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Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Printable Version +- Wanderlodge Gurus - The Member Funded Wanderlodge Forum (http://www.wanderlodgegurus.com) +-- Forum: Yahoo Groups Archive (/forumdisplay.php?fid=61) +--- Forum: WanderlodgeForum (/forumdisplay.php?fid=63) +--- Thread: Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. (/showthread.php?tid=3347) Pages: 1 2 |
Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Adria Haynes - 09-05-2006 04:25 Gang. Please know going into this thing that I'm well aware that I'm wordy - but I do so in an effort to be thorough. So please, grab a soda and get comfy. ![]() I lurk here often and post very little. We are in our 3rd summer with our 80 BB 35FC and it has been bitter sweet. The payments are bitter for 12 months a year, and the bus is sweet when we use it for about 12 days a year. ![]() Anyways, it's getting harder to justify and we have toyed with the idea of selling it after this past Labor Day weekend, but it gave us a little "gotcha" when it came time to go home. I don't know if it was "quitting before we could fire it" or what, but I could use some help on the problem if/before we put it on the market. The problem: I think my battery chargers are hosed. When we bought the bus, the Trojan batteries had been killed by the PO leaving the fridge set to electrical. We dealt with them not holding a charge until last summer when I bought 4 new batteries. Even then, it seemed that even though I'd make sure I had everythign off - something drained them. I got tired of them being drained when I'd go out for the monthly "start up and run for awile" so I decided to just leave the bus plugged in to my garage. That was fine until my new batteries blew up. I replaced those batteries with 4 new ones in June and all seemed well through our trip in July. I was told that my 1980 chargers wouldn't trickle charge, but were steady pumpers that over charged the batteries. Lesson learned. When we got home from the July trip, I plugged the bus into the house again. It took me about 3 weeks to remember, but I unplugged the chargers too. On this past Friday I went out to fire the old girl up and she was dead. I plugged in the chargers and Saturday morning it fired right up. After work on saturday, I went to start it again and it cranked very slowly, then on the last possible revolution - she took off and purred like I knew she would and I took the bus to the campground where my family already was waiting for me with other family members. I plugged into 30 amp shore power with the chargers on until Monday afternoon. When I went to start it to leave, it wouldn't even click. I think I had an anurism. I found that with the chargers plugged in, the volts meter would wiggle at 12 until I tried to start it, then it would shake from pin to pin. It was wierd and I couldn't make any sense of it, but that isn't saying much either. About all I have ever learned about electricity is that it hurts when I touch it. I unplugged the charger and removed the 2 batteries that start the bus and put each one on an external 6V charger. They both took 4 amps for over 2 hours with no improvement. When I removed the other 2 RV batteries so that I could take all 4 in for testing, the ground posts on those two had some deformation and melting, which I knew was bad. I got ANOTHER 4 new batteries, hooked up the 2 that I needed to make it run and it fired right up. We got it home and I un hooked those parallel batteries from one another, the RV ones never did get hooked up, and the chargers are also unplugged for now. It seemed to me and everybody else that the charger that was supposed to be charging the batteries was the very thing that was screwing everything up. It's the only thing that makes sense to me, but like I said - I don't know much about these things and my pool of experience is growing, but still VERY shallow. Thank you for your time and patience with me thus far. Now that you have that little bit of history, my questions are as follows: Does this make sense to anybody else or am I on something that the chargers are hosed? Is there a way to check the charging unit that is hard wired into the bus without unhooking it all? If it only makes sense to replace this unit, what are my "best value" options? Does anybody have a used one that's still good that they'd sell? Thank you very much for your help, John, Adria, Blase, Kaleigh, Jade, and Gage. Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Rob Robinson - 09-05-2006 04:53 Orginally I thought you might have changed out the old 'battery boilers' when you said "lesson learned" but maybe not????? If you didn't then I would change them out with something like Truecharge or IOTA. I have two 55A IOTA with two Charge Wizards attached to give me Bulk, Float and Absorbtion cycles. They were cheaper alternatives to the better option a a Truecharge40 On 05/09/06, Adria Haynes <mrbeebody@...