[Archived]

Do you know how old the batteries are?

What is the voltage reported on the house voltage meter that is probably on the dash?

Have you tried to start the generator?

Tell us what led up to the problem. Has the coach been at the campground for a while? Or did you just drive into the campground and park.

Is it possible that the house batteries got drained down? Its my understanding that if the voltage on the house batteries gets drained down below a certain point, the inverters won’t recharge the batteries from shore power.

You can call me during the next 15 or 20 minutes. Its 11:08pm in Wisconsin. 262-377-4175

[Archived]

1. Does the system work on Gen power? If yes then the time delay relay is the answer

If the house batteries are dead you will have to charge them and may be able to do so by running the main engine.

[Archived]

Jeff’s advice may seem simple, but it is essential that you observe what he has said. If the house batteries are dead or nearly dead you will lose all controls of the various house functions and before you can do anything you need to get them recharged.

Once you know the house batteries are charged you can do trouble shooting. If you start the coach the alternator is going to start putting a charge into the batteries. After a while you should be able to get enough voltage so your generator start system will function and if you can start the generator and everything is back to normal or at least beginning to function it will confirm his diagnosis.

I cannot remem ber if loss of power to the house requires a reset of the Watchdog or the PLCs. Perhaps Jeff and jump in again.

[Dick]

I will try to answer all of your questions above and see what you think.

We brought the coach into South Lake Tahoe on Monday at around 1 pm and checked into a hotel here to give everyone a day or so break. Because there was no hook up in the parking lot I kept the generator running to keep the bus cool (we bought several cases of wine in Napa that I didn’t wan to ruin). Essentially we were dry docked with minimal powe requirement on the generator of one AC running and the fridge. After one night everything was normal but returning the next morning the generator WAS STILL RUNNING but off line. The “clicking” noise was present and the bus will not accept 24 or 12 V power to the systems (internals only). The generator would not shut down unless holding the reset button on the bottom of the watchdog was engaged. At this point the only thing working is the Prevost only systems.

One thing to note is that replacing the fuse on fuse number 48 (which is the fuse that i pulled to stop the clicking on and off of the circuitry) DID fix the problem momentarily. We started the generator BACK up and turned some lights on and everything seemed normal. We left for dinner and returned to the coach and found the same situatin (Generator on – offline, cant shut down, no controls). After putting several different small fuses into number 48 there was no change. I then shut the generator down overnight using the watchdog reset and turned absolutely everything off including the coach 24 and 12 V battery switches in hopes that if there WAS a drain having everything off line would help. Spent the night in hotel again and going to try again early this morning.

House batteries are all new as of 2 1/2 yeara ago.

Any help is appreciated. Don’t know if running the engine today will charge the house batteries and will help but its the first thing I am going to try. It DOES act like a circuit not getting enough juice to close but what would that have to do with the fuse? Also it is NOT blowing the fuse! I am just changing it. Could the fuse holder have a short?

Mark and Lorenda Wyant

[Gerald]

I am not familiar with the circuit or device that has the fuse, but you will be able to charge the house batteries by running the engine.

As they charge and reach a full charge all the house systems will work. I will yield to Jeff on a diagnosis regarding the generator not charging via the inverters. It does sound like a transfer switch issue.

FWIW, your back up in instances like this is the engine. With it running you have AC or heat, your house batteries are getting charged and everything should be working. That allows you the luxury of dealing with the problem you are having at your convenience and with people you trust and know.

Don’t worry about the engine. Running it 24/7 is not going to harm it.

[Kim]

Mark: Without the generator or the coach engine running, what is the voltage readout on the “House” gauge? On our 99 Liberty there are two combo Voltage/Amp gauges on the dash, one for the “House” and one for the “Engine”.

I don’t want to challenge what Jon said … but … when we first bought the coach I didn’t have access to shore power and relied on the generator to keep the house batteries charged. Being new to the coach somehow autostart got turned off and the house batteries got drained. Generator wouldn’t charge them and give us 120volts from the inverters, Detroit Diesel wouldn’t charge them or give us 120 volts. Jeff concluded the house batteries were too low and “something” (I don’t remember what) was keeping everything from working like expected. He talked me through the process to charge the house batteries using 12 volt car charger (took a while) but it worked. The voltage on the house batteries came up and I was able to charge the batteries back up with the generator and all was good.

That’s why I’m asking what the voltage is on the house batteries from the gauge on the dash. If it high enough, that eliminates one potential problem. From my observation, that gauge always tells you the voltage in the house batteries. For the chassis batteries you need to have the key in at least the “on” position.

[Dick]

Do you have a voltmeter that you can get accurate readings with? Be sure when changing fuses and pulling fuses that you use the same rated fuse. When the gen is running you have a-c voltage present from the gen, however I would guess the time delay is dropping in and out…If the gen was not producing any voltage the gen would overheat as the cooling fan is 120v and powered directly off of the gen….

[Archived]

Jon and everyone,

Thanks for the information. As I am new to this coach (bet you never could have guessed lol) I have a lot to learn. I did not know (thanks Jon) that the engine could charge the house batteries for instance operating under the assumption that the chassis and the “build out” operated on totally different systems. Easy fix. Started the engine, ran it for 15 minutes and the circuit worked fine (most likely just not enough voltage in the batteries after they ran down to connect). Anyway everything worked fine after that. I think my problem that I will have traced is that the generators somehow came “off line” from charging the system (even though they were running). I heard the generators running, assumed everything was being charged and didn’t check the inverters or panel (next time I won’t be so trusting). Once the generators fell off line the inverter continued to power the systems that were on the best they could until the house batteries were depleted leaving me with my previous situation. I now know that the engine can charge those batteries back up again so thats one more piece of knowledge!

Again thanks guys for the responses. So far we have logged 4,000 miles on our 4 week western journey and the only thing “down hard” is the aux air compressor (a new one installed incorrectly by Excalibur) , the awning and one TV roll down screen. Not bad.

[Dick]

Mark: Generators … plural? Do you mean inverters? Glad to hear that things are working better. Enjoy the rest of the trip. If you have any further problems, post the problem. We’re all here to help.