Itasca house batteries won't charge via plug?

If the battery "disconnect" switch is "Off" the converter/charger cannot charge the battery(s). They are out of the loop and the converter is supplying the 12v power. The alternator by-passes the "disconnect" and will charge the house-battery and chassis-battery whether the switch is "on" or "off".

Turn it on to get the battery(s) charged while plugged in. It is only used when stored without access to shore-power.

Mark, that depends on the MH. My converter goes straight to the batteries. I can turn the disconnect switch off and charge the batteries (glad it's wired that way).

mena661 wrote:
Mark, that depends on the MH. My converter goes straight to the batteries. I can turn the disconnect switch off and charge the batteries (glad it's wired that way).

I take this to mean the converter/charger is wired to both the battery(s) and to the 12v circuit. Otherwise; neither the battery or converter would work if the "disconnect" solenoid (or solid-state isolator) failed and the battery(s) were disconnected. :B

My MH works as I stated. If the disconnect fails my converter will power the 12v circuit if I have shore-power. Since the house-batteries would be out of the loop, the generator could be used for a while but the h-b's it relies on would discharge without the charger connected. :(

Hi,

Turn the battery switch to "on" and the house batteries will probably charge on shore power.

MNtundraRet wrote:
Otherwise; neither the battery or converter would work if the "disconnect" solenoid (or solid-state isolator) failed and the battery(s) were disconnected. :B

This would be correct in the case of my MH.

Here is the link to the Winnebago manuals. There could be several thing causing it to not charge. Battery disconnect switch, converter/charger, 40 amp circuit breaker, bad batteries, etc.

There is another method to the madness (or madness to the method?). :h

If your in the boonies, and run the generator for power, and you have a portable charger along, plug it into a MH 120v, ac, outlet. Now you could use it charge the house-batteries on "disconnect". Also; if the house-batteries were low the MH engine can be started with alternator charging house-batteries. It works with batteries on disconnect or not.

You could get by this way in the boonies, but generator needs to run for any power for both AC & DC. Fuel is expensive. :M

MNtundraRet wrote:
If the battery "disconnect" switch is "Off" the converter/charger cannot charge the battery(s). They are out of the loop and the converter is supplying the 12v power. The alternator by-passes the "disconnect" and will charge the house-battery and chassis-battery whether the switch is "on" or "off".

Turn it on to get the battery(s) charged while plugged in. It is only used when stored without access to shore-power.

YES you are right! The "simple" solution, as always was correct. In this rig the internal battery switch must be ON to accept a charge from the external source. It will charge from the alternator or gennie regardless. Many thanks for your support!