> wrote: > > Gang. Please know going into this thing that I'm well aware that > I'm wordy - but I do so in an effort to be thorough. So please, grab > a soda and get comfy. ![]() > > I lurk here often and post very little. We are in our 3rd summer > with our 80 BB 35FC and it has been bitter sweet. The payments are > bitter for 12 months a year, and the bus is sweet when we use it for > about 12 days a year. ![]() > > Anyways, it's getting harder to justify and we have toyed with the > idea of selling it after this past Labor Day weekend, but it gave us > a little "gotcha" when it came time to go home. I don't know if it > was "quitting before we could fire it" or what, but I could use some > help on the problem if/before we put it on the market. > > The problem: I think my battery chargers are hosed. > > When we bought the bus, the Trojan batteries had been killed by the > PO leaving the fridge set to electrical. We dealt with them not > holding a charge until last summer when I bought 4 new batteries. > Even then, it seemed that even though I'd make sure I had > everythign off - something drained them. I got tired of them being > drained when I'd go out for the monthly "start up and run for awile" > so I decided to just leave the bus plugged in to my garage. That > was fine until my new batteries blew up. I replaced those batteries > with 4 new ones in June and all seemed well through our trip in > July. I was told that my 1980 chargers wouldn't trickle charge, but > were steady pumpers that over charged the batteries. Lesson learned. > > When we got home from the July trip, I plugged the bus into the > house again. It took me about 3 weeks to remember, but I unplugged > the chargers too. On this past Friday I went out to fire the old > girl up and she was dead. I plugged in the chargers and Saturday > morning it fired right up. After work on saturday, I went to start > it again and it cranked very slowly, then on the last possible > revolution - she took off and purred like I knew she would and I > took the bus to the campground where my family already was waiting > for me with other family members. I plugged into 30 amp shore power > with the chargers on until Monday afternoon. When I went to start > it to leave, it wouldn't even click. I think I had an anurism. > > I found that with the chargers plugged in, the volts meter would > wiggle at 12 until I tried to start it, then it would shake from pin > to pin. It was wierd and I couldn't make any sense of it, but that > isn't saying much either. About all I have ever learned about > electricity is that it hurts when I touch it. > > I unplugged the charger and removed the 2 batteries that start the > bus and put each one on an external 6V charger. They both took 4 > amps for over 2 hours with no improvement. When I removed the other > 2 RV batteries so that I could take all 4 in for testing, the ground > posts on those two had some deformation and melting, which I knew > was bad. > > I got ANOTHER 4 new batteries, hooked up the 2 that I needed to make > it run and it fired right up. We got it home and I un hooked those > parallel batteries from one another, the RV ones never did get > hooked up, and the chargers are also unplugged for now. > > It seemed to me and everybody else that the charger that was > supposed to be charging the batteries was the very thing that was > screwing everything up. It's the only thing that makes sense to me, > but like I said - I don't know much about these things and my pool > of experience is growing, but still VERY shallow. > > Thank you for your time and patience with me thus far. Now that you > have that little bit of history, my questions are as follows: > > Does this make sense to anybody else or am I on something that the > chargers are hosed? > > Is there a way to check the charging unit that is hard wired into > the bus without unhooking it all? > > If it only makes sense to replace this unit, what are my "best > value" options? > > Does anybody have a used one that's still good that they'd sell? > > Thank you very much for your help, > > John, Adria, Blase, Kaleigh, Jade, and Gage. > > > -- Rob, Sue & Merlin Robinson 94 WLWB [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - one_dusty_hoot - 09-05-2006 06:36 You have a choice, a simple one, seems like you have gone through 5 sets of batteries. Weigh continuing this, battery cost after battery cost against the cost of a new charging system. Add inconvenience too. Why test the charger? Replace, and enjoy your MH. Bob Janes, '87FC35, Greenville, SC --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Rob Robinson" > > Orginally I thought you might have changed out the old 'battery boilers' > when you said "lesson learned" but maybe not????? If you didn't then I would > change them out with something like Truecharge or IOTA. I have two 55A IOTA > with two Charge Wizards attached to give me Bulk, Float and Absorbtion > cycles. They were cheaper alternatives to the better option a a Truecharge40 > > On 05/09/06, Adria Haynes <mrbeebody@...