Forum Discussion

worka26673's avatar
worka26673
Explorer
Mar 04, 2016

American eagle not charging

I have a charging problem I have a 2000 Fleetwood American eagle motorhome. I have brand new batteries 2 for the motor and 4 deep cycle 6 volts for the coach. The alternator on the motor will charge both sets. But when plugged into the 110 or generator running, it will not charge. All the 110 stuff works when plugged in. I have a Heart Freedom 20 interface inverter model 81-0271-12 grey top plate and black sides. The on off switch is on the top. No display on the unit. Also I have a remote panel a Heart Link 1000. All the lights are normal with no fault codes. Red charge light is on, the AC green light is on, the 4 green battery condition lights are on, the power inverter light is on, but the volts read 12.70 and the amps 1.1. I have no idea where or what kind of converter I have or if a converter has anything to do with the charging. Can anyone help me?
  • It sounds like there is a issue with the Heart unit. It should charge the batteries. Is there a blown fuse to the batteries?? The 1.1 amp on the display shows there is not a connection to the batteries when plugged in.
  • Mine has a BIRD board that controls the charging of each set of batteries. I had to disconnect the GEN wire so both sets of batteries would charge from shore power.
  • RoyB's avatar
    RoyB
    Explorer II
    I would place a mulitmeter across the battery bank and determine that the on-board Heart Freedom 20 interface inverter is supplying the three different DC charging voltages to the battery bank when on Shore Power or Generator.

    If you do not see these DC Voltage increases on the battery terminal than measure back towards the DC output terminals of the Inverter/Charger unit and see where you are loosing the DC Voltages.

    Could be as simple as BATTERY DISCONNECT switch engaged or blown fuse/breaker between the Inverter/Charger and the battery terminals or even bad connections at the battery bank...

    When I read my fully charged battery bank I read around 12.6-7VDC across the battery terminals. When I connect to Shore Power or run my connected generator I see an increase to 13.6VDC or higher depending on the on-board Inverter/Charger charging mode at the battery terminals.

    Roy Ken
  • worka26673 wrote:
    I have a charging problem I have a 2000 Fleetwood American eagle motorhome. I have brand new batteries 2 for the motor and 4 deep cycle 6 volts for the coach. The alternator on the motor will charge both sets. But when plugged into the 110 or generator running, it will not charge. All the 110 stuff works when plugged in. I have a Heart Freedom 20 interface inverter model 81-0271-12 grey top plate and black sides. The on off switch is on the top. No display on the unit. Also I have a remote panel a Heart Link 1000. All the lights are normal with no fault codes. Red charge light is on, the AC green light is on, the 4 green battery condition lights are on, the power inverter light is on, but the volts read 12.70 and the amps 1.1. I have no idea where or what kind of converter I have or if a converter has anything to do with the charging. Can anyone help me?


    New batteries? Odds are they were connected wrong, wires left loose, or a fuse blown.
  • If the Heart supplies a battery charging voltage higher than the alternator regulator set-point the alternator will yawn and lean on a shovel. This will, when it happens, disable some alternator powered tachometers.