Alternators

[MangoMike]

Lee,
Just want to let you know that I was referring to myself as "spewing forth" and not anyone else... Well sometimes Lew.

Tuga,
Sounds like Jon has a good plan outlined for you. Best advice is a good alternator shop as going to see anyone will probably cost you some major LewBucks. But w/ 250k miles under your belt you've "been there, done that".

Mike

[Lee Bornstein]

Tuga:
Going back to your original post, looks like all is well with your alternator if you're showing 20A charging current when "Engine is Running".

Dash Voltmeter showing 13.5V when generator is running is also normal.
12V reading without generator running is normal as well. You most likely have a separate battery for starting Generator.

Info you get from the Link 2000 does not apply to charging house batteries from engine.

Link 2000 displays house battery charging current when either plugged in to shore power or Generator running. Remember, the Inverter is also a battery charger. When plugged in to shore power it charges batteries and passes 120V through to your appliances. When unplugged from shore power it converts battery 12 V to 120V for appliances.

Are you having any specific electrical problems or just curious?

Neighbor here in resort has a recent Newell - I'll go over and have a peek at his tonite if he's home.

Lee

[merle&louise]

Lee:

I am having a specific electrical problem; my laptop battery runs down and turns the computer off when it should be charging. I have it plugged into the cigarette lighter socket. Also, when I run with my lights on, the volt meter on the dash will drop to 11 volts after a few hours. Then when I start the generator the volt meter shows 13.5v and the computer battery starts charging up.

Mike:

I think that my Aqua Hot smoke is being caused by low voltage. I tested voltage at the burner's control unit and it was 12V. The manual stated that it sould be within .5v of the system voltage (13.3v according to Link 2000).

Jon:

I do have only one alternator for the house & the bus. I just changed the belt 2 weeks ago. Tomorrow I will check for broken wires, and I will attempt the continuity test(assuming I can find the field wire at the regulator). I don't want to do the jumper test, I don't think that I can pull that off yet.

If nothing is found from this, I'll just bring it to Gulf South Armature and let them find it.

We are leaving Thursday for the LSU vs Tenn game in Knoxville, so I will just wait until we return to have the alternator checked at Gulf South Armature.
I'll post the findings as soon as I can next week

It sure is fun learning about this stuff; I am very thankful to all of you for trying to help me. I'm going to try to do more of my own maintenance.

What a great forum!

Thanks guys!

[Jeff Bayley]

Tuga-

I'm a relative novice myself having only owned these buses for 2.5 years however I can point you in the right direction on one of your issues. You are on the right trail on your Aqua Hot problem as it relates to low voltage. I had my Aqua Hot "tuned up" by a guy in Florida that knew these systems backwards and forward and he said that running the Aqua Hot on low house batteries is a no no and leads to faulty performance. I can't quote you chapter and verse exactly why it faults but I think the portion of the sytem that fires it up got clogged as needed to be replaced as a result of the low voltage. I checked for his contact info and can't find it off hand. At least this can help you start asking specific questions regarding to same and avoid the systems performance eroding hence forward after you get it back on line. I'm certain that some of the other members like Jon or Harry can pick up where I leave off as to the inter workings that I think are affected by the low voltage. These systems are not a "set it and foret it" type of deal and I think they require annual maintainence.

[MangoMike]

Tuga,

Let's say that it is a voltage issue (perhaps tied into your current alternator problems). But if you fire up your generator you're getting proper voltage to your bus systems. Have you tried running the generator and the aqua hot giving it the proper voltage and seeing if that solves the smoke problem?

Keep us posted.

Mike

[garyde]

Hi Tuga. I wonder if you have a wiring diagram of your systems as it relates to charging batteries by your Generator. It seems odd that your voltmeter would be up @ 13.5 when your Generator is running. On my Lexa the Generator , thru the inverters ,would charge the House batteries first and then trickle charge the Chasis Batteries second.
I am wondering how fast your guage reads 13.5 after you turn on the Generator and if your House batteries are already on 'float'.
This is all to say your Alternator may be ok, your guage is seeing the cross current voltage.
I just read your next post and I believe you have a short in your system somewhere draining your batteries. This would explain your low voltage while the engine is running if the alternator is ok. It may also be one or several of the batteries are no good. Gary

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Gary,

I think you are dealing with apples and oranges.

Our coach batteries receive a charge from two sources. The bus alternator is one of those sources, and it sounds like that charging system is not working.

An alternative charging source is via AC electric power from the generator or shore power, through the battery charging circuits in the inverters. That system is working on Tuga's coach.

[merle&louise]

Mango:

Bingo! I ran the generator and NO SMOKE!

The house batteries showed 13.3v (both banks of batteries)
The Aqua Hot & the generator both exhaust thru the roof on my coach.

The engine/generator batteries showed 13.5v on the dash volt meter.

Jon:

I think you're correct; it is an alternator related problem. Hopefully, it is just a voltage regulator or a broken wire. With my luck, it will be the alternator!

Gary:

My alternator system charges the engine/generator batteries first and then once they are charged, it begins charging the house batteries. The opposite of your Lexa system.

The voltmeter on the dash comes up to 13.5v about 3 minutes after I start the generator. I believe that Jon is correct; it is the alternator. I changed all 8 batteries in January 2006 (6 AGM Lifeline 8Ds for the house & 2 wet cell batteries for the engine/generator) so I don't think that it is the batteries. I checked the water in the wet cell batteries - all o.k. I am going to have the alternator checked by a repair shop first, then if it is good I will load test the batteries. Reason: after I have plugged into shore power or ran the generator the engine/generator batteries show higher voltage.

Thanks for the input guys!

[MangoMike]

Tuga,

Man this is great. I'm always excited when we start solving some bus problems. Plus I've learned something new here as I really didn't think that minor drop in voltage would have an affect on the aqua-hot. Good to know for future guys.

Mike

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Tuga,

It is highly probable that your coach may be set up to charge your bus and house batteries at different voltages. I'm not sure of how Newell set up your systems, but it is possible the flooded wet cell batteries for the coach will get a higher voltage charge, than AGM house batteries for example. I am not saying that is how you are set up, but I would expect that if you have two different types of batteries you would have to have charging profiles appropriate to the battery type.