> wrote: > > > > Gang. Please know going into this thing that I'm well aware that > > I'm wordy - but I do so in an effort to be thorough. So please, grab > > a soda and get comfy. ![]() > > > > I lurk here often and post very little. We are in our 3rd summer > > with our 80 BB 35FC and it has been bitter sweet. The payments are > > bitter for 12 months a year, and the bus is sweet when we use it for > > about 12 days a year. ![]() > > > > Anyways, it's getting harder to justify and we have toyed with the > > idea of selling it after this past Labor Day weekend, but it gave us > > a little "gotcha" when it came time to go home. I don't know if it > > was "quitting before we could fire it" or what, but I could use some > > help on the problem if/before we put it on the market. > > > > The problem: I think my battery chargers are hosed. > > > > When we bought the bus, the Trojan batteries had been killed by the > > PO leaving the fridge set to electrical. We dealt with them not > > holding a charge until last summer when I bought 4 new batteries. > > Even then, it seemed that even though I'd make sure I had > > everythign off - something drained them. I got tired of them being > > drained when I'd go out for the monthly "start up and run for awile" > > so I decided to just leave the bus plugged in to my garage. That > > was fine until my new batteries blew up. I replaced those batteries > > with 4 new ones in June and all seemed well through our trip in > > July. I was told that my 1980 chargers wouldn't trickle charge, but > > were steady pumpers that over charged the batteries. Lesson learned. > > > > When we got home from the July trip, I plugged the bus into the > > house again. It took me about 3 weeks to remember, but I unplugged > > the chargers too. On this past Friday I went out to fire the old > > girl up and she was dead. I plugged in the chargers and Saturday > > morning it fired right up. After work on saturday, I went to start > > it again and it cranked very slowly, then on the last possible > > revolution - she took off and purred like I knew she would and I > > took the bus to the campground where my family already was waiting > > for me with other family members. I plugged into 30 amp shore power > > with the chargers on until Monday afternoon. When I went to start > > it to leave, it wouldn't even click. I think I had an anurism. > > > > I found that with the chargers plugged in, the volts meter would > > wiggle at 12 until I tried to start it, then it would shake from pin > > to pin. It was wierd and I couldn't make any sense of it, but that > > isn't saying much either. About all I have ever learned about > > electricity is that it hurts when I touch it. > > > > I unplugged the charger and removed the 2 batteries that start the > > bus and put each one on an external 6V charger. They both took 4 > > amps for over 2 hours with no improvement. When I removed the other > > 2 RV batteries so that I could take all 4 in for testing, the ground > > posts on those two had some deformation and melting, which I knew > > was bad. > > > > I got ANOTHER 4 new batteries, hooked up the 2 that I needed to make > > it run and it fired right up. We got it home and I un hooked those > > parallel batteries from one another, the RV ones never did get > > hooked up, and the chargers are also unplugged for now. > > > > It seemed to me and everybody else that the charger that was > > supposed to be charging the batteries was the very thing that was > > screwing everything up. It's the only thing that makes sense to me, > > but like I said - I don't know much about these things and my pool > > of experience is growing, but still VERY shallow. > > > > Thank you for your time and patience with me thus far. Now that you > > have that little bit of history, my questions are as follows: > > > > Does this make sense to anybody else or am I on something that the > > chargers are hosed? > > > > Is there a way to check the charging unit that is hard wired into > > the bus without unhooking it all? > > > > If it only makes sense to replace this unit, what are my "best > > value" options? > > > > Does anybody have a used one that's still good that they'd sell? > > > > Thank you very much for your help, > > > > John, Adria, Blase, Kaleigh, Jade, and Gage. > > > > > > > > > > -- > Rob, Sue & Merlin Robinson > 94 WLWB > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Gregory OConnor - 09-05-2006 07:27 John, Adria the largest drain on your batteries is probably your word processor. If you're selling, keep the chargers and just disconnect