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Chassis Battery Warning Light
I know this is an old problem that several have had but it has finally hit me.
The Battery Balance Light on the dash came on the other day and would not go out. I was at the house and was just putting it up in the barn. I let it run for a few minutes and it never went out. Then yesterday I went back and cranked it up again. The light was not on for the first few minutes but then came on and stayed on a few minutes and then back off and on again. I checked the equalizer and it showed on the 24 V side 26.1v engine off and 27.4v engine running. The 12V side showed 12.9v engine off and 13.6v engine running. My equalizer is a Vanner model 60-100D.
I have a next step regualator that was showing 13.3v on the leg that showed battery volts. The red light on the unit was not flashing and only the green light was blinking.
The chassis batteries are right at 5 years old and I am going to change them out but I want to make sure I do not have another issues before installing new batteries.
Any thoughts are suggertions?
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9 Replies
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The batteries are age compromised, test them first.
Isolate the batteries and test them individually. Important to do because if one has gone south via shorted cell, it will drag them all down and do irrepairable damage to all of them.
Couple of questions:
1. Do you have a battery tender installed on the chassis batteris? If yes, is it functioning correctly?
2. Can you yank them and take them to the brand dealer and let them make the diagnosis on them.
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Sammy,
Probably the Vanner Monitor, very common problem. Your Equalizer is good, verified by less than .5 volt between 12 and 24. If you call Vanner, they can give you the instructions on how to check the Monitor with your meter, they’re very helpful. I’ve changed out the Monitor on every bus I have owned. They’re about 80 bucks.
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What Tom said.
But I agree with Ed with respect to the batteries. I don’t agree with having to keep a charger on them at all because if your chassis batteries will not hold their charge for months you have loads on them you should not have.
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Thanks for all the replies. I have a battery charger built in to the coach with switch on dash. I do not leave it on all the time. I have had my batteries go down a couple of times over the past year and just turned the charger on overnight. I just purchased new NAPA batteries and will install them so that will be two items ruled out with only the monitor left. I will check the vanner monitor if I can find it, not sure where it is located. I thought it was near the equalizer but all I saw was the Next Step Regulator. I will try to check it out tonight.
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I am on my 3rd Vanner Monitor in 6 years. I think they are made in Somolia!
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Your batteries went “down” why?
Owner error? Coach visited by Grandson with 10,000 fingers and 10,001 question? Too many Coronas for someone?
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Sammy,
It’s usually mounted in the same bay as your chassis batteries and up on the ceiling so to speak.
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On two of my coaches the monitor was on the forward bulkhead above the chassis batteries. But it looks like what Tom showed.
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Thanks I found it, it was right where Tom showed the picture. I guess I just needed to look up.
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