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hoggonit's avatar
hoggonit
Explorer
Apr 12, 2015

Generator/Battery Charge

Semi Ignorant Newbie, so be easy on me....:) I have a 2012 Forrest River Sunseeker Class C 2450. It's equipped with an Onan 400 gas generator. It will not charge my deep cell batteries. Isn't suppose to? If it is what could be my most likely problem,fuse,power converter or etc;?? Advice will be appreciated...Larry
  • Recycle all the breakers then check the meter to see if charging is happening.

    Manually recharge the batteries with a separate charger. You DO have one don't you?

    Take several images of the batteries with wires attached, tag all the cables, yank the batteries take them to a parts store and have them tested. You get to clean the connections as a bonus.
  • As previously mentioned your converter should charge your batteries though at a very slow rate. I use a 40 amp charger connected right to my batteries while runnin my Honda EU1000. Takes an hour to top them off every other day or so. My converter should charge but does not work.
  • I like the book THE 12-VOLT DOCTOR about a hundred times more than other publications. Online, book or whatever...
  • When your generator is running are you getting AC within the RV (does your microwave work?) If not - then check the fuse/circuit breaker on the generator.

    When connected to shore power are your coach batteries charging? If not then check the fuse on the converter and/or look for an auto reset circuit breaker near the batteries (when they go bad your battery won't charge). You should Google for pic of auto reset circuit breaker as they look kinda weird. Also make sure you haven't accidentally toggled the battery disconnect switch - common mistake.

    Also - it takes a long time for batteries to charge using either shore power or generator so keep that in mind.
  • Verify that battery disconnects are on.
    Do you have transfer switch or plug in cord method as in ejmorgan's post?
  • Is your RV electric power cord plugged in to the on-board generator power recepticle?

    Ed