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Charging Circuit?

Yahoo Message Number: 7908
Went out to the coach to move it this morning and it wouldn't start.
Started looking around and found the chassis and coach batteries all under 12 volts. Even the boost relay wouldn't kick in.
I have the coach plugged in but it appears I have to put a charger on the chassis battery because I wasn't getting a charge on it while plugged in. Did that and hopefully it will fix the problem.
While I'm killing time waiting for things to charge up, I took a look at the schematics and I can't seem to find where the coach batteries charge while driving. Is this really the case? I'm kind of surprised that they aren't charged off the alternator but I can't find a link in the drawings. Do I need to run the generator to charge them?

At least my first crises happened in my driveway - trouble is we're packing for Florida!
Dave

Re: Charging Circuit?

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7912
Dave, when plugging in the coach to shore power, it should charge both your house and chassis batteries. The echo "charger" between them should charge your chassis batteries at a voltage that's maybe 0.4 volts lower than the house battery charge voltage. The echo charger will drop the amperage rate more and more once both batteries get to a fully charged state.

So the order is (when plugged into shore power):
1) the main charger will charge the house batteries.
2) the echo charger (between house and chassis batteries) will charge
the chassis batteries from the house batteries, never the other way around. Thus when parked for a couple of weeks, the chassis batteries should still be able to start the engine.
When driving the "boost relay" will be turned on and the engine driven alternator will charge both the house and chassis batteries (they are connected through the boost relay).
If the house batteries don't charge the chassis batteries, there may be a problem with the echo charger (mine was factory-wired backwards, causing a prematurely drain on the chassis batteries).

Quote from: tandemsince83

Re: Charging Circuit?

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7918
Hi, Dave

Welcome to the group.

If you add your coach info to your signature, it helps folks give better advice, since things seem to change so much between models and years. Some problems turn out to be common to groups of coaches built within a certain time frame.

Bill Harris

03 Allure 1st Ave 30912
Datastorm

Quote from: tandemsince83
Went out to the coach to move it this morning and it wouldn't

start.

Quote
Started looking around and found the chassis and coach batteries

all

Quote
under 12 volts. Even the boost relay wouldn't kick in.

I have the coach plugged in but it appears I have to put a charger

on

Quote
the chassis battery because I wasn't getting a charge on it while > plugged in. Did that and hopefully it will fix the problem.

While I'm killing time waiting for things to charge up, I took a

look

Quote
at the schematics and I can't seem to find where the coach

batteries

Quote
charge while driving. Is this really the case? I'm kind of

surprised

Quote
that they aren't charged off the alternator but I can't find a

link in

Re: Charging Circuit?

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7919
Bill -

Thanks for the suggestion about the signature! It's great to have this resource.
Dave

'98 Allure #30187

Quote from: Bill Harris
 

Re: Charging Circuit?

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 7927
Dave,

I also had the problem with the echo charger not charging the chassis battery when attached to shore power (or with the generator running) - only the engine alternator charged the chassis battery.

As in Henk's coach, our echo charger was incorrectly wired at the factory - the chassis and house battery leads were reversed. Both leads were fused so it was merely a matter of disconnecting both fuses and cross connecting them - now each fuse has a solid color wire on one end and a striped wire on the other end.
This change cleared up several electrical anomalies that had plagued me for several months.
--

Tom Harsch 2002 Allure #30791