Whats the name of the chassis trickle charger?

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by cbeierl

Rick, I'm sorry, but this is incorrect for the OP's coach. Yes, there is a Battery Mode Solenoid, but this is just a solenoid with no smarts of any kind. It is activated either by the running engine or the Battery Boost switch on the dash, and therefore ONLY connects the two battery banks together in those cases.


If the engine isn't running and the Battery Boost switch isn't depressed neither shore power nor the generator will charge the OP's chassis batteries. If this solenoid does fail (as many have) then the engine won't charge the house/coach batteries and the Battery Boost switch won't have any effect.

Chris, I will bow to you and apologize to all. I was responding from my personal experiences and from other posts on the forums I am on. I tried to follow the wiring diagrams for the OP's coach but I could not get enough clear information to prove or disprove what I believe. I looked at the operators manual for the Suncruser and for the Vectra. Both talk of charging the house battery. Nether mention the chassis battery charging. The Vectra has a similar battery circuit and charges both banks from the inverter. I had no success in finding the information I needed to prove my premise, therefor I must consider that I am in error.

Happy trails,
Rick

[cbeierl]

Originally Posted by jerichorick

Chris, I will bow to you and apologize to all. I was responding from my personal experiences and from other posts on the forums I am on. I tried to follow the wiring diagrams for the OP's coach but I could not get enough clear information to prove or disprove what I believe. I looked at the operators manual for the Suncruser and for the Vectra. Both talk of charging the house battery. Nether mention the chassis battery charging. The Vectra has a similar battery circuit and charges both banks from the inverter. I had no success in finding the information I needed to prove my premise, therefor I must consider that I am in error.

Happy trails,
Rick

Rick, no need to bow down. We're both doing our best to help others out, so we all win! My 2005 Vectra didn't charge the chassis batteries either from shore power or the generator until I added the Trik-L-Start as Winnebago started doing in 2006 for the diesel pushers. I don't know when (if?) Winnebago upgraded the gassers to do so as well, but it wasn't in 2006.

Looking at the last page of the Automotive Wiring Diagram for the OP's coach you can see the dash Battery Boost switch in the upper left corner of the page. It has three wires connected to it: KE supplies power when the engine is running, LS is a constant power supply, and LR is the lead going to the Battery Mode Solenoid (as you can see in the Body, 12 Volt Wiring Diagram you linked to earlier) to activate it. In the normal rest position the Battery Boost switch connects KE to LR, but when it is momentarily activated it connects LS to LR instead. That is the only source of inputs to the Battery Mode Solenoid which connects both battery banks together when the input line LR supplies power to it. (The wiring on my Vectra is the same.)

[jerrybb]

Well, as the OP I think I can end my question by just keeping my tender plugged in or springing for a Trik-L-Start. It's not worth $50 to me to avoid plugging in the little unit. It's been established that there is no charge provided to the chassis battery, as I first said, but it's a nice feature if you have it on a later coach. Thanks for all the input and we all learned a little more.

[neub]

Originally Posted by cbeierl

Rick, I'm sorry, but this is incorrect for the OP's n8coach. Yes, there is a Battery Mode Solenoid, but this is just a solenoid with no smarts of any kind. It is activated either by the running engine or the Battery Boost switch on the dash, and therefore ONLY connects the two battery banks together in those cases.


If the engine isn't running and the Battery Boost switch isn't depressed neither shore power nor the generator will charge the OP's chassis batteries. If this solenoid does fail (as many have) then the engine won't charge the house/coach batteries and the Battery Boost switch won't have any effect.

Absolutely correct as that was the way our 2005 Journey was originally configured. Winnebago started installing the trik-l-start on their diesel MH in 2006 and released a technical service bulletin instructing owners with older units on how to install the trik-l-start so that chassis batteries would maintain a full charge when the house was plugged in. The TSB is still available on the Winnebago website for reference.

[jerichorick]

Originally Posted by cbeierl

Rick, no need to bow down. We're both doing our best to help others out, so we all win! My 2005 Vectra didn't charge the chassis batteries either from shore power or the generator until I added the Trik-L-Start as Winnebago started doing in 2006 for the diesel pushers. I don't know when (if?) Winnebago upgraded the gassers to do so as well, but it wasn't in 2006.

Looking at the last page of the Automotive Wiring Diagram for the OP's coach you can see the dash Battery Boost switch in the upper left corner of the page. It has three wires connected to it: KE supplies power when the engine is running, LS is a constant power supply, and LR is the lead going to the Battery Mode Solenoid (as you can see in the Body, 12 Volt Wiring Diagram you linked to earlier) to activate it. In the normal rest position the Battery Boost switch connects KE to LR, but when it is momentarily activated it connects LS to LR instead. That is the only source of inputs to the Battery Mode Solenoid which connects both battery banks together when the input line LR supplies power to it. (The wiring on my Vectra is the same.)

Chris, this is the exact reason we are at odds here. Both of my banks did charge from the inverter on my '05 FD. I had to replace the solenoid because mine had failed. I don't understand the construction of them entirely. As I have seen, the solenoid seemed to find the low voltage bank and connect the inverter to it. When I replaced my aux solenoid the chassis battery started to be charged once again. I do hope I am not remembering in error.
The coach I am no in, Meridian 40U has a completely different setup for charging and uses an actual B.I.R.D. solenoid.
Just to let you know, Chris. This discussion has completely shattered my understanding of how the 2 banks got charged when on shore power. It IS a good day when an old dog unlearns a old, bad trick. Thanks for setting me to question my thinking.

Rick

[cbeierl]

Originally Posted by jerichorick

Chris, this is the exact reason we are at odds here. Both of my banks did charge from the inverter on my '05 FD. I had to replace the solenoid because mine had failed. I don't understand the construction of them entirely. As I have seen, the solenoid seemed to find the low voltage bank and connect the inverter to it. When I replaced my aux solenoid the chassis battery started to be charged once again. I do hope I am not remembering in error.
The coach I am no in, Meridian 40U has a completely different setup for charging and uses an actual B.I.R.D. solenoid.
Just to let you know, Chris. This discussion has completely shattered my understanding of how the 2 banks got charged when on shore power. It IS a good day when an old dog unlearns a old, bad trick. Thanks for setting me to question my thinking.

Rick

Just fyi, the solenoid we're talking about here is like a relay--just an electrically operated passive 'switch' which connects/disconnects a high-current connection controlled by a low-current activation wire. Other devices such as the B.I.R.D and (more recent?) BIM (Battery Isolation Manager) do have smarts in them and actively determine when to connect the battery banks together, based on state of charge, power source, or other factors.