them. Pick up a 40.00 charger at Sams Club that has 6V and is automatic. Use the cheepo charger for storage charging. If you do not have electric where you store it, pick up several solar chargers from Harborfreight or the like. ( you may have to learn how to disconnect the ground on both banks if the phantom battey drail output while docked is more than the 2 amp charge input) When you want to drive the rig, first start the genset for an hour or two (they need the work out). The genset will charge all the batteries, both house and engine. Starting the cat on weak batteries is bad for the starter. You can tell the buyers why you use this method. I think your bus is worth what it will always be worth. The FC's have little depreciation, they are the best value and if you sell at a loss ( less that what you paid), you could replace it for the same amount. (= no actual loss) I'm a product of public schoolin'. I hope that helps you in your private/public school decision. Gregory O'Connor 94ptRomolandCa ditch digger --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Adria Haynes" <mrbeebody@...> wrote: > > Gang. Please know going into this thing that I'm well aware that > I'm wordy - but I do so in an effort to be thorough. So please, grab > a soda and get comfy. ![]() > > I lurk here often and post very little. We are in our 3rd summer > with our 80 BB 35FC and it has been bitter sweet. The payments are > bitter for 12 months a year, and the bus is sweet when we use it for > about 12 days a year. ![]() > > Anyways, it's getting harder to justify and we have toyed with the > idea of selling it after this past Labor Day weekend, but it gave us > a little "gotcha" when it came time to go home. I don't know if it > was "quitting before we could fire it" or what, but I could use some > help on the problem if/before we put it on the market. > > The problem: I think my battery chargers are hosed. > > When we bought the bus, the Trojan batteries had been killed by the > PO leaving the fridge set to electrical. We dealt with them not > holding a charge until last summer when I bought 4 new batteries. > Even then, it seemed that even though I'd make sure I had > everythign off - something drained them. I got tired of them being > drained when I'd go out for the monthly "start up and run for awile" > so I decided to just leave the bus plugged in to my garage. That > was fine until my new batteries blew up. I replaced those batteries > with 4 new ones in June and all seemed well through our trip in > July. I was told that my 1980 chargers wouldn't trickle charge, but > were steady pumpers that over charged the batteries. Lesson learned. > > When we got home from the July trip, I plugged the bus into the > house again. It took me about 3 weeks to remember, but I unplugged > the chargers too. On this past Friday I went out to fire the old > girl up and she was dead. I plugged in the chargers and Saturday > morning it fired right up. After work on saturday, I went to start > it again and it cranked very slowly, then on the last possible > revolution - she took off and purred like I knew she would and I > took the bus to the campground where my family already was waiting > for me with other family members. I plugged into 30 amp shore power > with the chargers on until Monday afternoon. When I went to start > it to leave, it wouldn't even click. I think I had an anurism. > > I found that with the chargers plugged in, the volts meter would > wiggle at 12 until I tried to start it, then it would shake from pin > to pin. It was wierd and I couldn't make any sense of it, but that > isn't saying much either. About all I have ever learned about > electricity is that it hurts when I touch it. > > I unplugged the charger and removed the 2 batteries that start the > bus and put each one on an external 6V charger. They both took 4 > amps for over 2 hours with no improvement. When I removed the other > 2 RV batteries so that I could take all 4 in for testing, the ground > posts on those two had some deformation and melting, which I knew > was bad. > > I got ANOTHER 4 new batteries, hooked up the 2 that I needed to make > it run and it fired right up. We got it home and I un hooked those > parallel batteries from one another, the RV ones never did get > hooked up, and the chargers are also unplugged for now. > > It seemed to me and everybody else that the charger that was > supposed to be charging the batteries was the very thing that was > screwing everything up. It's the only thing that makes sense to me, > but like I said - I don't know much about these things and my pool > of experience is growing, but still VERY shallow. > > Thank you for your time and patience with me thus far. Now that you > have that little bit of history, my questions are as follows: > > Does this make sense to anybody else or am I on something that the > chargers are hosed? > > Is there a way to check the charging unit that is hard wired into > the bus without unhooking it all? > > If it only makes sense to replace this unit, what are my "best > value" options? > > Does anybody have a used one that's still good that they'd sell? > > Thank you very much for your help, > > John, Adria, Blase, Kaleigh, Jade, and Gage. > Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Adria Haynes - 09-05-2006 07:43 --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "one_dusty_hoot" > > You have a choice, a simple one, seems like you have > gone through 5 sets of batteries. Weigh continuing > this, battery cost after battery cost against the > cost of a new charging system. Add inconvenience too. > Why test the charger? Replace, and enjoy your MH. > Bob Janes, '87FC35, Greenville, SC > Well I didn't know anything about these being referred to as boilers and I didn't want to spend big bucks on replacing something based on my uneducated assumptions. The batteries are from Sam club - who have been gracious enough to replace them both times, including yesterday. It was never a matter of NOT replacing the chargers if I KNEW it was them, but rather a search for how to PROVE it was them. It looks like I was probaby correct in my assumptions and it's also good to learn that these ole sweetie's just naturally lose battery power via setting unlugged for extended time lengths and that there may be nothing wrong with her once I'm past this hurdle. I'll be looking into replacement charger options fairly soon and will probably spam you again for more help when that day comes. As it currently stands - I kind of don't get how one box can be two chargers, have two plug in cords, tie in to the electrical in two places. I guess I have some learning to do now that it's narrowed down. Devils advocate here..... Lets say I hook up a NEW charger and the RV battery duo still has the nagative posts cook and the volts meter still goes wiggly, and it still acts like it's mad at me - where would the next stop be? Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Adria Haynes - 09-05-2006 07:59 --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Gregory OConnor" > > John, Adria the largest drain on your batteries is probably your word > processor. If you're selling, keep the chargers and just disconnect > them. Pick up a 40.00 charger at Sams Club that has 6V and is > automatic. Use the cheepo charger for storage charging. If you do > not have electric where you store it, pick up several solar chargers > from Harborfreight or the like. ( you may have to learn how to > disconnect the ground on both banks if the phantom battey drail > output while docked is more than the 2 amp charge input) When you > want to drive the rig, first start the genset for an hour or two > (they need the work out). The genset will charge all the batteries, > both house and engine. Starting the cat on weak batteries is bad > for the starter. You can tell the buyers why you use this method. > > I think your bus is worth what it will always be worth. The FC's > have little depreciation, they are the best value and if you sell at > a loss ( less that what you paid), you could replace it for the same > amount. (= no actual loss) > > I'm a product of public schoolin'. I hope that helps you in your > private/public school decision. > > Gregory O'Connor > 94ptRomolandCa > ditch digger Thanks again. The decision for private schools isn't really negotiable and I also appreciate the $40 unit from Sam's Club. Here's another question - is it electrically legal to use a 12V charger if I hook the hot to one battery and the ground to it's connect 6V mate? Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - one_dusty_hoot - 09-05-2006 08:56 Stop=step. I don't think that would happen. From your previous post(s) you say you removed the batteries and they charged, started the engine fine, then camped, when you tried the starter it would not start. Have you heard of phanton drain? I think this is the term used. It is a drain on the battery bank with all switches, even the master, turned off. It is used in clocks radios, refrigertator, anything that would be desirable not to reset. This uses 3-6 amps of current all the time. If you disconnect the posts, just the posituve, this drain will be eliminated, all you will have remaining is the internal drain within the battery, forget that. 12V is 12v, if you have two 6V batteries in series, battery A and battery B, you wouid connect a 12 V Battery from negative charger to negative A, Positive charger to battery B. If you have a 6 V charger and 6 V batteries connected you will have to charge one at a time. You have two 6 V batteries in series that are in parallel with an equal arrangement. 