Capt. Tango

Bill,

Mt comment was for the following

Dometic Penguin II RV Air Conditioner - without any heat source 15K
640316CXX1J0 - Black

Dometic Thermostats
3314082.011 CCC 2 - White

 Dometic Electronic Control Kit
3312020.000

Soft Starter

SpartanStart RV A/C Soft Starter up to 20K BTU 

I purchased the Brisk Air but found out it does not match the existing Penguin II bolt pattern.

The Blizzard has 4 bolts that do not align with the existing Penguin bolt pattern and is several inches taller. Make sure to get both the CCC-2 controller and thermostat, some people try to convert the older electrics, but my installer never got it to work correctly. Neither unit comes with a control board, but some folks claim they do. Check ahead of time to make sure.

Thank you , thank you, thank you. Thanks for all the input and suggestions. Turns out a cube was jammed in the tray. 

2003 Dynasty - The tray fills up with water buy the ice tray fails to cycle and dump. Can I remove it and run some type of diagnostics on it? Worked great for years and just stopped.

I replaced mine with a Sharp R-1881LSY exact fit and amp rating.

Rocketman3 You peaked my interest. I have a Magnum Energy charger/inverter, do you know if I can add Victron components to my system to automatically control shore power when needed?

I have 1600 watts of flat mounted solar on the roof powering a 600 AH battery bank. I have an Aqua Hot unit so heating and hot water is not electric and our refrigerator is 120 AC. I'm parked 6 months in Arizona, I mostly run off battery power and only connect to shore power every 2-3 nights or when air conditioning is seldom needed. I use a 3,000 Watt Magnum Energy charger/inverter but need to check into the Victron units that have the "assist" feature. We generate an average of 6 KWH daily and see a 25% to 30% reduction in our power bill.

This set up will handle all the high amp devices (one at a time) even for extended periods, even 1 one of the 1.5kw AC units for about an hour.

2003 Dynasty

One the best upgrades I have made was to replace the 12-volt awning motor and the roof top wind sensor and computer with a motion sensor.

The original system was glitchy, rolling in when not necessary and failing to retract when needed.

This system is a direct replacement and is a plug and play commonly used on residential and commercial buildings and uses the existing remote. 

SIMU T5 550 HZ DMI 50NM 12RPM 120V MOTOR 2004675) $600.68 (replacement)
https://www.floridaautomatedshade.com/Simu-T5-550-DMI5-Radio-Hz-Override-Motor-2004675-p/2004675.htm

SOMFY 1816081 Motion detector EOLIS 3D WIREFREE RTS WIND SENSOR WHITE  Our Price: $218.95
https://www.floridaautomatedshade.com/Somfy-Eolis-3D-Wirefree-RTS-Wind-Sensor-1816081-p/1816081.htm

Mark, the batteries are wired in parallel producing 12 Volt (Approx.) as show in this diagram. 

 2 FOIIOE VESTWOODS 12V 300Ah with 200A BMS Plus and Ultra (Don't know the difference) 1,600 Watt solar array using a magnum 3,00 watts Charger/Inverter set to factory Lifpo default setting.

I charged the batteries to 100% each before combining them, then used the inverter/charge and topped them off. Powered up the starship yesterday afternoon and everything appears to be working. I shut down the 50-amp connection and went to battery power for the night. I ran the heater all last night, boiled coffee this morning and now have lights and computers running. Batteries were at 32% SOC and 62% respectively. Is it normal for one battery to have a lower SOC or do I need to cycle the system for several days to equalize them.

Battery Current readings: Total of 600 Amp Hours
Battery 1 13.3 Volts 11.30 Amps 33% SOC
Battery 2 13.4 Volts 12.30 Amps 63% SOC
Voltage stays the same Amp vary from 11 to 13 SOC is increasing on both.

Charger Readings: Total of 1600 Watts (Overcast day)
PV
655 Watts
36.63 Volts
18.1Amps (increase as noon approaches)

Batteries
13.95 Volts (Increasing)
44.7 Amps
Bulk Charging

Both batteries are charging at about the same SOC rate increase but have drastically different SOCs.

Mine is a 03 Dynasty but 2001 -2005 Dynasty, Executive and Signature should work. Don't need the electrical components just the enclosure.

Size is 20" x 15.5"

Any sugestions?

1 hour ago, Chad A said:

I had the same thing in my 2003 signature. Was associated with the entry keypad. Would get water in the keypad and the alarm would sound. Keypad didn’t work anyway so they disconnected it. 

That was it. Rain entered by the soft touch buttons,  Thanks for the solution.

