Understanding Electrical Systems

[Brian Gatley]

I am debating how "educated" I need to become before troubleshooting
and/or repairing some electrical issues I am having.

The coach is new to me and has been in the shop for the past month
getting many things repaired.

One of the items repaired was the Freedom 25 inverter. It was found
that the inverter received an electrical spike of some sort and several
critical parts were damaged. I was told this could occur either by bad
shore power or by a lightning strike.

Right now there are several things that I don't understand and need to
figure out if there is trouble somewhere that needs to be repaired.

1. Alternator Fault - When the engine is running ALT1 fault light is on.

2. Shore Power Polarity - The polarity light does not indicate good or
bad polarity when plugged into shore power.

3. Xantrex Link 2000 - When everything is shut off (master electrical
switch and AT switch) the Link 2000 is still on.

4. LoBat - Within a few days, it appears that the batteries are already
low (I do not have the coach plugged into shore power).

I have read through the Link 2000 manual and it appears that there are
many settings in being sure the batteries are used and charged
correctly.

The first thing was to determine the type of batteries being used. It
took me several hours just to figure out the kind of batteries they are
and I am still not 100% certain.

They are Deka 8G4D and I believe they are Gelled and not Sealed
Absorbed. There are 4 batteries with 6 cells each and 2.35 V per cell
at 68 degrees.

There are many questions I have in addition to the items above
(obviously I am not electrically inclined):

1. Should I just hire an "expert" and have them check the entire system
and train me on managing power? Any "BB experts" that can be
recommended?

2. Or, do I just take my time and learn everything myself risking damage
to systems and delaying the time that we can use the coach?

3. Are the batteries being damaged right now?

4. On our first trip I would like to believe that the electrical system
is functioning correctly (we don't have an immediate trip planned, but I
will plan a trip only when I know the problems are resolved).

5. Are the settings of Link 2000 interface correct? What are the
correct settings?

6. Are the batteries bad? Or, is there something out of the ordinary
draining the batteries?

7. Is the alternator bad? How do the 2 alternators work? My engine
mechanic did not indicate that there were any problems with the
alternators. He was pretty thorough in checking everything.

8. What is the best way to store the coach in cold weather? Can I plug
it into a 20 amp house circuit just to keep the batteries up? Do I need
to install a 30 or 50 amp circuit ASAP in order to store the coach
properly?

9. Are there good "RV Electrical Systems for Dummies" resources out
there?

10. Are BBs so complicated and/or specialized that basic RV electrical
information would not be helpful?

Brian Gatley
93 WLWB PT40
Bend, OR




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