chassis batteries

[wrongagain]

I have gotten two different stories from two different people at marathon, so now lets see what everyone else has to say.
the question of the day is,...
are the chassis batteries being charged or not when the bus is plugged in.
I understand the house batteries are being charged but some tech guy at marathon said, shore power is also charging chassis batteries at the same time.
someone else at marathon says no they are not.
before the test of time shows me the answer, I would like to know what to expect, I have a 24v charger so do I put it on or are they already being charged.
and, if I am about to be told to put a charger on them where do I put the charger so it charges both the 24v and 12v.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Here is a very easy way to see.

Look at what your charger is doing at any given time while plugged in or on gen power with the inverter/charger on and with nothing powered off the chassis batteries, on.

Then go and turn on a bunch of chassis stuff, high beams, marker lights, radios, whatever and the charger will increase its charge rate if it is charging them.

If the charge rate does not change, it doesn't.

It really depends how it was done.

Although ours has a 24 volt equalizer switch, we can not get a charge for the chassis batteries from our charger with it on. It will only allow the house to draw off the chassis.

If I am going to be in one spot for a long period of time and are going to have the bay doors open alot I will put a shim on the micro-switch for the bay lights cause I have had dead chassis batteries once after doing that. I also then turned on the 24 volt equalizer at that point to try to start the bus with dead chassis bats. to no avail.

A small trickle charger for the chassis batts plugged into the engine bay outlet will remedy this for cheep and easy if you find that they do not charge.

[dale farley]

My 93 Marathon did not charge my engine batteries when I was plugged into shore power, so I installed a 24 V charger that would charge then go to float so it didn't damage the batteries. I kept mine plugged in the same outlet in the engine compartment that was installed to accomodate the block heater. I just verified where I had 24V on my engine batteries and permanently installed the leads to those terminals. After installing the charger, my engine batteries were automatically charged when I plugged into shore power.

[jack14r]

My 2001 Marathon did not charge the engine batteries when on shore power,so I added a small trickle charger.

[truk4u]

Like Dale, I installed a 24v battery tender and plugged it into the block heater receptacle, but you have to either unplug it or turn off the breaker to the receptacle when coming off shore power. Mine didn't like trying to work with the inverter as a power source.

[dalej]

Ed, when we are parked for a period of time, I throw the main disconnect on the chassis batts, since they only get charged while running down the highway. Mine don't in any way get charged any other way.

The house side is always getting charged, e.g. shore, gen., Detroit, which also feeds the gen. batt.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Another view.....

The chassis batteries are not charged when the bus is connected to shore power unless you have a provision for charging.

However, despite what some may experience our two coaches never required charging between use or shutting off the chassis main switches. We have gone as long as 3 months with no noticible loss of chassis battery starting power without maintaining the charge or turning off the master switches.

I would suggest if the chassis batteries are losing power over a short period of time you have a phantom load that needs to be identified and possibly corrected.

[Darl-Wilson]

Wow, I didn't think I would ever be here asking this question but here goes: My rig had been sitting for about 45 days, plugged into the shore power when my son heard the 'voice' inside the coach stating that the chassis batteries were low. I discovered the ignition key was in the accessory position. I then tried to start the coach but to no avail. I called my road service. They tried jumping the batteries but that didn't work, either to the Prevost battery studs or directly to the batteries. Without my knowledge he jumped it directly to the starter and had me try it from the cab. It started and I ran the engine for about 1 1/2 hours. When I shut it down it wouldn't restart. Then the voice advised of low batteries and the 'Equalizer' light came on in the dash. I bought a good battery checker and put a load on each of the 4 batteries. After the load was removed the batteries showed about 12V or just a hair less. I charged the batteries all together using the jumper studs until the batteries were fully charged. No luck. Everything was the same as before. The engine will not start from the front or the back and I don't even get a solenoid click. I don't find anything in my manual that shows a reset but I am guessing this may be something simple. I hope so! We are getting temperatures down in the teens so keeping these batteries from freezing is a must. At least for the moment the meter shows that they are fully charged. I hope one of you smart guys out there can offer me some advice. I suppose now would be a good time to apologize for some of the wise-a$$ remarks I made to some of the great POG members!

[Toy Box]

Sounds like one of the large red pop out circuit breakers has popped out...could be one next to the stbd. side engine room door. They are hard to detect as being popped and take a really firm or hard push to reset. Just a shot in the dark.

[mcirco]

All of this discussion forced me to take a look at my bus to see what is happening to the chassis batteries as mine sits for the winter. On my bus, Country Coach installed a seperate 24 volt charger for the chassis batterries that works when the bus is on shore power or running off the generator. Seems like there is little consistancy in this business.


Miles and Laura Circo
2004 Country Coach XLII D/S