What does the alternator charge

[4ever16]

I have a 2007 Allegro 35TSA 8.1 Liter gas motor, has two (2) six (6) volt coach batteries. Question does the alternator also charge the coach batteries as well as the motor battery ????
Thanks for your help...just left Anza Borrego Ca. the desert is beautiful at night.....
Happy New Year to all.........

[Dutch_12078]

donfrump wrote:

OLYLEN wrote:
OK OK I had until a few months ago a 2000 Endeavor and it came from the factory with NO charging system from the Chassis. Guess they just missed one. And the others that had NO BIRD system.

LEN

no doubt its possible way back then they miswired one or two.to me its seems odd that no one would have corrected the problem way way back when

Yep, as I said earlier, even our low end, under powered, under sized, 1986 Toyota based Dolphin Class C had engine charging for the chassis battery. All it takes is a simple solenoid and a bit of wire.

[donfrump]

OLYLEN wrote:
OK OK I had until a few months ago a 2000 Endeavor and it came from the factory with NO charging system from the Chassis. Guess they just missed one. And the others that had NO BIRD system.

LEN

no doubt its possible way back then they miswired one or two.to me its seems odd that no one would have corrected the problem way way back when

[OLYLEN]

OK OK I had until a few months ago a 2000 Endeavor and it came from the factory with NO charging system from the Chassis. Guess they just missed one. And the others that had NO BIRD system.

LEN

[donfrump]

OLYLEN wrote:
Well you are very wrong some do some don't, that is why I said blanket statements don't work. Like all A's are diesel or all C's are gas.
So you can close the case but you are very missinformed.

LEN

Just got a email memo from Monaco archives people

To the best of my knowledge, all of the class a coaches built by Monaco/Holiday Rambler would charge the house batteries while driving.

FRANK PHILLIPS
REV Recreation Group
Owner Relations Representative

[tderonne]

From this very thread:

"Sorry, but as a Technician that worked and we sold Monaco(La Palma also), ALL Monaco's charge both battery banks from the engine."

[donfrump]

The one thing I should add after beeking off here for the last few days about how I don't believe there was a modern day era class A built that came from the factory unequipped to charge the house batterys in that if there were some that did, it was not by design or want/. it was by poor workmanship or lack of quality control in other words there was never a unit built that was actually designed and produced that way on purpose

[donfrump]

OLYLEN wrote:
Ok Several versions of Monaco 2000-2008 that I have personally had hands, on a Tiffin or two, several versions of lower end rentals. And I only got ya by 12 years in and about RV's thats 52 total including building a couple. Back when the norm was gas/propane lights and 120 volt lights. As I said there are a lot that do and a lot that don't. And my present Winni charges both ways from eng alternator and from shore power.

LEN

whatever you think or beleive is fine with me. I was not talking C nor rigs made in the 70,s or eightys however I seriously doubt Monaco ever build a 2000- 2008 A class MH that did not provide a system that allowed the "House" batterys to charge while engine was running.If that's true and so far no proof to show such models existed and when that is shown then I and others will stand corrected
what exact model was this specific to ?

[OLYLEN]

Ok Several versions of Monaco 2000-2008 that I have personally had hands, on a Tiffin or two, several versions of lower end rentals. And I only got ya by 12 years in and about RV's thats 52 total including building a couple. Back when the norm was gas/propane lights and 120 volt lights. As I said there are a lot that do and a lot that don't. And my present Winni charges both ways from eng alternator and from shore power.

LEN

[CA_Traveler]

ArchHoagland wrote:
Actually I prefer it that way. I don't want my engine electrical tied into my house electrical at all.

Why?

What do you mean by "tied"? The devices used are called battery isolators and the battery banks are only connected when charging and completely separate otherwise.

[donfrump]

mowermech wrote:
All I know for sure is that ALL the Class A's I have owned (1977 Pace Arrow, 1988 Suncrest, and the current one) AND the Class C I owned (1995 Tioga) charged the house batteries and the chassis battery from the engine alternator.
NONE of them charged the chassis battery from the generator or shore power.

