Chassis Battery Charging

[travelite]

Actually I think that the regulator is set at 8 PSI,also Prevost unloads the tag when the front slide is moved and that takes a good deal of air and yes it should be in the normal drive position.I think that there is a vacuum generator to help get the air out of the seal,I might be wrong about the Vacuum generator.I know that there is a lot of compressed air used in moving a front slide,the rear slide does not unload the tag.

Jack,

Is your chassis built with the pin-less slide technology, as in locking pins?. I believe this technology started in '08. Could be that your chassis is an '07 with the three pins on each slide side. The pin-less stuff had one pin at the center on the bottom.

[jack14r]

Yes mine is the "pin-less"slides with a single pin in each slide in the center underneath.My shell is a 2007 shell that was manufactured 8-2006.I think that the 2007 and newer shells represent the best slide technology that exist today.I am sure that there will be updates in the future but I have not heard of a failure with these slides.

[travelite]

Jack,

Thanks for your patience. I knew that the pinned slide technology suggested dumping/lifting the tag axle, but I didn't know that this protocol was carried thru to the pin-less variety. Thanks for the info.

My apologies for the thread diversion.

[Woody]

FWIW after a full week with both the 24 and 12 switches off the chassis batteries held their full charge (24.1). It appears that TRUC's analysis of the DDEC pulling all down was absolutely correct.

Why is still to be discovered.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Woody, hate to burst your bubble, but unless your DDEC differs somewhat from ours it will bypass the main disconnect switches to a certain extent. On our vintage coaches and maybe yours CB 19, 20, and 21 are always hot to preserve certain memory in the DDEC. Check those breakers with the main switches off to see if they are hot.

[Woody]

Jon, what we did was read the current draw before and after opening the 12V shutoff. Before 5.2A, after o.o amps. What the "group" theorized was that someone over the last 20 years had tapped into something on the DDEC circuit. I haven't had a chance to search for this drop but will.

[garyde]

Im not sure where your reading the current draw. On my coach the DDEC wires are yellow and they connect directly to the batteries. They do have a small draw.

[truk4u]

Woody was shutting off his 24v cut-off, but not the 12v. The 12v had a draw of about 4 - 5 amps in the on position and when cut-off, went to "0". Now his batteries are holding up and THAT was the purpose of his post.

[michaeldterry]

While we're on the subject of chassis battery charging, I have a related question that will expose my ignorance. Where we store Evangeline, we stay plugged in to 50 amp power all the time when the bus is not in use. Although I try to go out crank her, and let her run up to operating temperature every several days, it can be three weeks or more between actual outings on the road. I've been leaving the engine charge switch at the main electrical panel on all the time while parked at the lot to keep the chassis batteries "topped off". Is this an acceptable practice? If not, what can I do to keep the chassis batteries at peak charge?

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

It all depends on the charging unit.

If it is the type of charger found on my Liberty you will cook your batteries, which means ruin them, in short order if left on continuously.

JIM