12V ground to positive out. A high current capacity configuration. Sears has a charger, that is reported to be a semi-smart charger for $60-65. Or, if you have another charger use it, just don't leave it on all the time, batteries will boil and be ruined. As far as the volt meter going from peg to peg, it could be one of two things, one would be the momentum of the needle/pointer, two is the starter is acting as a generator on a no load portion of the engine rotation. If you are thinking of getting around 32K for you coach because that about what you have in it you may be awakened when you see what price some of them are selling. Just recently a nice coach, new paint scheme, was in the midst of a buy/seel for 20K. Chances are if selling is really a desire, you will not recieve as much as you have in the coach unless you are fortunate enough, and have enough time to find someone who wants the coach more that you did. These motor homes need care and money even while they are sitting idle, and, if you have monthly payments too they can really eat your lunch. You may have to take a loss selling rather than take a greater loss keeping it. Bob Janes, 87FC35, Greenville, SC --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Adria Haynes" <mrbeebody@...> wrote: > > --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "one_dusty_hoot" > > > > > You have a choice, a simple one, seems like you have > > gone through 5 sets of batteries. Weigh continuing > > this, battery cost after battery cost against the > > cost of a new charging system. Add inconvenience too. > > Why test the charger? Replace, and enjoy your MH. > > Bob Janes, '87FC35, Greenville, SC > > > > Well I didn't know anything about these being referred to as boilers > and I didn't want to spend big bucks on replacing something based on > my uneducated assumptions. The batteries are from Sam club - who > have been gracious enough to replace them both times, including > yesterday. > > It was never a matter of NOT replacing the chargers if I KNEW it was > them, but rather a search for how to PROVE it was them. It looks > like I was probaby correct in my assumptions and it's also good to > learn that these ole sweetie's just naturally lose battery power via > setting unlugged for extended time lengths and that there may be > nothing wrong with her once I'm past this hurdle. > > I'll be looking into replacement charger options fairly soon and > will probably spam you again for more help when that day comes. As > it currently stands - I kind of don't get how one box can be two > chargers, have two plug in cords, tie in to the electrical in two > places. I guess I have some learning to do now that it's narrowed > down. > > Devils advocate here..... > > Lets say I hook up a NEW charger and the RV battery duo still has > the nagative posts cook and the volts meter still goes wiggly, and > it still acts like it's mad at me - where would the next stop be? > Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - sfedeli3 - 09-05-2006 09:03 Hi John & Adria, I don't think that our coaches are designed to be parked for 2-3 weeks at-a-time without being plugged in. Mine has about an 8 amp drain from what can only be called "ghost circuits". I installed a battery disconnect so that I can leave the coach plugged in and use the old chargers to keep the 12V circuits on while in storage. Over the winter, I completely de-energize the bus and disconnect the batteries after fully charging them. Prior to getting a smart charger, I used to put the old chargers on an outdoor "christmas light" style timer that would turn them on for 2 hours a day. This was enough to top off the batteries without causing them to gas. IF you are getting rid of the coach, that is the cheapest solution to your problem and won't cook the new batteries. Othewise, get an IOTA or Xantrex smart charger that has a sensor to know when the batteries are charged and turns off automatically. They run around $400 for a 50 amp model. Shane Fedeli 85PT40 Hershey, PA --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Adria Haynes" <mrbeebody@...> wrote: > > Gang. Please know going into this thing that I'm well aware that > I'm wordy - but I do so in an effort to be thorough. So please, grab > a soda and get comfy. ![]() > > I lurk here often and post very little. We are in our 3rd summer > with our 80 BB 35FC and it has been bitter sweet. The payments are > bitter for 12 months a year, and the bus is sweet when we use it for > about 12 days a year. ![]() > > Anyways, it's getting harder to justify and we have toyed with the > idea of selling it after this past Labor Day weekend, but it gave us > a little "gotcha" when it came time to go home. I don't know if it > was "quitting before we could fire it" or what, but I could use some > help on the problem if/before we put it on the market. > > The problem: I think my battery chargers are hosed. > > When we bought the bus, the Trojan batteries had been killed