Loss of converter charge after using a coffemaker

[Jackie_Treehorn]

I have no idea whether it's related but this morning in the primitive area we're staying I turned on my generator and used a drip coffeemaker. It was probably left on for an hour heating the pot. When I turned off my generator I lost all 12V throughout. Turning the generator back on I see the converter is putting out 14.6 volts but the batteries aren't getting that charge- instead they've dropped down to 11.5 volts which I presume explains why I have no 12V power. Is there anything in between the converter and the house batteries that I should be checking- it seems to me that should be an uninterrupted connection?

Thanks for any suggestions-

[D_E_Bishop]

The way some rigs have things separted from each other is can be hard to hear solenoids clicking in or out and without long leads on your DMM its hard to read the meter. What I did is I have a piezo(sp) speaker and hooked some alligator clips to the leads and hook it up to the circuit I am testing. It is not a loud speaker but I can hear it from inside to out and from front to rear.

An LED light or incandescent light can be used with really long leads but I found the sound method was better because I don't have to have it next to me.

[Jackie_Treehorn]

Dale.Traveling wrote:

Jackie Treehorn wrote:
Thanks a lot Dale. I haven't used the Aux Start before. Is there any protocol for that? Keys in the ignition in aux, etc.?

Not really. As long as there's enough power to activate the solenoid pressing the switch on the dash will tie the house and chassis batteries together. Switch is spring loaded so as soon as you let go the circuit opens.

One other thing to try is with the coach quiet cycle the AUX Battery Disconnect switch near the door. With the coach quiet you can sometimes hear the solenoid activating which will at least let you know that part of it is working.

I hear the solenoid on the AUX switch when I trigger it now. Even with the battery charge down to 11.4 that is still loudly switching.

Now looking at the wiring diagram (thanks for the link) I see the "Battery Node Solenoid" between the house batteries and the AUX Switch which they name the "Battery Disconnect Relay". That relay has to be powered by the engine battery so with it working yet no show of the battery charge on the house batteries showing up at the converter it's probably that solenoid. I'll give your Aux Start switch a test tomorrow and in the meantime figure out where that Battery Node Solenoid is located. Thanks again-

[Dale_Traveling]

Jackie Treehorn wrote:
Thanks a lot Dale. I haven't used the Aux Start before. Is there any protocol for that? Keys in the ignition in aux, etc.?

Not really. As long as there's enough power to activate the solenoid pressing the switch on the dash will tie the house and chassis batteries together. Switch is spring loaded so as soon as you let go the circuit opens.

One other thing to try is with the coach quiet cycle the AUX Battery Disconnect switch near the door. With the coach quiet you can sometimes hear the solenoid activating which will at least let you know that part of it is working.

[Jackie_Treehorn]

Dale.Traveling wrote:
Sounds like the battery disconnect is tripped or open. The batteries are on one side while the coach loads AND the converter are on the other. Try this if you still don't have 12VDC. With the generator off and the coach dead hit the AUX Start and see if you get 12VDC back. The AUX Start works in both directions. House to chassis or chassis to house. If the lights come back on then there's a problem with the house battery solenoid.

Also Winnebago has complete electrical power wiring diagrams on line available HERE.

Thanks a lot Dale. I haven't used the Aux Start before. Is there any protocol for that? Keys in the ignition in aux, etc.?

[Dale_Traveling]

Sounds like the battery disconnect is tripped or open. The batteries are on one side while the coach loads AND the converter are on the other. Try this if you still don't have 12VDC. With the generator off and the coach dead hit the AUX Start and see if you get 12VDC back. The AUX Start works in both directions. House to chassis or chassis to house. If the lights come back on then there's a problem with the house battery solenoid.

Also Winnebago has complete electrical power wiring diagrams on line available HERE.

[Jackie_Treehorn]

AllegroD wrote:
The breaker is probably nearer the batteries. Often in the section beside or behind the battery box. Did you remove the cables from the batteries and test voltage to the end of the cables that attach to the batteries? If full charge is getting to the end of the cables, you may have a dead cell in the batteries.

With the generator off there is still a voltage reading of 11.4 volts at the battery, which will be the battery charge voltage.

