Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please.

[Adria Haynes]

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 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]

[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

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Rob Robinson"
wrote:
>
> 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]
>

[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


--- 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.
>

[Adria Haynes]

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "one_dusty_hoot"
wrote:
>
> 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?

[Adria Haynes]

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Gregory OConnor"
wrote:
>
> 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?

[one_dusty_hoot]

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"
> wrote:
> >
> > 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?
>

[sfedeli3]

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 Robinson]

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]

[Gregory OConnor]

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?
>