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Generator Battery Charge ?
The Generator start battery that was in the coach when I bought it was over charging. I read 15.5 with a meter at the battery. And that is what the gauge said on the dash. But other times , It would peg thhe needle at 16.0 or 16+ ??
So , I changed out the battery to a Blue Top Gel battery. And everything seemed to be fine for a few days. I have had the coach plugged in to Shore power for almost 24 Hrs. I smelled the same old Battery acid bubbling smell like rotten eggs or sewer. The gauge needle was pegged @ 16.0 , I went out to the battery (2nd bay) and the plastic battery box that has the start battern in it was pretty hot. I imeadately unplugged from Shore, And checked everything. No power in the panel whatsoever. Inverters were not on at all.
Yesterday I drove the coach 3 Hrs to Nashville to have the inverters / Electrical checked out. I noticed that the house batteries were not charging. I started the Gen and ran it for a couple of Hours , Which showed House batteries charging. So I get to Prevost and they send Me to another Coach place across town called Superior Coach. To have them look at it. So I told the Dude that when I turn off the generator the inverters were not kicking in. And Maybe had a transfer switch problem. He says ok , Turn it off , Lets have a look. When I did , The Darn inverters picked up just like they should and run everything within their limits. So I had them to check the Microwave power out. Have never been able to get it on. And they determined that it was getting power over to it, And the fuse was good. Most likely the Mother board had went out. So I was going to have them replace it . But they could not find one the same size in stock anywhere. So in the meantime while they are calling around about the Microwave. They hooked Me up to Shore power. And it transferred fine, And worked everything. And all gauges looked fine. Was hooked up for at least 2 Hrs. So I get home and hook up to Shore , And then today the Gen batt starts over charging again. And when I unhook shore , No Inverters ???
There has to be a voltage regulator somewhere that charges that battery that is bad. Is it built into the inverters ? When on Shore power ? I have 2 Heart inverters.
I think My Coach is possessed!!! I might just name Her Cybil !!! BTW , I called Liberty in Fl and talked to Troy 3-4 days ago. He said it would be perfectly fine to By-Pass the Watchdog unit and run the Generator.
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36 Replies
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On my Marathon bus the only things charging the generator battery are the generator itself (via alternator) and a small backup solar panel on the roof. In my case the generator battery system is completely isolated from the house and chassis batteries.
Do you have a solar array to feed the generator battery? If so your solar charge controller might be TU and overcharge.
If not, trace the small wires going to your generator battery or its disconnect switch. Somewhere there should be an additional charger that is misbehaving.
On the inverters, did you disconnect them from the house batteries for some period of time? When I do that I have to manually turn them on again via the panel. They come up in standby mode when reconnected.
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I’m just shooting in the dark, but I had a problem with my inverters overcharging my batts ONLY when plugged into an old campground electrical service.
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The problems you describe are similar to one I experienced a couple of years ago. What was frustrating was it was intermittent as you are describing.
My solution after wearing out the experts with questions was to start at the batteries, verify they were all good by disconnecting all cabling and checking each individually. I cleaned and restored all the cable connections at the batteries. I cleaned and reconnected all cable connections at the circuit breakers and disconnect switches for the house. Then I removed, cleaned and reassembled all the connections at the grounds.
As they say on TV, “but wait, there’s more…….”. I then accessed the inverters and cleaned the connections and opened the cases and cleaned inside the inverters, verifying the cooling fans worked and were clean.
I spent a couple of days on the project, but when I was done problem solved. The inverters were putting out excess voltage and then shutting down. I can only speculate a bad connection was not allowing the inverters to properly “read” battery voltage and would put out more voltage in an attempt to charge the batteries which were actually OK.
This may have nothing to do with your problem, but I do know inverters need good clean connections and our coaches have many.
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Your Liberty has a switch/solenoid that sends charging power to your generator battery while charging the house batteries whether your on the gen or shore. Jon or another Lilbery owner will jump in here, it’s been awhile for me.
Unless someone has added a charger for the gen battery, it’s being charged from your inverters unless you have the generator running, then it charges itself. If that’s the case, there must be a charging issue from the inverters, but you would probably get the same high voltage at the house batteries.
1. With the engine running, check the voltage to the house batteries and gen battery
2. With the engine off and gen running, agian, check the voltage at the gen battery and house batteries
3. With engine off, gen off, plug into shore power and again check charge voltage at gen and house batteries
4. Wtih eng and gen off and shore unhooked, do the inverters invert and what voltage at house batteries
It’s a start…
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If your Liberty is like mine have been the generator battery is charged via inverter / chargers unless it is running as Tom points out.
The issue is NOT with the generator battery. The battery is just receiving the voltage the inverter charger is sending into the batteries so the house is seeing the same over voltage which is why I posted the previous. Unless and until you sort out that issue your house electrical circuits and batteries are at risk.
