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House battery low to power inverters
I have a 1999 Prevost Featherlite Vantare- The house batteries are to low to power up inverters so I can hook up shore power to recharge them! Just replaced all the engine batteries! Replaced all 4 of those! It has 8 house batteries! What can I do to get the house batteries charged up enough to get inverters turned back on? Will they have to be took out and charged separately on a charger 12 or 24 volt charger or is there some other way I can go about it?
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11 Replies
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I am having a hard time imagining how house batteries can be so low the inverters will not charge them. I don’t have a Vantare so my first guess is to start the bus engine and let the alternator get some power into the batteries while you are running the generator or connected to shore power.
How old are the batteries and how did they get so low? They likely should be tested and the system should be checked to verify there are no open circuits like tripped breakers or blown fuses.
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Start the coach and run it on high idle, should bring them up….otherwise you will have to introduce a exterior battery charger…
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If you find the batteries are bad, we have Show Pricing this week during our Bella Terra Rally. Contact me if you need new Lifelines.
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Hey Jeff you mentioned using a exterior charger! Do I need to unhook each battery separately and charge individually with 12 volt low amp charger? Between 2 to 7 amps? Or is another way you suggest. It has 4 batteries over each wheel housing on both sides. I tried the fast idle last night for about an hour and the function display panel for lights and accessories barely lite up but still could not cut on inverters!
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I naively (and obviously unintentionally) drained my house batteries too low for the inverter/chargers to recharge them (OK … I’ll admit it … happened twice) shortly after I bought the coach and had Jeff zero it out including installing new Lifelines (presumably from Tom). I can’t remember exactly, but I think the way the inverters were wired, I couldn’t get any 120volt AC from shore power or the onboard Kohler generator.
Jeff’s instructions to me were just like he gave you above. When I discovered that house batteries were down, I had tried to charge via shore power. No go. Call Jeff. He had me fire up the Kohler generator in hopes of getting that to charge the house batteries through the inverter/chargers. No go. Then he had me fire up the Detroit Diesel, run it on high idle in hopes of getting the big alternator in the back to charge the house batteries. Still no go.
At this point Jeff walks me through getting access to the 12volt DC positive and ground studs that Liberty installed in the coach. (We have a “24 volt Liberty coach”, so there are both 12volt and 24volt studs.) I put the trusty 12volt Craftsman charger on the 12volt studs, set it on a high amp rating. Next day I unhooked the charger, turned on the shore power and the house batteries immediately were able to take a charge and everything was good.
(I think) there has to be some juice in the house batteries for the inverter/charger to “see” the batteries and put juice into them. This is my recollection of my discussion with Jeff on the subject.
I have no idea how a Vantare is wired, so I’m reluctant to do more than share my experience with you. Maybe a Vantare owner or Vantare expert will follow-up with more definitive information.
I have the Liberty installed WatchDog (which automatically starts the generator when the house batteries get down low) on all the time which protects me from drawing the house batteries down too far when not plugged into shore power or when the Detroit Diesel engine is charging the house batteries.
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Keep in mind there are differences in converter setups, so what works for a Liberty may not work for a Featherlite.
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Call Ben Cumming or Donnie Meyer…right to the sources on all things Featherlite. Geo.
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Ben still around?
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Yes Tim…see below….
Check out my new website: U.S.A. Luxury Coach
The new company name is U.S.A. Luxury Coaches, LLC located at the old Coachworx buildings at 4501-b Ulmerton Road.
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Thanks Corey & George! Talked to Ben as you suggested and he put me right on the problem-it was a switch in the battery panel box that was in the wrong position! Thanks a lot to everyone! Ben was awesome-Great guy!
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You are welcome. We have found that one of the most valuable tools when traveling is a couple of phone numbers. Ben, Jeff and Rick May are all on speed dial and we are never stranded. After all we have learned over the years, every time we dial, we find out how much we still don’t know. Geo.
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