Battery not charging (from chassis or generator)

[SJ-Chris]

Hi All, new to RVing. Thanks in advance for you help!

I've got a 2006 Four Winds Chateau 31p Class C with a Ford Superduty e450. RV has an Onan 4000 generator. I've got a 12V deep cycle house battery along with two 6V golf cart batteries for a total of ~350 amp hours of house batteries. The two 6V batteries are wired in series to equal 12V and they are then wired in parallel with the 12V battery. The 12V battery is brand new. The two golf cart batteries are 2 years old.

I'm having an issue with the house batteries not charging. I have a battery reading in the RV which isn't too accurate (it just shows 12V / 11V / 10V). Right now it is showing 11V. I thought it would be better to use a volt meter to be more certain.

I put a volt meter on the house batteries and they currently read 11.75V with nothing on (the generator is off and the chassis engine is off). If I disconnect the battery and measure the battery itself it reads 11.75V. The chassis/engine battery is at 12.29V (with everything off).

When I start the chassis engine I would expect the alternator to kick in and charge both the chassis battery and the house batteries. When I turn on the chassis engine I read the chassis battery and it shows 14.34V (which seems good and what I would expect...the alternator seems to be working). When I check the house batteries (with just the chassis engine running) I would expect to see them charging. But I don't...they remain at 11.75V. I measured the house battery terminals while connected to the battery (11.75V). As a test, in case maybe the house batteries are dead/etc, while the chassis engine is running I disconnected the house batteries and put a volt meter on the wires that would be connected to the batteries and the voltage on them was also 11.75V. That seems to tell me that the chassis alternator is not charging the house batteries.
Question: Shouldn't the chassis engine being charging the coach batteries? Are there any fuses/etc I should be measuring to pinpoint what the problem might be?

I turned off the chassis engine. The next thing I did was turn on the generator to see if it would charge the house batteries. With the generator running I measured the voltage across the house batteries, expecting to see them charging. The voltage was 11.71V. Ugh! With the generator running I measured the voltage of the chassis battery and it reads 12.73V. I tried running the generator with the 12V battery disconnected with only the 6V batteries (same result). I tried running the generator with the two 6V batteries disconnected and only the 12V house battery (same result).
Question: What voltage should I see across the house battery when the generator is running? Is it common for the generator to also charge the chassis battery?

Are there any fuses I should be checking?

What should I check next? Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Sam_Spade]

MrWizard wrote:
lights and water pump work, when the generator is running

converter is working

Not necessarily. The pump and lights will work fine at 11.5 volts from the batteries alone.

Sounds like he has a problem with a "battery solenoid"......or some loose or broken wiring as mentioned.

A voltmeter is required to isolate the problem.
A fix at an RV shop probably won't be too expensive either.

[jkwilson]

Your generator isn't even charging its own battery properly. 12.29V is much too low for any lead-acid battery in that kind of service. Charging voltage may measure low when trying to charge deeply discharged batteries, but it should rise over time as the battery charges. 11.75V is a very deeply discharged battery.

I'd try charging all of your batteries with a portable charger, then see what the generator does.

[SJ-Chris]

MrWizard wrote:


2006 four winds, which model name ? e450 super duty, is chassis/engine configuration, means lot when talking about suspension and drive train
next to nothing when talking about the 'camper/rv' house side
others with the same one can post info about locations of devices and switches etc.

This is for a 2006 Four Winds Chateau 31p Class C with a Ford Superduty e450

[SJ-Chris]

MrWizard wrote:
lights and water pump work, when the generator is running

converter is working

you have a break in the circuit between the batteries and the main charge wiring

is your battery disconnect switch on or off

this is usually located near the door, a push button or rocker switch, it is labeled, house batteries, RV batteries, battery disconnect etc.

some people call it the 'salesman switch'
not the correct name
find it push it once, a relay should activate and the batteries get connected to the system

2006 four winds, which model name ? e450 super duty, is chassis/engine configuration, means lot when talking about suspension and drive train
next to nothing when talking about the 'camper/rv' house side
others with the same one can post info about locations of devices and switches etc.

I do have a "Battery Disconnect" switch right by the door to go into the RV. I always make sure it is off (batteries disconnected) whenever I leave the RV. In the testing I was doing today with the volt meter, the switch was "on" (batteries connected). So I don't think this is the issue. Without turning on the generator or the engine, the lights in the RV worked fine (running off house battery).

I haven't checked the fuses yet next to the bed (could it be a fuse issue??). I will also check to see if a GFCI outlet has been tripped (good suggestion).

[MrWizard]

lights and water pump work, when the generator is running

converter is working

you have a break in the circuit between the batteries and the main charge wiring

is your battery disconnect switch on or off

this is usually located near the door, a push button or rocker switch, it is labeled, house batteries, RV batteries, battery disconnect etc.

some people call it the 'salesman switch'
not the correct name
find it push it once, a relay should activate and the batteries get connected to the system

2006 four winds, which model name ? e450 super duty, is chassis/engine configuration, means lot when talking about suspension and drive train
next to nothing when talking about the 'camper/rv' house side
others with the same one can post info about locations of devices and switches etc.

[SJ-Chris]

Yes, the lights work. The water pump works. The AC works. All while the generator is on. When the generator is not on the lights and water pump work.

Where would I look for the converter? How would I check if it is functioning correctly?

Even if the converter is bad, shouldn't the chassis alternator work to charge the house batteries? It seems unlikely that both the generator converter AND the battery isolator would both be bad, right? Where would I find the isolator and how can I test it?

Thanks!

[KX5002]

There is probably a battery isolator, it "splits" alternator output to the chassis and house batteries, but doesn't allow either to feed back to the other
It's looks like a large aluminum heat sink

[MrWizard]

do things like the lights and water pump work ?
no means a blown fuse some place or a dropped wire

yes the batteries should charge
that should be up front under the hoood
a bad combiner relay, bad diode style battery isolator, or a bad connection

not charging from the converter when the generator is running ?
does the roof A/C work, the outlets, is the generator putting out power ?
yes ?
bad converter,
NO ? triped circuit breakers on the generator

check all your outlets, inside and outside and in the cargo bays
look for GFI outlets, the converter might not be getting any 110v power