by the > PO leaving the fridge set to electrical. We dealt with them not > holding a charge until last summer when I bought 4 new batteries. > Even then, it seemed that even though I'd make sure I had > everythign off - something drained them. I got tired of them being > drained when I'd go out for the monthly "start up and run for awile" > so I decided to just leave the bus plugged in to my garage. That > was fine until my new batteries blew up. I replaced those batteries > with 4 new ones in June and all seemed well through our trip in > July. I was told that my 1980 chargers wouldn't trickle charge, but > were steady pumpers that over charged the batteries. Lesson learned. > > When we got home from the July trip, I plugged the bus into the > house again. It took me about 3 weeks to remember, but I unplugged > the chargers too. On this past Friday I went out to fire the old > girl up and she was dead. I plugged in the chargers and Saturday > morning it fired right up. After work on saturday, I went to start > it again and it cranked very slowly, then on the last possible > revolution - she took off and purred like I knew she would and I > took the bus to the campground where my family already was waiting > for me with other family members. I plugged into 30 amp shore power > with the chargers on until Monday afternoon. When I went to start > it to leave, it wouldn't even click. I think I had an anurism. > > I found that with the chargers plugged in, the volts meter would > wiggle at 12 until I tried to start it, then it would shake from pin > to pin. It was wierd and I couldn't make any sense of it, but that > isn't saying much either. About all I have ever learned about > electricity is that it hurts when I touch it. > > I unplugged the charger and removed the 2 batteries that start the > bus and put each one on an external 6V charger. They both took 4 > amps for over 2 hours with no improvement. When I removed the other > 2 RV batteries so that I could take all 4 in for testing, the ground > posts on those two had some deformation and melting, which I knew > was bad. > > I got ANOTHER 4 new batteries, hooked up the 2 that I needed to make > it run and it fired right up. We got it home and I un hooked those > parallel batteries from one another, the RV ones never did get > hooked up, and the chargers are also unplugged for now. > > It seemed to me and everybody else that the charger that was > supposed to be charging the batteries was the very thing that was > screwing everything up. It's the only thing that makes sense to me, > but like I said - I don't know much about these things and my pool > of experience is growing, but still VERY shallow. > > Thank you for your time and patience with me thus far. Now that you > have that little bit of history, my questions are as follows: > > Does this make sense to anybody else or am I on something that the > chargers are hosed? > > Is there a way to check the charging unit that is hard wired into > the bus without unhooking it all? > > If it only makes sense to replace this unit, what are my "best > value" options? > > Does anybody have a used one that's still good that they'd sell? > > Thank you very much for your help, > > John, Adria, Blase, Kaleigh, Jade, and Gage. > Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Rob Robinson - 09-05-2006 09:18 Shane I bought my two IOTA 55amp plus two smart chargers for under $500. With tax I think I paid around $380 On 05/09/06, sfedeli3 <sfedeli3@...> wrote: > > Hi John & Adria, > > I don't think that our coaches are designed to be parked for 2-3 > weeks at-a-time without being plugged in. Mine has about an 8 amp > drain from what can only be called "ghost circuits". I installed a > battery disconnect so that I can leave the coach plugged in and use > the old chargers to keep the 12V circuits on while in storage. Over > the winter, I completely de-energize the bus and disconnect the > batteries after fully charging them. > > Prior to getting a smart charger, I used to put the old chargers on > an outdoor "christmas light" style timer that would turn them on for > 2 hours a day. This was enough to top off the batteries without > causing them to gas. IF you are getting rid of the coach, that is > the cheapest solution to your problem and won't cook the new > batteries. Othewise, get an IOTA or Xantrex smart charger that has a > sensor to know when the batteries are charged and turns off > automatically. They run around $400 for a 50 amp model. > > Shane Fedeli > 85PT40 > Hershey, PA > > --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com > "Adria Haynes" > <mrbeebody@...