Batteries

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Originally Posted by rfoster

Bruce --this is were the Quest Charger comes in to play that Truk suggested. He has installed one on his bus, Mango has one, and I think Phorner has one as well. They are designed to be three stage, from bulk to float (or trickle). My coach is a 97 vintage and the Quest charger must be from a later more modern era. May have to get one some time in the future.

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Is this the unit? See link.

http://www.monstermarketplace.com/Sp...4424a5295.html

If so, where would you install it and where would it fit inline with the batteries?

Bruce

Bruce,

I think you already figured out I was referring to the chassis charger. I doubt you have one and you may want to think about adding a Guest Charger. When your running, your 270 amp alternator is charging the house and the chassis. You have 2 equalizers, one for the house and one for the chassis. I think your getting a battery balance light on the dash and something is wrong. Your Marathon is 24 volt and I'm not sure if the dash light is telling you there is a chassis voltage problem or house voltage problem. My 97 had the light, but I never had any issues. Check your manuals and determine what the light is telling you. It's really hard to narrow it down with knowing the function of the light.

The only time your chassis batteries are being charged is when the engine is running. Your Inverters take care of the house, but have no charge function for the chassis.

Let us know what the light means?

Attachment 2639


Bruce this is the one we're using.


http://www.amazon.com/Guest-2611A-Ba.../dp/B000NHZV1S


From Amazon

Attachment 2640

In the Liberty mounted on the bulkhead above the chassis batteries.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MangoMike

Attachment 2640

In the Liberty mounted on the bulkhead above the chassis batteries.

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Thanks Tom and Mango.

I will figure out which light it is and get that straight before installing the charger.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by 0533

Thanks Gary,

I think I better understand this now. I had to replace all four of mine when I purchased my bus. It had set for a while as well.

I do still wonder about one thing that I have noticed on my bus while running the genset underway. I have recently noticed a red light on my dash comes on indicating a battery drain when the genset is running. When its off there is no light and the battery voltage is fine, when its on the voltage starts to drop a little, from 28/29 down to about 25 or so. Does anyone know why this happens or has experienced this on their coaches?

Thanks,

Bruce

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Bruce, I read this post and have a comment on your voltage. I think a reading of 28 to 29 volts on a 24 volt system is too high. Perhaps this voltage is just a "surface charge" and everything is o.k. as long as the reading drops to around 25 volts during normal operation.

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Originally Posted by JIM KELLER

Bruce, I read this post and have a comment on your voltage. I think a reading of 28 to 29 volts on a 24 volt system is too high. Perhaps this voltage is just a "surface charge" and everything is o.k. as long as the reading drops to around 25 volts during normal operation.

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Thats interesting Jim.

The voltage meter on the dash runs high, could this simply be the gauge its self??

The red light that comes on the dash shows a picture of a battery (I am 250 miles from the coach and the prevost manuals) and only comes on when the generator is running when the Bus is operational, running down the road.

The voltage drops to about 25 volts. Why would it drop? It does not go below 25 volts. I thought the light was detecting a voltage drop, or discharge.

My plan is to have the Chassis batteries (all new) looked at to see if there might be a problem, and also have the Genset wiring inspected, as its my understanding that the genset battery will charge both the house and chassis batteries when operational????

The big question is what causes an overvoltage (if meter is correct) and what causes a discharge when the genset is on?? Is or could the two be related?

Bruce,

Once again.... Unless someone added a chassis charger, the only way your chassis gets charged is running the engine. It DOES NOT charge off the gen or shore power. This is assuming you have one big 24v alternator.

You have to identify the warning light to determine if it's house or chassis! Your telling us voltage, is that the dash engine voltage or a house gauge? 25v for the engine gauge is low, while running it should read 26+.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 0533

Thats interesting Jim.

The voltage meter on the dash runs high, could this simply be the gauge its self??

The red light that comes on the dash shows a picture of a battery (I am 250 miles from the coach and the prevost manuals) and only comes on when the generator is running when the Bus is operational, running down the road.

The voltage drops to about 25 volts. Why would it drop? It does not go below 25 volts. I thought the light was detecting a voltage drop, or discharge.

My plan is to have the Chassis batteries (all new) looked at to see if there might be a problem, and also have the Genset wiring inspected, as its my understanding that the genset battery will charge both the house and chassis batteries when operational????

The big question is what causes an overvoltage (if meter is correct) and what causes a discharge when the genset is on?? Is or could the two be related?

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" What causes an overvoltage [ if the meter is correct.] Well, several things could cause this problem. One bad cell in a battery as previously discussed could be a problem. A regulated charging system detects a weakness in a battery cell and tries to make up for that weakness by overcharging. Consequently the other batteries in the system suffer from the excess voltage and die a premature death.

