Chassis Battery Not Charging On Shore Power/Generator

YC 1 wrote:
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See if any of this helps you along. Since it DID work you probably have a bad combining solenoid. Often called the BIRD relay. There is lots of reading in the links and once you get a bit more familiar with the operation you may be able to help us help you. There are pictures in some of those links.

Click number 1, scroll down to Tompen and look at the module. You will see it has a generator input.

Faucet1, you nailed it with the description of the generator running and the engine running and not charging the batteries unless you pressed the aux start button.

That is exactly how the BIRD is designed. The device has a generator input connection and if the ignition is on the BIRD is disabled. Kind of a strange design and I just learned this a month ago on my 08 model.

I discovered the issue by accident. My BIRD was a small circuit board mounted in the front run bay. Yours is probably different and I will get the picture for you. It may be in the links I provided before.

So your bird module is either bad or the connections need to be exercised.

With an alternator failure and lack of charging the chassis battery from the charger it's easy to bypass the relay.

On my 04 Endeavor I jumped 12V to the coil contact and continued on my way. Imagine my suprise when later the engine would not shut off due to feedback from that connection! So first remove and tape any existing wires.

The coach manual reads that the Chassis Batteries are charged by SP and the Gen. But, I now remember that while traveling at night back in 08', and had a failure of the Alt., I had to hold the Aux. Button to get enough power to keep the headlights from going out. The Gen. kept the Coach Batteries charging, but if the Gen. was furnishing power to the Chassis Batteries it was not very much. Soooo, it does sound doubtful that a Charging Circuit is connected as stated in the Manual. Maybe I need to give Tech Svcs a call at the old Monaco number. They have been helpful previously even though Monaco sold out. Thanks for the help/comments. If and when I solve this mystery, I'll post the results. Take care all. David

OK I'll ask - Are you really sure that it did charge the chassis battery from the charger?

I was incorrect about the BIRD. The large relay located in the battery compartment is for using the house batteries to relay power to the chassis batteries. This relay is a RBM by White Rodgers. I did look at he link provided that explained the BIRD and several other issues/solutions, but as I remember, my coach may have a different older switching system also reviewed in the Link. I need to go back to that link and read it again.

Having said that, today while testing the voltages, wiring, etc., I did find a 7.5 amp fuse in the battery compartment that was blown. I haven't been able to determine where the wiring goes from the fuse, but it was connected to the RBM Relay along with many other wires/circuits. Having replaced the fuse, I see no change within the battery charging system. Again, thanks for your thoughts. David

Does BIRD have a make and model number?

Since it works one direction and did it previously work? I can't see how the programming would change so I assume you need a replacement.

Now having made that statement, very recent in another post about a coach battery problem where the nearest/first connected 6 V battery to the charge terminal lossed most of it's electrolyte, I'm concerned that the problem may be a bit deeper than I suspected. Any thoughts in that respect? Thanks.

You've described all the ingredients of having a PANDORA'S BOX. You first, before anything else, need to MAKE SURE those two 3-cell batteries have been wired CORRECTLY.

Others on this forum have posted really neat, colorful graphics in past threads showing how to wire up a pair of "six-volt" batteries. Forget solenoids, BIRDS, and switches for now IMHO. Verify those golf car batteries have been wired correctly THEN progress onward from there.

Load test all batteries. Then download the service manual for your model and follow the trouble shooting procedure.

Have you tested the condition of your coach batteries and whether your converter is working properly? Bird works by monitoring the batteries and won't open solenoid when connected to shore power if your coach batteries don't have proper charge.