100 amp alternator through battery isolator issues
Hello.
Bought a 1990 class B a few weeks ago and as you could imagine first order of business was to dismantle all the systems and learn how everything is hooked up and how it works (first rv for me) :)
I have an issue and a few questions regarding charging the coach's side battery using the vehicle's alternator:
The camper has 2 batteries, one standard in the engine bay and a deep cycle in the coach to run the appliances, etc. The coach battery gets charged from a battery charger that sits just under the transfer switch/circuit breaker panel. Either the generator or an external 110v line supplies power to it.
The prev. owner had a 100 amp alternator recently installed
There is a battery isolator in the engine bay that is connected a bit suspiciously. Both vehicle battery lead and alternator lead are attached to the same battery post of the isolator. The alternator post has nothing attached. And the aux battery post has a wire that goes through 2 inline 50A circuit breakers to the + post of the circuit breaker panel in the coach's side, where the coach's battery + cable is also connected.
Issues:
I reconnected the alternator lead to the alternator post of the battery isolator. I also noticed that one of the inline circuit breakers was blown, so I bridged it since there was another along the line.
When I turned on the vehicle and checked the readings on the isolator posts, I got 14.4v from the alternator and the aux battery post, but only 12 on the engine battery post. After about 10 seconds the aux battery cable started getting very hot (ie. smoke), so I shut off everything and disconnected the coach battery from the isolator... The wires off the isolator seem to be 8 or 10 gauge. Everything down to the coach's battery + post was warm/hot to the touch.
Questions:
Is it recommended to have the alternator also charge the coach's battery when the engine is running via the isolator? While I travel, it would top off or recharge the coach battery, but I don't know if it is not recommended to charge the deep cycle battery straight out of the alternator (eg. without a sensing battery charger...)
Could the isolator have gone bad? I would have expected the inline circuit breaker to have tripped if > 50A was going through it. Maybe that went bad too? but either way, I would not expect the battery to charge at 50A, right? The isolator is the solid state type and does not look very old; maybe a few years based on corrosion amount compared to other components...
What am I missing?
Thanks!
Bought a 1990 class B a few weeks ago and as you could imagine first order of business was to dismantle all the systems and learn how everything is hooked up and how it works (first rv for me) :)
I have an issue and a few questions regarding charging the coach's side battery using the vehicle's alternator:
The camper has 2 batteries, one standard in the engine bay and a deep cycle in the coach to run the appliances, etc. The coach battery gets charged from a battery charger that sits just under the transfer switch/circuit breaker panel. Either the generator or an external 110v line supplies power to it.
The prev. owner had a 100 amp alternator recently installed
There is a battery isolator in the engine bay that is connected a bit suspiciously. Both vehicle battery lead and alternator lead are attached to the same battery post of the isolator. The alternator post has nothing attached. And the aux battery post has a wire that goes through 2 inline 50A circuit breakers to the + post of the circuit breaker panel in the coach's side, where the coach's battery + cable is also connected.
Issues:
I reconnected the alternator lead to the alternator post of the battery isolator. I also noticed that one of the inline circuit breakers was blown, so I bridged it since there was another along the line.
When I turned on the vehicle and checked the readings on the isolator posts, I got 14.4v from the alternator and the aux battery post, but only 12 on the engine battery post. After about 10 seconds the aux battery cable started getting very hot (ie. smoke), so I shut off everything and disconnected the coach battery from the isolator... The wires off the isolator seem to be 8 or 10 gauge. Everything down to the coach's battery + post was warm/hot to the touch.
Questions:
Is it recommended to have the alternator also charge the coach's battery when the engine is running via the isolator? While I travel, it would top off or recharge the coach battery, but I don't know if it is not recommended to charge the deep cycle battery straight out of the alternator (eg. without a sensing battery charger...)
Could the isolator have gone bad? I would have expected the inline circuit breaker to have tripped if > 50A was going through it. Maybe that went bad too? but either way, I would not expect the battery to charge at 50A, right? The isolator is the solid state type and does not look very old; maybe a few years based on corrosion amount compared to other components...
What am I missing?
Thanks!