" What causes a discharge when the genset is on." Prehaps there is no discharge. 24 to 25 volts seems like a normal operating range. Like Tom said, find out what the light on your dash means and let us know.

The best way to understand your electrical system is to start with a hand held meter. Record the voltage of all systems with the bus unpluged from shore power. Get a reading on the genset battery, the house batteries and the chassis batteries. Then, one by one start individual systems up and check the readings. Example, plug in then unplug. Start the engine then shut it down. Start the generator then shut it down. By isolating the systems you will get a better handle on what is going on and make it easier for someone like Jon or Tom to take over and help you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JIM KELLER

" What causes an overvoltage [ if the meter is correct.] Well, several things could cause this problem. One bad cell in a battery as previously discussed could be a problem. A regulated charging system detects a weakness in a battery cell and tries to make up for that weakness by overcharging. Consequently the other batteries in the system suffer from the excess voltage and die a premature death.

" What causes a discharge when the genset is on." Prehaps there is no discharge. 24 to 25 volts seems like a normal operating range. Like Tom said, find out what the light on your dash means and let us know.

The best way to understand your electrical system is to start with a hand held meter. Record the voltage of all systems with the bus unpluged from shore power. Get a reading on the genset battery, the house batteries and the chassis batteries. Then, one by one start individual systems up and check the readings. Example, plug in then unplug. Start the engine then shut it down. Start the generator then shut it down. By isolating the systems you will get a better handle on what is going on and make it easier for someone like Jon or Tom to take over and help you.

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Excellent plan Jim, It sounds like you really have a handle on these types of nagging electrical problems.

Thanks again,

Bruce

I ended up with an over voltage problem when the bus was running. Tom and I recorded 15 plus volts at my 12 volt outlet on the dash.

Turned out to be an alternator that was going bad. New alternator and the problem was resolved.... along with a much lighter wallet.

As a general rule I occasionally monitor my voltages directly at the batteries.

I have found that the on-board gauges are slightly incorrect, possibly because of the distance between the gauges and the batteries.

Our batteries for both the house and chassis have the ability to make a good trip into a nightmare and have done so on my previous coach. I now know having learned the hard way that if the batteries are checked while the bus is running, while being charged, after resting with no loads overnight, and after having a load applied for a while I can usually know one or more are going bad, or that they are OK.

The key is to check them regularly and after a while you will know what the normal reading is and when a reading is out of the norm it gives you an opportunity to investigate and correct a problem prior to a trip.

Great info here - would never have found these docs without your guidance! I'm wondering, though - when searching for docs specific to my coach, would I search by "finished" year- in our case 2007, or chassis manufactured year - in our case June 2005?
Clay Miller

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Originally Posted by Gary & Peggy Stevens

Ray, Here are the steps to get you to the beginning of places to look: You will then see how you can put in the information needed for your bus, year, model, and actual Prevost Number for your bus.

Check this out:

http://www.prevostcar.com/cgi-bin/pages.cgi?page=home

then click on Motorhomes, under Quick Links,
then Parts & Services under the blue banner at the top of page,
then Publications in red on the left hand side of the page.
then Technical Publications on the left hand side,
then Click here to enter the site in the middle of the page,
NOW YOU CAN CHOOSE either:
Technical Manuals, or Technical Publications, Wiring Diagrams or Pneumatic Diagrams. You will have to play around a little bit to find what you are looking for, but I think it is all there.

Just fill in the info on the left hand side columns and play around till you start finding the various publications, drawings or info that you are looking for. Don't forget you are reseraching a MTH not just a bus. The publications will come up in the center of your page and when you click on them, they will open up, to view, just like a book. WAY COOL, These darn computers, arent' they somethun ?


Jon W. would you like to add anything ? I am sure I have forgotten something, :o

Hope this helps? It helped me when the Prevost guy walked me through how to navigate the publications. I HOPE this is what you wanted ? !

Gary S.

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Welcome Apeman,

When dealing with the Prevost site, and when getting your coach serviced, ordering parts etc, always give them the year of the coach, as indicated by the VIN number. You've indicated 2005, so that's what you would use.

To verify, the 8th digit back from the right side of the VIN should then be a 5.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle...ication_Number will explain this. If you do a google seach for "vehicle VIN decode", you'll find several sites that you can simply enter your VIN, and they will spit out the details.


Ray

Prevost Car cares only about the year they manufactured your chassis. Usually, they will want your VIN number to correctly identify parts.

Make sure you always use the "chassis year" when dealing with Prevost and you should be OK.

Specifically the only meaningful numbers to the service techs or parts folks is the 8th number from the right and the 4 last digits.

My number is T-5811. Yours would be 5-XXXX