[AllegroD]

The breaker is probably nearer the batteries. Often in the section beside or behind the battery box. Did you remove the cables from the batteries and test voltage to the end of the cables that attach to the batteries? If full charge is getting to the end of the cables, you may have a dead cell in the batteries.

[Jackie_Treehorn]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Find the battery pos cable...find the in-line fuse or DC circuit breaker on that pos cable (usually close to battery). It has blown or tripped (DC circuit breaker is a small box with 2 studs---most are auto resetting/some have a very small tab on side that has to be pushed to reset)

Until you find/fix that 'protective device' NO DC charge from converter to battery

There is a DC Circuit Breaker box above my kitchen counter. The breakers there all appear to be fine. I'll try to track that line leaving the converter which goes up under one of my basement compartments and then connects to the battery array under my front door steps. Somewhere in the middle there could be a fuse or breaker and if that's the case that's a likely resolution. Maybe my starting point there is to request a wiring diagram from Winnebago for my model which should answer the breaker/fuse question. Thanks for your help.

[crasster]

Depending on the year of your coach and converter type, you will either have a popped breaker or blown fuse. Check them out.

[D_E_Bishop]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Find the battery pos cable...find the in-line fuse or DC circuit breaker on that pos cable (usually close to battery). It has blown or tripped (DC circuit breaker is a small box with 2 studs---most are auto resetting/some have a very small tab on side that has to be pushed to reset)

Until you find/fix that 'protective device' NO DC charge from converter to battery

X2.

I think the type of coffee maker is only incidental and the Cuisinart Grind and Brew is a very expensive non-answer to the problem as are the pod machines, especially if you don't always have hookups. There are a lot of other things in play that have to do with when and how the load is disconnected, the least of which is using a generator as it was intended to be used.

[Old-Biscuit]

Find the battery pos cable...find the in-line fuse or DC circuit breaker on that pos cable (usually close to battery). It has blown or tripped (DC circuit breaker is a small box with 2 studs---most are auto resetting/some have a very small tab on side that has to be pushed to reset)

Until you find/fix that 'protective device' NO DC charge from converter to battery

[Jackie_Treehorn]

RoyB wrote:
We have a fused link between our battery bank and the on-board converter/charger unit. This link is close to the battery terminals and is there to protect the wiring between the two units in case of short circuit to ground.

I'm surprised to hear anyone running a Generator to heat up the high wattage type coffee maker for hours on end to keep coffee hot.

Our coffee pot is only on 120VAC for about 5 minutes to brew up a 10-cup pot of hot coffee.

We use the Cuisinart DGB600B which grinds and brews fresh coffee beans and pours up into a 10-cup thermos carafe.


We do this each morning when we are using our 2KW Generator to power up our on-board Converter/charger unit to re-charge our battery bank.

Might want to look into something like this to keep from having to heat up the coffee pot for hours on end... We always have hot coffee all day long and can brew up another pot in just five minutes...

Roy Ken

It's a nice thought but my wife and I don't even drink coffee but we put a little station up outside at our outdoor entertainment center outlet to let those in tents waking up through the morning have a place to grab a cup. I don't think we'll bother doing that in the future!

[45Ricochet]

prstlk wrote:
There will likely be a breaker on your inverter. Sometimes more than one. About the size of a pencil eraser. They may not pop out, you can manually pull and push them to reset.

Let us know

X2
We switched to the pod system and brewer which don't use a pot! One less thing for me, errr the DW to wash :B Little more expensive per cup but it seems to work great while camping.

[Jackie_Treehorn]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Check on your converter itself and look for a popped circuit breaker.

I replaced the converter with a Best Power Boondocker. It has two fuses, both of which check out fine. More important the unit is putting out 14;6 volts to the house batteries, which is exactly what it is designed to do unless the battery voltage climbs up into the high 12s.

I did check to see as another poster suggested whether there was some breaker in the battery area under my inside steps, but the battery leads go up under the coach and I don't see where they then hook to the converter output lines. That's where I'm presuming the problem is since the batteries show only just over 11 volts in charge yet the converter is putting 14.6 volts to the line headed to the batteries.