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BruceMc's avatar
BruceMc
Explorer III
Jul 05, 2017

House batteries not charging from chassis (SOLVED)

2016 Sunseeker 2250S (Forest River) on Chevy chassis:

Last year all was fine - the house batteries were being charged from the chassis any time we were underway.

We have a 2 1/2 week run coming up shortly, and I'd like to fix this issue before we depart...

This year, we've had two trips, and while I don't know if this was an issue on the first run over a weekend but we noted the following on our recent 5 day run:

We boondocked the first 3 nights, and noticed the chassis battery voltage was running in the 12.2 to 12.0 range where it should have been 12.8 to 12.4.
I ran some tests and found the batteries were not being charged while underway - the chassis was running at 13.8 to 13.4, yet the house batteries never increased.

Only when we plugged into shore power did they come up to the (charging) values in the 13.* ranges, then standing charge after several hours off shore power was 12.8.

Something is wrong.

The 2250S Sunseeker has a Precision Circuits 00-10033-300 FR BCC, of which I can find no documentation or troubleshooting information.

Even the relay was not clicking when pressing the emergency start switch located on the base of the drivers seat - we found that a fuse had not been plugged into the correct socket (apparently during assembly). Once a fuse was installed in the proper circuit - we now have a functioning emergency start.

The circuit breaker under the hood is not tripped - we have 12v from the chassis at the BCC. When pressing the emergency start - the house voltage jumps up & matches the chassis.

There seems to be no voltage on J12 labeled "Ignition In" while the engine is running, even after several minutes.

We tried jumping power to J12 but the system shut down. I had installed a volt meter last year in the convenience center so we could monitor the actual voltage - it and all other 12v items disconnected. Interesting.

There has to be an ignition in to tell the BCC to connect the two systems...

Here's the panel:




If you experienced this issue, what did you do to correct it?

I've posted this note on forestriverforums.com - Sunseeker as well to see if I get assistance there - if so, I'll report back here on results.
  • The relay can be closing just fine, but the house batteries still not hardly charging when driving.

    The has happened to us a couple times in the last 10 years. The problem was corroded contacts on the relay such that a too-high resistance in the contacts was drastically reducing the charging current going into the house batteries.

    Our solution was to install a new relay to solve the problem both of those times.

    I now have a meter right on the cab dash that shows me when this is happening so that I don't get surprised by this happening any more.
  • Bobbo wrote:
    You need a switched, fused hot wire run to ES. You may need to trace the factory wire to find where it is broken or has a blown fuse.


    This is my opinion as well. There has to be 12v on the ignition in circuit!

    Yet when trying to work around the issue by jumping power from the chassis positive to the ignition in, the house 12v system shut off as if it was in fault condition.

    I'll pull the ignition wire & test if it has voltage while disconnected, and will try the jumper test again. My friend was doing the tests on the BCC so I want to validate them firsthand.
  • I wondered if my wording might confuse... I'm as guilty as the next person when I read - I need to completely read & understand before responding.

    The relay is working - it clunks/closes with the emergency start switch after we moved the fuse into the correct location, and the voltage jumps up to match the chassis.

    Here's the complete sentence in the original post:
    "Even the relay was not clicking when pressing the emergency start switch located on the base of the drivers seat - we found that a fuse had not been plugged into the correct socket (apparently during assembly). Once a fuse was installed in the proper circuit - we now have a functioning emergency start."
  • If the relay had failed, the emergency start switch would not work. But I agree that it has lost power from the engine.
  • I had issues with the relay failing. I carry a spare. Mine is a continuous duty relay that looks like the old Ford starter relays.
    Since it makes no noise sounds like it lost power. Or the coil is open.
    Relay
  • You need a switched, fused hot wire run to ES. You may need to trace the factory wire to find where it is broken or has a blown fuse.

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