Coach batteries wont charge from shore power
1995 Thor Residency, 30 amp system. Suddenly the coach batteries stopped charging when being plugged into shore power. When plugged in, I’ll come out in a couple weeks and they will be dead. This i...
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So I think I got it!!
The breakers/fuses (the type that are 1 inch x 1/2 inch black squares with the two threaded stud looking things coming out of them on mine I now am finding out that they are the manual reset kind.
As I was poking around with the multimeter I was checking continuity between the two lugs on each breaker/fuse by the entry steps converter/charger cage in my video and they all had continuity. So then I knew there were some of those types of fuse/breakers by the battery emergency start solenoid under the engine bay up front and one didn't have continuity. Upon looking closer, on the top was a little black peg that the others didn't have. I pushed down on it, felt and heard a click, and thought "hmm". I traced the wire from that breaker and it went down to the square battery isolator right side lug. Thought "hmm".
Went and plugged the RV into shore power, put my meter on the house batteries incoming cable, and WHAM 13.9 volts. I unplug shore power, and, yep, house batteries were down to their "naked" selves were at 12.3 or whatever before plugging shore power in. Plug shore power back in, BAM, up to 13.8 or 13.9 volts.
That was it! A stupid little breaker.
Well, anyways, each ground that I saw in the area, whether it be the grounds on the outside of the understeps charger/converter cage, or the ground lug for the charger/converter to the chassis itself inside the cage, or the main negative cable from the chassis battery to Ford frame, etc, were all removed, cleaned up to fresh metal too just for future reference.
It's kind of a good thing it happened this way because through you guys I learned a lot about how the system works in general. I mean geesh, alternator, charger/converter, inverter, emergency solenoid, battery isolator, its ridiculous.
I'm still gonna slap a new battery isolator in as well as an emergency start solenoid just for grins as they are 30 years old and cheap enough for piece of mind. I'm not usually a "throw parts at it" guy but its just the pure age and cycles that I think about. Now off to the front leaf spring bushings. Ugh.
p.s. one last set of questions, covering every scenario I can think of:
1) if the coach is plugged into shore power and one was to start the generator while hooked to shore power, what would happen?
2) if the coach is plugged into shore power and one was to start the Ford engine while hooked to shore power, what would happen?
3) if the coach is plugged into shore power and one was to start the Ford engine, and the generator along with the Ford engine while hooked to shore power, what would happen?
4) If the Ford chassis engine is running, and the alternator is charging the house batteries, and if the generator was fired up at the same time, do the house batteries get an extra boost of charge from both sourced combined or is it regulated so that the alternator and the generator don't gang up on the battery and its respective gauge of wire on the way to the house battery?
The breakers/fuses (the type that are 1 inch x 1/2 inch black squares with the two threaded stud looking things coming out of them on mine I now am finding out that they are the manual reset kind.
As I was poking around with the multimeter I was checking continuity between the two lugs on each breaker/fuse by the entry steps converter/charger cage in my video and they all had continuity. So then I knew there were some of those types of fuse/breakers by the battery emergency start solenoid under the engine bay up front and one didn't have continuity. Upon looking closer, on the top was a little black peg that the others didn't have. I pushed down on it, felt and heard a click, and thought "hmm". I traced the wire from that breaker and it went down to the square battery isolator right side lug. Thought "hmm".
Went and plugged the RV into shore power, put my meter on the house batteries incoming cable, and WHAM 13.9 volts. I unplug shore power, and, yep, house batteries were down to their "naked" selves were at 12.3 or whatever before plugging shore power in. Plug shore power back in, BAM, up to 13.8 or 13.9 volts.
That was it! A stupid little breaker.
Well, anyways, each ground that I saw in the area, whether it be the grounds on the outside of the understeps charger/converter cage, or the ground lug for the charger/converter to the chassis itself inside the cage, or the main negative cable from the chassis battery to Ford frame, etc, were all removed, cleaned up to fresh metal too just for future reference.
It's kind of a good thing it happened this way because through you guys I learned a lot about how the system works in general. I mean geesh, alternator, charger/converter, inverter, emergency solenoid, battery isolator, its ridiculous.
I'm still gonna slap a new battery isolator in as well as an emergency start solenoid just for grins as they are 30 years old and cheap enough for piece of mind. I'm not usually a "throw parts at it" guy but its just the pure age and cycles that I think about. Now off to the front leaf spring bushings. Ugh.
p.s. one last set of questions, covering every scenario I can think of:
1) if the coach is plugged into shore power and one was to start the generator while hooked to shore power, what would happen?
2) if the coach is plugged into shore power and one was to start the Ford engine while hooked to shore power, what would happen?
3) if the coach is plugged into shore power and one was to start the Ford engine, and the generator along with the Ford engine while hooked to shore power, what would happen?
4) If the Ford chassis engine is running, and the alternator is charging the house batteries, and if the generator was fired up at the same time, do the house batteries get an extra boost of charge from both sourced combined or is it regulated so that the alternator and the generator don't gang up on the battery and its respective gauge of wire on the way to the house battery?
