Batteries Discharging?

[CAPT MOGUL & Sandy]

Paul, make sure the green light is blinking on the inverter remote, that indicates charging, on ours. When we purchased our 1997 Royale ( used ) we couldnt keep the house batterys charged. Long, long story, but after the pros couldnt find the problem I discovered a 2/0 cable in the electrical/battery bay had never been crimped from the factory. I had my hand checking for a warm wire and discovered it. Removed the schrink tubing and the lug fell off. Lots of fretting and heat over the years. New lug and crimp and things are working fine. I BET IT DROVE THE PREVIOUS OWNERS NUTS. Invest in an laser thermo gun, my Raytek costs $75.00. Check wires, tires, bearings, exhaust, etc. ED

[phorner]

Just when everything was looking up, for no apparent reason, we lost all incoming AC power. Zilch. Nada. I checked the main breaker (on the bus, in bay 1) and it was OK. I turned it off, then back on, to no avail. Still no incoming AC. Can't figure out why.

So, Day 2.... living by generator power

Just what I was looking forward to....

And, the absolute worst part, the Bose surround sound system, (that they took half the living room apart to fix by replacing a fuse on the circuit board on the sub-woofer/amp, which is buried under the sofa) is now dead again.

Looks like we're gonna be here a LONG, LONG time.....

Tune in tomorrow for another episode.....

[garyde]

Hi Paul . In the 1st bay on drivers side is a power switch. It Switches from the 30 amp outside plug to the 50 amp cord plug. Make sure that swtch is switched all the way to 50 amp. I have accidently knocked against that switch and switched it to 30 amp( turning everything off) Also, make sure the Breaker in that same box is in the on position. Then check your circuit breaker and plug at the power pedestal.

[MangoMike]

Paul,

Gary's post may solve your problem, if not:

Down in the electrical bay (on the '97 Liberty) there is a couple of timed relays that delay the switching of power from shore to generator and battery.As I recall these are in one of the power boxes. These relays simply plug into a socket and are very easy to replace. I had one of the these relays go bad and was unable to switch over from generator to shore power. On the 97 both relays are the same and can be switched to determine if one is bad. Unfortunately I don't have access to the Liberty otherwise I would post a pix. This may not be your issue, but it's one I would certainly check.

Hang in there as it takes a while to work all the bugs out and to figure out what does what. The good news is that with every fix and problem you are expanding your bus knowledge, which will serve you well down the road. We've all been there, except for Lew.

MIke

[Jon Wehrenberg]

First, if there is a high charge rate selected for the inverter/chargers the shore power circuit will be overloaded if the bus is running other heavy loads like ACs etc. Check for power at the outlet.

I suspect a high draw popped the shore power breaker. That is why I suggest setting the charge rate based on how the bus is used.

If there is power at the outlet, the breakers cannot necessarily be visually checked for tripping if the ones in question are the big red ones. Also those big red ones are usually for DC. They cannot be pushed in with your thumb unless you are very strong. I have to use a screw driver. The ones in the front top of the first bay may be OTR breakers. This is a hard place to diagnose without photos.

Paul....always start at the beginning when looking for a problem such as the outlet and follow it until the failure is located.

[phorner]

Well, as daylight dawned, we found out some positive things. The generator will run all night without a hiccup. I now have learned how to place the generator in the "Auto Start" mode.

Come to find out, we did, in fact, trip a breaker that fed our power pedestal. There is only a single 50 amp receptical at the pedestal, and I was not able to determine if we had power there last night.

So, the "no AC power to the bus at all" problem was resolved. The staff here also acknowledged that they have been having power problems on site due to current construction. Everything ran fine all day with 3 airs running and all the routine electrical loads.

Seems also that the other reported problems were, indeed, related to low battery voltage, since there has been no re-occurance now that the batteries are fully charged and staying that way.

More good news.... the surround sound system is alive and well, the LCD HDTV is working beautifully and the beer in the fridge is ice cold.... things are definitely looking up!!

Tonight I'll "test drive" the Jenn Air electric grill with a couple of steaks and see how that works out.

Thanks so much for everyones input and recommendations. It really helped to know that I wasn't "alone" trying to deal with all the "challenges".

I'll keep ya posted and yeah, I know, post pictures....

[merle&louise]

[QUOTE=phorner;17745]Well, as daylight dawned, we found out some positive things. The generator will run all night without a hiccup. I now have learned how to place the generator in the "Auto Start" mode.

Come to find out, we did, in fact, trip a breaker that fed our power pedestal. There is only a single 50 amp receptical at the pedestal, and I was not able to determine if we had power there last night.

So, the "no AC power to the bus at all" problem was resolved. The staff here also acknowledged that they have been having power problems on site due to current construction. Everything ran fine all day with 3 airs running and all the routine electrical loads.

Seems also that the other reported problems were, indeed, related to low battery voltage, since there has been no re-occurance now that the batteries are fully charged and staying that way.

More good news.... the surround sound system is alive and well, the LCD HDTV is working beautifully and the beer in the fridge is ice cold.... things are definitely looking up!!

Tonight I'll "test drive" the Jenn Air electric grill with a couple of steaks and see how that works out.

Thanks so much for everyones input and recommendations. It really helped to know that I wasn't "alone" trying to deal with all the "challenges".

I'll keep ya posted and yeah, I know, post pictures....


NOW WE'RE HAVING FUN

It will all come together Paul, you'll look back at the last few days and laugh one day. Congratulations and enjoy that new bus!

[VegasDogMan]

I'll throw in my two cents... If batteries are severely discharged they will OVERLOAD the charger unless you limit charge current. By selecting the 5A setting on my Heart Freedom 25 Inverter/charger I can then Limit my charge current and get my dead batteries back to life... may take a day or two.

Read your Charger Manual... The Freedom Inverter Charger manual describes this specifically.


Can't say I know everything about inverters but I've been studying the action of my Inverter/chargers all summer while dry camping, running on generator, running on 15A, 20A, 30A, power cheater and 50A service. If you can understand how to limit the charge current of your inverter/charger or turn off chargers you can run the necessities on most any power.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I think this is an excellent topic to explore in detail with Nick at his seminar in Branson. It impacts all of us, and the only differences between converters is how we control the charge rate.

I can say I have the greatest versatility on my coach with the lower charge rate setting, but that all depends on how we use our coaches. It may not work for others, especially if you rely on auto-start and do a lot of dry camping.

[phorner]

I completely agree that a seminar regarding battery maintenance and the care and feeding of our inverter/chargers would be of significant value.

I've attended similar seminars at rally's in the past and all were quite informative. Still trying to study up on the Heart Freedom inverters in the Liberty. I definitely want to be able to control the rate of charge, as this greatly impacts the electrical loads being handled at any given time.