> wrote: > > > > Gang. Please know going into this thing that I'm well aware that > > I'm wordy - but I do so in an effort to be thorough. So please, > grab > > a soda and get comfy. ![]() > > > > I lurk here often and post very little. We are in our 3rd summer > > with our 80 BB 35FC and it has been bitter sweet. The payments > are > > bitter for 12 months a year, and the bus is sweet when we use it > for > > about 12 days a year. ![]() > > > > Anyways, it's getting harder to justify and we have toyed with the > > idea of selling it after this past Labor Day weekend, but it gave > us > > a little "gotcha" when it came time to go home. I don't know if > it > > was "quitting before we could fire it" or what, but I could use > some > > help on the problem if/before we put it on the market. > > > > The problem: I think my battery chargers are hosed. > > > > When we bought the bus, the Trojan batteries had been killed by > the > > PO leaving the fridge set to electrical. We dealt with them not > > holding a charge until last summer when I bought 4 new batteries. > > Even then, it seemed that even though I'd make sure I had > > everythign off - something drained them. I got tired of them > being > > drained when I'd go out for the monthly "start up and run for > awile" > > so I decided to just leave the bus plugged in to my garage. That > > was fine until my new batteries blew up. I replaced those > batteries > > with 4 new ones in June and all seemed well through our trip in > > July. I was told that my 1980 chargers wouldn't trickle charge, > but > > were steady pumpers that over charged the batteries. Lesson > learned. > > > > When we got home from the July trip, I plugged the bus into the > > house again. It took me about 3 weeks to remember, but I unplugged > > the chargers too. On this past Friday I went out to fire the old > > girl up and she was dead. I plugged in the chargers and Saturday > > morning it fired right up. After work on saturday, I went to > start > > it again and it cranked very slowly, then on the last possible > > revolution - she took off and purred like I knew she would and I > > took the bus to the campground where my family already was waiting > > for me with other family members. I plugged into 30 amp shore > power > > with the chargers on until Monday afternoon. When I went to start > > it to leave, it wouldn't even click. I think I had an anurism. > > > > I found that with the chargers plugged in, the volts meter would > > wiggle at 12 until I tried to start it, then it would shake from > pin > > to pin. It was wierd and I couldn't make any sense of it, but > that > > isn't saying much either. About all I have ever learned about > > electricity is that it hurts when I touch it. > > > > I unplugged the charger and removed the 2 batteries that start the > > bus and put each one on an external 6V charger. They both took 4 > > amps for over 2 hours with no improvement. When I removed the > other > > 2 RV batteries so that I could take all 4 in for testing, the > ground > > posts on those two had some deformation and melting, which I knew > > was bad. > > > > I got ANOTHER 4 new batteries, hooked up the 2 that I needed to > make > > it run and it fired right up. We got it home and I un hooked > those > > parallel batteries from one another, the RV ones never did get > > hooked up, and the chargers are also unplugged for now. > > > > It seemed to me and everybody else that the charger that was > > supposed to be charging the batteries was the very thing that was > > screwing everything up. It's the only thing that makes sense to > me, > > but like I said - I don't know much about these things and my pool > > of experience is growing, but still VERY shallow. > > > > Thank you for your time and patience with me thus far. Now that > you > > have that little bit of history, my questions are as follows: > > > > Does this make sense to anybody else or am I on something that the > > chargers are hosed? > > > > Is there a way to check the charging unit that is hard wired into > > the bus without unhooking it all? > > > > If it only makes sense to replace this unit, what are my "best > > value" options? > > > > Does anybody have a used one that's still good that they'd sell? > > > > Thank you very much for your help, > > > > John, Adria, Blase, Kaleigh, Jade, and Gage. > > > > > -- Rob, Sue & Merlin Robinson 94 WLWB [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please. - Gregory OConnor - 09-05-2006 09:31 Yes, BobJ corrected me on this. 6+6=12 if you take a 6 volt battery and connect that negitive post to a Positive post of another 6 volt ( the mate) you get 12 volts from +post of one to -post of the mate. I think this is called 'in series'. I dont know much about legal however being public schooled and all. GregoryO'Connor 94ptRomolandCa > > Thanks again. The decision for private schools isn't really > negotiable and I also appreciate the $40 unit from Sam's Club. > > Here's another question - is it electrically legal to use a 12V > charger if I hook the hot to one battery and the ground to it's > connect 6V mate? > |