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12 volt system draw down

Yahoo Message Number: 88933
We were dry camping this weekend with my 2003 CC Allure and after a 1 1/2 days the house batteries (which are new this year) went down to 35% , all the lights were dim so I tried to start the generator and it would only prime but not start. Finally I started the engine and then was able to start the generator but after running the generator for half an hour still dim lights and no 120v power. Eventually went to a campground and plugged in, charged the house batteries back up and everything seems fine. My question is Has anyone else experienced this issue and why didn't I have full power back when I got the generator started? Any advice or suggestions would be great. Don't think my house batteries should go down that fast. Thanks Randy

Re: 12 volt system draw down

Reply #1 –
Yahoo Message Number: 88938
Unless you have added extra batteries, or are very frugal with your electric, 12 to 18 hours is all I would ever expect to get to 50% SOC. then I would charge the batteries. My typical usage would require ~2 hours twice a day while preparing breakfast and diner.
At 35% you might need 6 hours charge to bring the batteries up. Your voltage was probably down bellow 10.5 and after half an hour still wasn't up to 11.

Bob Wexler
sOB

Re: 12 volt system draw down

Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 88939
Randy,

Kind of had something like that once, but I was at 9000' elevation and it was 100 degrees. So when I got the generator started all the power was going to the air conditioners. Later I found out that at that altitude my gen only puts out a little over half it's rating. There is a turbo kit I could have installed according to Onan.
I do know that if my batteries got down that low it would take probably 4 hours running the genet to charge them, but my lights and everything would be at full and I could use the microwave so it sounds like the transfer switch didn't switch and start charging or maybe the breaker on the generator was tripped.
I started my gen to run the AC and didn't get power. Wanting to cool the coach before heading out on a new trip. After about 10 minutes I extended the genset and the breaker was off. I must have bumped it when I was checking the coolant, and oil levels getting ready for the trip.

Mark and Helen
07 Intrigue 12162
C13 Cat Allison
06 Rubicon LJ

Re: 12 volt system draw down

Reply #3 –
Yahoo Message Number: 88940
Randy,

Did you have the main circuit breaker in the on position? I believe you need it on to charge batteries. Also what was your 12 volt voltage while running the generator? It should been near 14 volts.

Don

Re: 12 volt system draw down

Reply #4 –
Yahoo Message Number: 88954
Randy,

The first question is what do have for house batteries? The next question is what exactly have you been running for a day and a half? Also, generally speaking, you should have things set so your generator starts when your batteries are at 50% state of charge. But 35% is OK occasionally.

Rich 2002 Magna

Re: 12 volt system draw down

Reply #5 –
Yahoo Message Number: 88981
Rich,

I have two large heavy duty deep cycle batteries, they appear to each be the size of three batteries combined and they are relatively new about one year old. Something must have been running and I think I had the refer set for auto so when I turned on the inverter that may have drawn them down. The other mistake I made was to turn off the automatic generator start system which starts the genset when the batteries are at 40% SOC. I turned it off so as to not disrupt the campground in the middle of the night when the genset went on. It seems that when I have the inverter on it draws down the power quite fast so I'm still wondering what is causing that. I also have a solar setup on the rig but we were camped in the shade so that was not producing too much of a change. I'm going through the coach now that I'm home and trying to simulate the situation to find out what's drawing all the power. We just picked up this rig and it has a whole lot more circuits than I'm used to in the fleetwood bounder we owned previously. The batteries are liquid acid, is there a better battery that can be used? Thanks for getting back to me.
Randy Brix
2003 Allure

Re: 12 volt system draw down

Reply #6 –
Yahoo Message Number: 88988
This happened to us on our trip to Alaska. Lost the radiator and the tranny. Replaced both. Had to since by the time we did the tranny had been destroyed because the friction plates in the Allison are made with a water based glue. The coolant is a water based material and dissolved the glue that binds the transmission's friction plate material. You do need the radiator replaced with a copper/steel one and then mounted in rubber cushioned mounts before re-attaching it to the frame. You might get away without rebuilding the tranny if flushed and found to be okay - - but that's doubtful. Additionally, the tranny is very large; at the Freightliner shop we were in, in Anchorage, the only way they could get the tranny out required the removal of the (side) radiators - there are three of them. I only mention that because if you just replaced the engine radiator, and flushed the tranny and then discovered that the tranny still needed rebuilding you might once again need the radiators removed - just to get the tranny out and back in - an expensive affair. Something to discuss with your shop.

Good luck with the process. By the way, if CC had still been a viable business at the time of our failure I would have sued them. They knew this to be a problem but did not inform owners so that at the very least the radiator could have been replaced before failure and the resulting destruction of the transmission. Additionally, when we attempted to purchase a new radiator, CC tried to pawn-off on us another aluminum one!

Cheers,

Mel Shapiro

'03 LEXA (Had 40,000 miles at the time of radiator/tranny failure).