Pogger to the Rescue

[tdelorme]

Good question. Jon? What about using jumper cables from the house to chassis batteries for emergencies, (in my case 24v to 24v)? Thanks.

Our old Liberty had a booster switch that did just that, connect one battery bank to the other. I haven't given it any thought and don;t know if the new bus has the booster switch or not. Better check and see before the need arrises.
Thinking about it, the breaker labeled 24 volt charger or booster that Dave Wishnoff said to leave off may be just that.
Just about the time I think I have a handle on my systems, I find out how wrong I am. I was visiting with a fellow from Alaska last week who had sold a 2006 DS Marathon. His comment was that the coach was more than he could cope with system wise and he had gone back to a Foretravel for simplicity. I wouldn't do that, but it has crossed my mind now and again. Another good reason to buy a coach and keep her for a long time.

[merle&louise]

Jack,

I don't know what they are using in the newer coaches, but when I told them to put new batteries in my coach in January 2006, they put 2 wet cell Interstate 8Ds in for starting batteries and 6 - 8D Lifeline AGM for the house.

Next time I talk to the service department, I'll ask and let you know.

[jack14r]

Thanks Tuga,Lifeline makes starting and house batteries,Newell list the Lifeline as standard equipment for starting and house batteries.The Lifeline web site has different part numbers for each and they have different specs.

[michaeldterry]

Evangeline has a Battery Boost button that bridges the chassis and house batteries when an emergency need arises.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ken raises a good question and he is correct to a limited extent.

First, I think Tom's bus is a 12V house so he does not have that option. All Liberty Classic coaches are 12V so jumping from the house is not an option. As I pointed out usually the failure is not the whole set of chassis batteries but one of them. Find the bad one, connect two of the good ones in series and connect the 12V center cable plus the 24 volt. That will provide power to spin the motor and the 12Volt (connect the equalizer) will keep the DDEC and lights working.

But for those that have a 24V house, such as the Elegant Lady, if the battereis for the house are accessible you can jumper for a start. My house batteries are behind the tag axle and very close to the jumper posts. Some however are behind the entertainment center in the 2nd passenger side bay and they are not easily accessed.

I could add a switch and a big relay to connect the two sets, but with the isolator so close, I might be tempted to just connect both sets of batteries using the isolator cables all connected together until I could replace the batteries. I would disconnect them if I had to overnight so the bad chassis batteries did not drag down the house.

[truk4u]

Mine is 12v and as Jon pointed out, no way to jump from the house to the chassis.

Devin - The parallel switch on your panel ties in the gen and house batteries if your gen battery goes dead.

Also, on my Liberty, the chassis charger will not work off the generator, only shore power, so there's no way to boost/charge the chassis without plugging in. In my case, that's good to know because if I don't have shore power and the chassis batteries die, I'm screwed.

Thanks to Paul, group 31 wet sealed Deka's can be had here at PSL for 69.95.

[Devin W]

Mine is 12v and as Jon pointed out, no way to jump from the house to the chassis.

Devin - The parallel switch on your panel ties in the gen and house batteries if your gen battery goes dead.

Also, on my Liberty, the chassis charger will not work off the generator, only shore power, so there's no way to boost/charge the chassis without plugging in. In my case, that's good to know because if I don't have shore power and the chassis batteries die, I'm screwed.

Thanks to Paul, group 31 wet sealed Deka's can be had here at PSL for 69.95.

Tom, thanks for the clarification -- my manual is for a '96 and it doesn't mention what the parallel switch is for so I assumed it was like the one on my old Monaco.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Before assuming the parallel switch joins the house and chassis batteries I think the circuit needs to be researched.

I had a parallel switch on my 87 Liberty. However.......my house was set up with several DC load centers. I had the fuses and CBs in the second bay, but I also had several other DC panels with fuses and CBs located in proximity to their loads such as behind the vanity drawer in the bedroom.

Because of the way Liberty distributed the house DC voltage the six house batteries were set up in two sets, each set powering a part of the house DC requirements. I cannot remember much of the specifics, but I do remember each set had its own converter (charger) and if one set of batteries was turned off all the devices and circuits on that set received no DC voltage.

The battery parallel switch on that coach would merge both sets of house batteries. It would not join the house and chassis batteries. It could not because the house was 12V and the chassis was 24V.

So if you have a Liberty and it has a battery parallel switch verify what it does and do not assume it will help you if you have dead chassis batteries. A further caution also: As coaches age they are "upgraded". Owners through the years would remove converters for example and switch over to inverter/chargers. If the work was done in a less than professional manner you may not have certain functions you think you have so it is important to learn and verify how your coach is set up.