Yes sir and having worked at and in the RV industry for the last 40 years that's the norm.

[mowermech]

All I know for sure is that ALL the Class A's I have owned (1977 Pace Arrow, 1988 Suncrest, and the current one) AND the Class C I owned (1995 Tioga) charged the house batteries and the chassis battery from the engine alternator.
NONE of them charged the chassis battery from the generator or shore power.

[donfrump]

having a inverter or not has no bearing on whether the alternater charges the house battery or not.I think after reading a couple posts here yours was a obvious factory wiring mistake that for one reason or another never got corrected

[ArchHoagland]

dougrainer wrote:

ArchHoagland wrote:

FIRE UP wrote:

ArchHoagland wrote:
Well I hate to do battle with Wolfe10 as he knows his stuff but on a 2004 Monaco La Palma with the 8.1 gas engine it does not charge the house batteries.

I don't mind battling with you other guys...just Wolf10....LOL

So you're saying that, an expensive Monaco coach, in the '04 era, designed it so that driving from one camp site to another or, long term camping, or, traveling, that engine alternator is NOT SUPPOSED TO CHARGE THE HOUSE BATTERIES, CORRECT? And that it's (the alternator) is only supposed to charge the chassis batteries? I personally don't believe it was built that way. I have never owned one and, in all reality, I have no basis for my side of the argument.

But, as there are a few different styles of linking both sets of batteries to the alternator, I would surely think Monaco would have utilized at least one version of them, to keep the house batteries charged while driving. I mean, what happens if the generator goes south while you're dry camping? Are you just supposed to give up and go home?

Personally I'd have to dig into that wiring to make sure that something's not broke, disconnected, fried, bad ground, bad solenoid, bad circuit board, something!
Scott

I took it back to the dealer when brand new and they confirmed it.

Actually I prefer it that way. I don't want my engine electrical tied into my house electrical at all.

I've never had a problem with the batteries staying charged on house or engine side other than I do shut off my engine battery with the big disconnect switch Monaco installed.

I'm just the lowly bottom of the line entry model. In fact Monaco has some owners clubs and I'm so low I wasn't allowed to join them. They are for just the top three models that year. So don't pick on me, it's bad enough I'm an outcast. LOL

Sorry, but as a Technician that worked and we sold Monaco(La Palma also), ALL Monaco's charge both battery banks from the engine. Just because YOUR dealer stated they checked it just shows they either lied or did not know what they were doing. As I have stated in posts for years, there sre only 2 models of Motorhomes that did not charge the Coach batteries and they are out of business and I do not remember the 2 models and this was over 15 years ago. Now, lets talk about Monaco systems. They had a TSB from the mid 2000's that addressed a small problem. What to do when driving and you had the LARGE 1500 to 3000 watt Inverter charger and you had the Genset on while driving. They installed a hot wire on the Genset 12 volt indicator light to a Bosch relay so when the Genset was ON, the chassis would NOT charge the coach batteries. The production from then on had the Bosch relay as OEM build. Genset OFF and the Chassis Alternator charged the battery banks. Doug

Also on my 2004 LaPalma I did NOT have the inverter option although a few of my outlets had a label "Inverter" I asked the dealer why the outlets didn't work on battery and they said I didn't have the inverter option.

I wonder if the fact that I didn't have an inverter affected whether or not they charged my house batteries from the engine alternator.

Add into the mix that I do not have Daylight running lights. The response was that they only came standard on coaches sold in Canada and if I wanted DRL I would have to pay about $100 for the relay and labor to install. I opted to push my headlight switch on and off.

[time2roll]

OLYLEN wrote:
Well you are very wrong some do some don't, that is why I said blanket statements don't work. Like all A's are diesel or all C's are gas.
So you can close the case but you are very missinformed.

LEN

Better call this one out. Make and Model please.