Good Morning...Been fighting converter issues for a while... well.. I think I finally figured something out.When by converter fires up and goes into bulk charge it ramps up to around 46amps... within 30seconds I click is heard from the battery bank and the amps immediately drop to 30. If I shut off the converter and wait about 5min I'll hear the loud click again from the battery bank and then If I turn the converter back on I'll get 46+ amps again.Any idea what could be clicking? Its a loud click like the noise made from the main battery disconnect. It does this with that main battery disconnect on or off.If I follow the + battery cable from the batteries it goes to the main battery disconnect & also goes to what appears to be a solenoid or something.So I am thinking it has something to do with that solenoid. What would it be doing to draw the charge amps down by 10?Is that solenoid there to sent voltage to the engine battery?THanks, Jeremy

It could be an auto resetting circuit breaker that is clicking. It maybe a 40 amp unit and the 46 is tripping it.If in fact it is from large relay, the voltage could drop enough to shut if off until main battery is fully or close to fully charged.Make and model of rig?

The diagram for the wiring shows a continuous use solenoid and a 50amp breaker in there. Doesn't look like a breaker to me as it has 3 posts. 2 have large wires on them and 1 has 3 tiny gauge wires on it.

That is a case grounded relay. The two large posts are the feed and load. It could be the charge relay and auxiliary start relay.The circuit breaker would have two posts and be able 0ne inch cube. Could be metal or plastic.Do you have a switch on the dash that says AUX on it? This is on your signature Storm?

enblethen wrote:That is a case grounded relay. The two large posts are the feed and load. It could be the charge relay and auxiliary start relay.The circuit breaker would have two posts and be able 0ne inch cube. Could be metal or plastic.Do you have a switch on the dash that says AUX on it? This is on your signature Storm?Yes and yes. Switch on the dash and it's a storm. Is it supposed to switch on its own? Why would charging amps drop?My converter is hooked direct to the batteries. So I'm just confused as to what is happening.

Look in your manual if you have one for information about a "Battery Control Center".Mine is located under the hood. Driver's side. Yours could be adjacent to the batteries. Or you may have to race out the small control wire.When the chassis reaches a given level the circuit board activates the relay to charge the coach batteries. If the voltage drops it drops out the relay. Later models then ours, does not allow the converter to charge the coach battery from the converter.You could have an issue with one of the batteries that drops the voltage down which causes relay to drop out.How old are your batteries? You may want to have them load tested.

Click & Charge Amps drop | Good Sam Community

13 Replies

2_many_2
Explorer III
Mar 14, 2016
jeremywatco wrote:
All issues figured out...

Latest issue was a 50amp breaker buried in the battery box that was tripped. While I was digging down to it.. what did I find? Battery Isolation Manager. It controls the whole chassis & coach battery charging by switching the relay as needed.

So all mystery's have been solved.

Thanks everyone!

Was it a "BIRD" (BI-Directional Isolator Relay Delay)?
enblethen
Nomad
Mar 14, 2016
Thanks for the update!
Make a note to yourself!
jeremywatco
Explorer
Mar 14, 2016
All issues figured out...

Latest issue was a 50amp breaker buried in the battery box that was tripped. While I was digging down to it.. what did I find? Battery Isolation Manager. It controls the whole chassis & coach battery charging by switching the relay as needed.

So all mystery's have been solved.

Thanks everyone!
enblethen
Nomad
Mar 14, 2016
There appears to be some sort of control that is doing it.
Check with Fleetwood. Have you rig's serial number from the outside plaque
jeremywatco
Explorer
Mar 14, 2016
So it seems that when the chassis batteries are low it trips it to charge them. When the house batteries are low it trips to charge them from the alternator. Makes sense.. case closed.. EXCEPT....

Left the converter running.. heard a different click from down there and the amps dropped to zero and the voltage on the batteries went down. Converter is still putting out 14.7v. This is with the converter back in its original location which is where the load center is. This is behind a 50amp circuit breaker.

But I still have 12v coming out of the load center to all the 12v appliances. Is it possible the breaker tripped? It is a 60amp converter however it never reaches 60amps. Would the breaker allow power to go out but not back in? Its strange. The load center and converter share the same feed from the batteries. So confusing!
enblethen
Nomad
Mar 14, 2016
It is possible that there is a poor ground. Check the voltage on both sides of the relay with the rig turned off and not connected to shore power. One side should be battery voltage from chassis battery and the other side should be voltage from coach battery.
You maybe able to get wiring diagram from Fleetwood.
jeremywatco
Explorer
Mar 14, 2016
OK more info...

The relay is the same relay tied to the AUX start switch on the dash. When it trips itself it no longer functions on the dash (by listening) but if I hit the dash switch a few times the relay will reset.

Also.. when it clicks and trips converter starts charging both chasis & house batteries (verified with multimeter).

Any thoughts on what is causing the relay to trigger on its own?

I checked my owners manual, it doesn't have anything like you described. It did say the the chassis and coach batteries are charged by the alternator and that the converter is for the house batteries.

Maybe i need to try and trace the wires from that relay... sounds like a project.
MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Mar 14, 2016
Allow me to present an accurate image of your garden variety RV Converter designer.
enblethen
Nomad
Mar 14, 2016
Look in your manual if you have one for information about a "Battery Control Center".
Mine is located under the hood. Driver's side. Yours could be adjacent to the batteries. Or you may have to race out the small control wire.
When the chassis reaches a given level the circuit board activates the relay to charge the coach batteries. If the voltage drops it drops out the relay. Later models then ours, does not allow the converter to charge the coach battery from the converter.
You could have an issue with one of the batteries that drops the voltage down which causes relay to drop out.
How old are your batteries? You may want to have them load tested.
jeremywatco
Explorer
Mar 14, 2016
enblethen wrote:
That is a case grounded relay. The two large posts are the feed and load.
It could be the charge relay and auxiliary start relay.
The circuit breaker would have two posts and be able 0ne inch cube. Could be metal or plastic.
Do you have a switch on the dash that says AUX on it?
This is on your signature Storm?

Yes and yes. Switch on the dash and it's a storm. Is it supposed to switch on its own? Why would charging amps drop?

My converter is hooked direct to the batteries. So I'm just confused as to what is happening.