House battery charging while driving.

LK23 · 05-28-2006, 07:40 PM

When I checked my electrical panel I found the house batteries were not being charged when the engine was running and not connected to shore power. Does the inverter need to be on to charge the house batteries?

LK23 · 05-28-2006, 07:40 PM

When I checked my electrical panel I found the house batteries were not being charged when the engine was running and not connected to shore power. Does the inverter need to be on to charge the house batteries?

ajbjrvers · 05-28-2006, 10:45 PM

LK23;

Don't have a Winnie, but my house batteries get charged when engine running. When on shore power or gen set ,I have to put charger on manually. I could set inverter/charger to go on/off automatically, but rather use manual mode

tomsm · 05-29-2006, 02:01 AM

Engine should charge both sets of batteries. If I remember correctly, the 'aux start' solenoid is activated and connects the two sets of batteries when the engine is running. Again, if I remember right, there is a fuse right on the solenoid that might be causing the problem. Sorry for all the caveats, both neither my MH or my black bag are at home right now.

tomsm · 05-29-2006, 05:52 AM

Just stopped by the RV to pick up a grill for use later today - I was wrong about the fuse, it's on the battery disconnect solenoid. So you can unregard at least half of what I said. The experts must all be out RVin' - maybe you'll get the answer tomorrow...

bill jones · 05-29-2006, 07:19 AM

Tom, the aux solenoid is closed when the key is in the run position (not start). Run voltage comes thru the lower of the two relays just above the aux start solenoid. You should hear that solenoid close when the key is turned to the run position. I found a ground wire not connected to ground on that relay. Connected the ground and all works. The relay you want is the lower one. Let us know what you find.

LK23 · 05-29-2006, 02:16 PM

I checked again today. My house batteries will charge when the inverter is on but not when the inverter is off and the engine is running. My display says "Charger Off, No Input".

Should I check a solenoid and if so, where is it located?

tomsm · 05-29-2006, 03:21 PM

The inverter/charger panel may be confusing you. It only shows what the inverter/charger is doing, which is only active when you're plugged into shore power or the generator is running. That panel doesn't know when the engine is charging the batteries because that's coming straight from the engine alternator and is not involved with the inverter/charger. The only way to tell if your house batteries are being charged by the engine is by displaying the house battery voltage while the engine is running. If the voltage is 13 volts or higher, the engine is charging them.

Hope I didn't make it more confusing. The message "Charger Off, No Input" would be normal if you're not plugged into shore power and your generator is not running.

LK23 · 05-29-2006, 06:15 PM

Tom,

Thanks for clearing that up. I thought I had something wrong.

Rex

bill jones · 05-29-2006, 06:27 PM

If your rig is about the same as mine, the solenoid we are referring to is behind the fuse/breaker panel on the front firewall. take off the panel and look on the lower left side. There is a solenoid with two large diameter red cables connected to both sides. One side is from the chassis battery bank and the other side is from the coach battery bank. The activating voltage for this solenoid comes from the small black relay above and to the left of the solenoid. What activates this relay is voltage from you turning the key to the right (called run only voltage) or selecting and holding the aux start switch on the dash. I found on mine the ground for this relay was not connected to chassis ground.