There is a specified torque for the battery connections. I don't remember what it is. Some POGer referred to it awhile back, maybe it was Bruce, 0533??????
You could call the battery supplier, I guess.
JIM
Senior Member
There is a specified torque for the battery connections. I don't remember what it is. Some POGer referred to it awhile back, maybe it was Bruce, 0533??????
You could call the battery supplier, I guess.
JIM
Senior Member
Elliott,
Some of the stuff we experience and have to deal with is not crystal clear. As our coaches have gotten more sophisticated and reliant on electrical and especially electronic devices terminals, connections and grounds become an important part of reliability. Paul brings up a very good point and that is how our battery cable connections seem to loosen in a short time period. I can tell you from our manufacturing of the temporary power outlets that have electrical cable connections internally that are torqued to specific values at the factory precisely, within a very short period of time the connections have to be re-tightened. Campground owners all face the need to do so.
Compare our coaches that probably have electrical connections in the thousands that are bouncing those connections up and down the highway, subjecting them to temperature variations and potentially corrosion from the elements and its a wonder we don't have more severe problems.
Checking your house cable connections is a PITA, but absent anything else we can point our fingers at it appears that might be your problem. It appears to have been the same problem I had and although I could not find a single bad connection it was likely the accumulation of a lot of less than tight or clean connections.
Senior Member
Jon, Ofcourse your right, like Evy always says it's like a small earthquake going down the road. All the systems and equipment are getting a good shaking constantly while under way. Thanks again for your help.
Senior Member
Being that this coach is a Marathon, there is a 300 amp dual battery isolator between the alternator and the batteries. Depending on the current through the isolator's diodes, the isolator can drop as much as a volt at it's current rating. So, with that in mind, the voltages seem pretty normal. Also characteristic of a Marathon, with the house batteries in the back tag axle compartment and the inverters in the front bay, the cable length in between can result in another half a volt drop at near the inverter's output rating of 33 amps AC. With the roof a/c and microwave, what was the inverter's "LOAD CURRENT" reading? If you get over 33 amps (AC) then remember you are in the "grace period" of intermittent output only, not continuous. The inverter can shut down on "OVERCURRENT" or high temperatures if the load stays above 33 for an extended period. The chart is in the inverter Owner Manual for exactly how long versus how much over the continuous rating the unit is producing. I would, however, strongly recommend, as was mentioned, the cable/terminal tightening and cleaning. I consider this an annual PM for any coach with Trace 4000 watt inverter. Hope this helps.
Senior Member
Ben, Yes it helps and thanks for getting back on this for me. FYI since my coach is a 40' XL II the batteries are located in the same bay as the inverters (Bay 2) which is approx. 25' from the alternator. I did not check the AC Amps draw(I'm assuming what you refer to a "current Load") when I did the testing. I only recorded the DC Amp draw at 115 Amps. Additionally when the inverters shut down on the way home the 3 times I had nothing running in the bus that would be considered high draw.
I will clean and tighten all connections and check the inverter manuals for the chart that you refer to.
Senior Member
Update..............The overcharge condition that I experienced for almost a year and a half is finally solved. I had several facilities, including Prevost Mira Loma, look at this problem to no avail. It cost me about $1500, but there were many many hours spent on this that I wasn't charged for. Prevost Mira Loma even changed out the alternator for a new one, with no change in the condition they put mine back in, a total of about 4 hours "no charge". On our way home in April of this year I finally took it to Marathon in Coburg and they fixed it. The 270 Amp alternator was not sufficiently grounded with the mounting bolts. They added a grounding cable from the case directly to the chassis ground lug. We now have about 1700 miles on the coach since then and problem is solved. Thanks to all that gave me your input.
Senior Member
Elliott, did Marathon give any indication that your coach should have had the additional grounding, added now for you, from day one of conversion by them?Originally Posted by HarborBus
Seems to me that had they done things correctly, you would not have had all that trouble!
JIM
Senior Member
FWIW my 12 alternator just had a catastrophic failure caused buy the fastenings on the fuse block loosening up and apparently sending some sort of surge. This fuse was on the fwd engine room bulkhead and I have never thought of tightening it up.
Senior Member
No Jim, as a matter of fact it is just the opposite they said that most of the time the ground through the attachment bolts (four of them) are sufficient to ground the case. It's just my luck I guess.
Senior Member
this thread was amazing. years later im having this issue on my 1994 Vogue. Common denominator here is an alternator. I just installed a 12v 65A for my house batteries as the old one was dying. New 1 didnt have the same grounding bolt so i jerry rigged it. My inverter #2 shuts off as soon as AC power is removed. I will check tje ground as soon as bus comes back from Houston.
I loveeee the search feature of this forum...eliminates the need to start a new noob post
-Patrick
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote