[Archived]

How old are the batteries? If they are original, that could be the issue.

[Archived]

If it’s a 24v coach, the 4024’s should be bulk/absorption charging at 28.8v and float should be 26.6v. Charge voltage should be at least 15 amp AC.

Batteries are suspect, have him call if needed.

[Jimmy]

I’m not yet convinced the batteries are the problem.

The first thing I would do is verify the inverters are “on”.

My reason for starting with that is because almost all coaches have 2 inverters and even if one is not functioning the other is going to be working or at least should be.

The second thing I would look at is if in fact the inverters are powered up with shore or generator power I would want to see the setting for charging current. Some folks who dry camp and who use auto start for the generator use a high charging current like 40 or more amps. But others like myself use a very small charging current because I tend to be a power pole to power pole user and with a low inverter current like 5 or 10 amps I can run more electrical devices without concern about the power pole breaker tripping.

If all seems OK I would start the engine and see if the alternator is putting a decent voltage into the batteries. The alternator voltage output may not be adequate for complete charging, but it should show somewhere in the neighborhood of 27.5 volts.

The intent is to see what’s working and what is not. If batteries were so bad that they could not show more than the voltages listed when all charging current from inverters or alternator was removed they would go dead almost instantly. I am not saying a long life of undercharging may not have damaged the batteries, but doesn’t appear to explain the seriously low battery voltage.

As far as the current draw described I would consider that to be likely the result of phantom loads all our coaches seem to have, ranging from various things like alarms, clocks, power to retain the memory in the TVs or radios, all the various low power displays like the microwave clock, and even the power to systems like the Crestron.

[Archived]

checked the system and the house is 12v & 24V like the chassis with a EQ and to 12v side bulks at 14.25 floats at 13.5 seems good some loose battery connections but batteries are march of 13 5 plus years old brand Intimidator sides bulged out, tightened all connections charge for 24 hours then try again, I think batteries are needed, I here Tom is the man for Lifeline batteries, Tom how much for six 8D batteries????

[Archived]

Are we all talking about the same coach, and if so why are the reported voltages different?

One thing that is very important is to make sure we know the converter so we are more specific in answers.

[Archived]

The coach is a 06 Legendary XL45 2 The chassis batteries are the same as tipical Prevost but the house side has six 8D batteries wired like chassis with an equalizer so they are using 12v & 24v for house has 2 Xantrex inverters 24v chargers SW 4024MC2 and their charging correctly Bulk 28.5v 12v side bulk 14.25. So we tightened up some pretty loose batteryconnections plugged back in and tomorrow unplug AC power and let sit with everything turned off and see how dc volts hang in there. yesterday he did the same thing and gen had to run 2 hours at night with everything turned off. I think it’s the batteries the little round sticker Has a C3 on it and local battery dealer says it’s March of 03 or 13

[Jeff]

Almost all early model coaches had 100% 12 volt house systems, but later models used 24 volt house systems, but needed the availability of 12 volt for certain devices that could only handle 12 volts. A lot of the unseen devices such as the alarms, clocks, radios, etc. are only available in 12 volt so the converter used parallel and series cable patterns on the batteries to get 12 and 24 volts and is using the equalizer(s) to keep things properly charged.

If batteries are correctly maintained 5 years should be easily attained so I would not automatically think they are in need of replacement. But with loose connections it is a strong possibility they never got a full and correct charge so apart from separating them and giving each battery a test you may want to just replace them all and enjoy the benefits of fresh batteries.

Bulging on a battery is not a good sign so you can expect issues.

[Archived]

Yes! Gary called me he load tested each battery and said he found a couple bad batteries. So how do you get a hold of Tom for prices on new Lifelines??

[Davy]

Art,

Tom is likely counting dues money right now trying to figure out how much to not send me this billing cycle. Because he reads all the threads and posts like I do I have no doubt he is on this potential to sell batteries like stink on a skunk as soon as he puts the money in a glass jar and buries it.

I think you can email him because I think his email on his posts is enabled, but you can also send him an email that he will get via the PC Admin email.

[Per]

Art,

We’re way ahead of you, already talked to Gary and batteries ordered.

Thanks….

[Chad]

Jon,

Please explain what you mean by this:

But others like myself use a very small charging current because I tend to be a power pole to power pole user and with a low inverter current like 5 or 10 amps I can run more electrical devices without concern about the power pole breaker tripping.

Thanks,

---

1984 96" with 8V92TA

(remodeled Liberty Coach)

Greenwood, MO

[Archived]

How we use our coach determines how we manage power. When I am using my coach I am generally going from power pole to power pole so I am not deep discharging my house batteries because the coach alternator is keeping up with charging to an extent, and since I have OTR I am not pulling much power out of the batteries while I drive.

When plugged into shore power at an RV park I have almost fully charged batteries, but if the weather is hot I want to be able to use A/Cs plus all other electrical devices. To do that I have to insure I do not draw more shore power than is available so I try to limit loads on each 120V leg to 40 amps.

To allow the use of a lot of electrical loads I need to limit loads I am not in dire need of using and the inverters can be adjusted so the current they draw is light, with the intent to not allow them to impose such a heavy load they trip a shore power breaker when used with all other electric loads. So I now have mine set to only draw 10 amps. If I use a lot of battery power and 10 amps is insufficient to fully charge or maintain the charge on house batteries, it will be sufficient to charge them at night when we are sleeping.

If we were dry camping it would be a totally different situation. Our generators are sufficiently sized so power management is not much of an issue. If we are only using the generator when we need to charge house batteries we want to charge them fully in a short period of time so the generator doesn’t have to run for a long time so in that case I could set the charging current on inverters to a very high value such as 50 amps.

As a side note, my method of dry camping is to run the generator all the time. I have no intention of lowering my electric loads just to extend the time between when the generator has to run to charge batteries so even if I am not running from power pole to power pole I rarely do any deep discharge of the batteries and I never sacrifice the creature comforts built into the coach. Because of that my inverter settings are almost always for a low current draw.