functions like mine.

Good luck.