If the inverter charger shuts down intermittently it is because it has a built in over voltage protection, but to expect that to save your coach from damage is risky. Assuming you have the Heart Freedom inverters you can see everything that is happening on your remote inverter panels and if it is as I described you need to solve the problem. I wish I could tell you specifically which connection I cleaned and tightened cured my problem but I cannot. They all looked clean and tight.
The good news is you are not without a coach if you really need it. When you run the engine the house batteries are going to get charged. Where you are in a pickle is if you need to run the refrigerator with the inverters off you will need to open the face lower panel on the inverters and connect the input wires to the output wires (leave the battery charger wires disconnected) and then generator or shore power will go direct to the refrigerator and other inverter circuits.
This all sounds worse than it is as long as you are willing to do a little work.
And please, again, understand your best source for advice is Liberty. Another converter undoubtedly knows coaches in general, but a lot of entertainer conversions are to motor home conversions as Mars is to Venus.
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To All Who replied,
Thank you all for Your experience and Your knowledge on the Liberty. I have quickly learned that not everybody that knows Coach’s , Will know anything about a Liberty. Like Jon said , They are like a different Planet. I am goint to Stuart , Fla Liberty the first chance I get ! Hopefully this coming week. I need it checked out and repaird By professionals that I can trust know the coach. It could be that the House batteries will come into play ? When I had them check ed out at Ft Worth Prevost. Some of them were reading around 10.0 . The tech told Me they are good and do not need replaced until 7.0 – 8.0 ? Which I thought sounded strange for a 12V battery ??? I have figured out that the High voltage occuring on one side of the control panel is caused by the refridgerator. Most likely the compressor locking up periodically. So , Until I get it repaired or replaced , I will not turn on the Fridge. Now in order to power the coach with Shore power , I will unhook the generator battery and isolate the Hot lead. And if I run the generator for power , I will start Gen , Then Unhook and isolate Hot cable. Do You all think this would be OK ? until I can get it to Liberty ?
Should I have to replace the House Batteries , What are the best choices ? Gel or Not ?
Thanks All In Advance ! I Love This Forum , And I Love My Liberty ! I will be studying everything about Her in My spare time. I need a operators / Owners Manual , Which I hope to get from Liberty for My Specific Build.
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Gone Crazy,
I wish we could test your batteries and use a multimeter to test some other stuff so we knew more about what is happening. But we cannot over the internet.
Whoever told you 10 volts on a battery was OK was giving you bad information and your problem may just be a bad battery or bateries is causing the grief. That is why I suggested to start there with a battery test. Do that and if your house batteries have puked you need go no further until you have replaced them.
Checking battery voltage is a nice exercise but it does not actually tell the story, but a battery at less than 11 volts is likely not good or badly in need of a charge. The only way is to use the proper equipment to do a battery test.
Based on your posts I would recommend against any changes to the circuits. If the batteries test good and you need to go further, allow the folks at Liberty to do their magic. This is a blatant pitch for Tom. Talk to Tom at tom@prevostcommunity.com. He is the battery expert.
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Even if you have someone else put them in Go with Tom’s AGM’s, buy them and put them in your bay until you get to Liberty.
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Jon,
I know from Your posts that You used to own a Liberty very similar to My 95/96 . Do You remember the House Battery Configuration you had on Your old one ? I can see that I have (2) 6 D sitting sideways closest to the passenger side. Then on the drivers side running front to back , There is another one or two ? If it is one , It looks longer than the 6D.
Could there be ( 2 ) 6d ‘s and( 1 ) 8 D ? Or ? ? ?
Thanks in Advance !
Rocky Lane
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This is what I have for chasis batteries, cover removed:
House batteries are 4, 8Ds.
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I had 4 8D’s located in the small compartment, passenger side behind the tag axle. I had a 24 volt coach so the house batteries were in parallel and series and had a Vanner 100 amp equalizer. I think you have a 12 volt coach so your house batteries are likely to all be in parallel, no equalizer. The location of house batteries is determined by the location of the inverters which need to be in close proximity.
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Rocky,
My 94 Liberty 40 had 3 8D’s located in the aft portion of the first bay, accessed by removing a panel. This panel also gave access to the Cruiseair.
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I talked to Troy at Liberty yesterday, And He confirmed that I should have (3) 8D House batteries.
Thanks All,
Rocky
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Jon,
I am pretty sure that I have seen a Vanner Box on My Coach. Is it possible that a 12V system has a Vanner ?Troy from Liberty ask Me if I had Rocker Light Switches , And if I did the Coach is 12V. I do have white Rocker Light switches.
So , I have a Libert Classic ? Is that Correct ?
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I have 4 Chassis batteries Type 31 / Interstate wired for 24 volt start. But I think My House Batteries are wired for 12V
Thanks,
Rocky
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