-
Test Auto Gen
Is there a way to test if the “Auto Gen” is working if your batteries get too low? My manuals tell me that my bus has auto gen and there is a button in the cockpit showing that the auto gen is engaged.
However, several weeks, ago I boondocked overnight and in the morning my house batteries were in the yellow, according to the Tech Link monitor. My manual states the generator should have turned on once the batteries go below 21v.
-
56 Replies
-
21 V is 10.5 volts on a 12 volt battery.
I understand the way auto-start is supposed to work is it is to see a sustained voltage under load below a certain level but for all practical purposes if it does not start recharging the batteries at a higher level than that it will not surprise me if Tom buys a new bus with slides. He will be selling a lot of batteries.
http://www.mmbalmainauto.com.au/PDF/State_of_charge_12_volt_batteries.pdf
-
Tim,
If you have the Trace 4000’s, all those parameters are adjustable. 21.5 is killing your batteries if that’s where the autostart kicks in. Mine are set to 24 volts. I would suggest you change the start to at least 24v and the stop time to 3 hrs.
To test your autostart, make sure your batteries are at full float charge, kill the shore power and turn on both A/C’s that run off your inverters (mine are salon & bedroom) and then monitor your inverter panels to see if the correct start voltage is used. Depending on how good your batteries are, it could run 2 – 3 hours or much less.
All of of this is assuming your autostart is controlled by the inverters, the early ones were not and could not be changed from the factory setting.
-
Yes, I have the two 4000 Trace Inverters, and I think they’re tied in, but I’ll have do some more investigating. There’s no mention in the “generator” section of the manual how to change this so let me read more about the inverters tomorrow.
I would think if my auto start is tied into my inverters I would change the settings at the panel in the bedroom right below the DC circuit breakers? I currently have my two inverters set on “auto” but there’s probably some way to change to autostart and run time.
-
Only one Trace inv should be set to autostart, both being set will conflict.
Later
bv
-
Bernie, I have both on “auto” which I thought meant that they will recharge the house batteries automatically. I didn’t think that had anything to do with the auto start for the generator. I’ll be doing a lot of reading tomorrow and other tips here are certainly appreciated.
-
I am only referring to the gen auto start.
Later
bv -
Tim,
If an inverter has shore or generator power available to it, the inverter is functioning as a battery charger. The inverter does that automatically unless that function has been turned off or disabled. So as long as your coach has that power available you don’t have to worry about your batteries being maintained.
Automatic generator start when house battery voltages are low is a separate function and one that needs to be understood. The first and most importan understanding is knowing when that feature is active, or how to activate it. You do not want it “on” all the time without being aware it is on. There are times when it can be dangerous or it can create issues. You do not want it on if you will be working on or changine house batteries. You do not want it on if the bus is going to be in an enclosed area such as a garage.
You do want it on if you are dry camping and want to maintain the battery charge. You do want it on if you are in an RV park and a power outage can create issues for pets left unattended.
Bottom line is to understand how and when it works.
If it is programmable (not all auto-start systems are) do as Tom suggests. A low starting voltage is going to prematurely kill your batteries.
-
Good points from Jon and Bernie, I leave my auto-start off and my number 1 inverter controls the auto-start and charge functions, my 2nd inverter is more for just information (meters.) I also turn off the bulk charge function on the number 2 inverter so it only floats.
-
All of the comments above may not necessarily apply to all coaches. Almost all of us have inverters, but that does not mean our coaches have the inverters set up or installed the same way.
And because your particular conversion is set up in one manner, another coach by the same converter may be set up differently because inverters have evolved and the way they have been installed in coaches has changed with them.
-
During my walk-thru, the tech who had worked at Marathon told me to keep both Trace inverters on “Auto.” So from Tom’s & Bernie’s post, it seems like Inverter one should be “auto” and the second Invertor should be “Off.” Is this correct? Both are on “auto” in this pic.
-
Tim,
That is correct, one set to auto only, the other off in that screen your showing.
This is Marathon specific guys.
Then like Truk said turn everything on unplugged and generator off. Watch your meter screen on one of the invertors or watch your techlink screen and see if the generator starts and at what voltage.
If it doesn’t start we will have to address the settings.
Later
bv -
Just got done reading a fair portion of the 4000 Trace owners manual. Yikes!
I’m going to take the manual into the RV and start playing with the settings, but when Tom gets done chasing those gators in the Everglades, it would be nice to have a Trace 4000 tutorial in “Videos of Interest” on “Suggested Settings for your Trace 4000 inverters.” There’s a lot in the manual, but they really don’t tell you what they suggest you set the inverters on.
For clarification, since I’ve never owned an inverter. I understand the concept of why we have them in our buses, after attending the Prevost Seminar, and to “never” to turn them off, but do two inverters work together or independantly of each other? Do they both charge the house batteries and then independantly invert the batteries to the various A/C units and appliances in the bus.
Tom, Was that “set Low battery cut “out” VDC 24v or “set Low battery cut “in” VDC 24v?
-
Tim
You need to do that to learn how to navigate the screens but move with caution. What the books don’t tell you is what is Marathon specific and how they wired them,
For instance if the charge rate is set a half volt high it will cook your house batteries in a few years instead of a longer life.
Later
bv -
If this thread seems a little scary to folks it is because there are a wide variety of ways in which inverters have been set up on our coaches and each owner needs to get a basic understanding of how his coach and its inverters has been set up.
This is very important because as was pointed out wrong settings can cook batteries quickly. One thing that owners have to be aware of is that even if the inverters are in perfect condition, and set up properly a bad battery can create situations in which it appears the inverters have gone bad or are going bad, so it will not hurt to learn a little about your inverters, how they are set up and your batteries, and how to test them.
-
Thx Bernie! Another … YIkes! What the book doesn’t tell you … Let’s add that to the Video tutorial!
And I agree with Jon about pressing every button during your walk-thru … which we did when the tech showed me the inverters. Unfortunately, he didn’t tell me to read the 150 page Inverter manual which contains an unbelieveable (and sometimes mind boggling) amount of information. The tech said “just leave the two inverters on auto gen.” Being new to Prevost & Inverters I said, “Sounds good to me”!
I now think I could have spent a whole day just learning about the correct settings for my specific true-sine wave inverters. I now am learning these things are way more complicated than just pressing one button.
Log in to reply.