After heavy rains last night, I awoke to a buzzer that sounded like the low-pressure warning. I isolated the sound to a thin wire harness and buzzer below the passenger's armrest exiting the wall and disconnected it. That stopped the buzzing and but also cut the power to the entry keypad.  All other AC/DC circuits are live with no fuses blown and all lights fans, slides and appliances are working. I thought it was low pressure but fired up the engine and pressurized the tanks and that wasn't the problem. Turned off the 50-amp power at the pedestal and went to inverter power and the buzzer still sounded. The photo shows the small black cylindrical buzzer and the disconnected harness. The wires to the buzzer are red and black. Photo shows the alarm and disconnected harness.

Could this be the air tank pressure warning? Things to take into consideration Ignition is off, all circuits and fuses are good, all dash, house and arm rest switches are working.   

Keep in mind that some LEDs are polarity sensitive and will not light if reversed. 

I have a 2003 Dynasty - As a primary test for continuity, test the other dock side lights (white) flip on the Dock Lights top row 3rd switch from the left on the left-hand dash panel. This should turn on all 4 white side lights (2 on each side) to make sure you are getting power. It's a different circuit but let's see if you are getting power to some of the side lights.  Secondly, with the headlights or parking lights the front and rear red marker lights should be illuminated and flash intermittently with directionals and emergency flasher engaged, and the middle amber lights should be on as well as the overhead 4 front amber lights and 4 red rear lights and license plate lights, and not flash.  This should help troubleshooting with your multimeter.

Some of us use LED's that are polarity sensitive and will not light. 

If you still are having a problem, make sure your RV to tow vehicle pigtail is disconnected as there might be a short there or the toad wiring harness.

Just some suggestions learned the hard way. 

3 hours ago, waterskier_1 said:

I've reviewed this product's predecessor.  I discussed the apparent failing with the engineers.  I was told that that previous version was not a "charger" and only "combined" the battery banks.  I believe there have been some attempts to improve with this release, but it still need much improvement.  

A BIM is a "Battery Isolation Manager".  Monaco use their Solid State Isolator in the early days (late '70's into the early 90's), then went with the IRD (Isolator Relay Delay) and BIRD (a Bi-Directional IRD).  The delay comes from the fact that Monaco didn't want the batteries immediately connected right after engine start, but want a delay to allow the alternator to replenish the chassis battery and engine to "warm up".  Then it would connect the two banks to the alternator.  They would stay connected together as long as long as the engine was running.  The alternator is not a smart charger.  It only has a Voltage Regulator, that is preset to 14.2 - 14.4 volts.  It will do all it can to maintain that voltage.  If the load is too great, the alternator output (voltage) wil decrease.  This is usually only seen after dry camping and the coach batteries are very depleted.  Other than that case, the alternator output is 14.2 - 14.4 volts constantly, it doesn't know or care about the State of Charge (SOC) of the batteries.  So, if you are taking an 8 hour trip, it's possible that your house batteries (and the chassis batteries) are being charged for 8 hours at 14.4 volts.  This is not good for any battery's life, but Lead Acid, particularly Flooded Lead Acid (FLA), can tolerate it.  AGM don't fair quite so good, but most won't notice the difference.  Now enter the Lithium, specifically Lithium Lead Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries.  There are two problems.  One is that they HATE being held at a high voltage once they are charged.  Second is they can accept a higher rate of charge by at least 10 time than what Lead Acid batteries can.  This has to do with a significantly lower internal resistance.  I'll leave it at that for this response.  If you desire more info on this, let me know.  Based on the above, users and manufacturers recognized the need to address these issues.  When these batteries first came out, and no other provisions were made, owners experienced failures - either the isolator components because they were not designed to handle the much higher current (mostly the solid state devices) or the alternators were destroyed, attempting to supply 10 times the current they were designed for.  So, some enterprising companies are now attempting to respond to these problems. 

As I mentioned above, I evaluated the previous version of this device.  I found the description lacking, from an engineering/design point of view.  So I called and talked to engineers.  That device, was designed to connect the batteries when conditions (one or more batteries were being charged, the voltage was less than 15.5 volts on both banks and the house battery was 0.2 volts or more below chassis battery.  As I recall, that version was not Bi-Directional, but in any case, the problems are really only when the alternator is the charging source.  The Inverter/Charger is a Smart Charger, and doesn't have those problems.  Once connected, it would remain connected for 15 minutes.  Then it would wait 15 minutes and reevaluate the conditions to determine if it would connect again for another 15 minutes.  It would continue this cycle until the engine was shut off, or the house battery came within 0.2 volts of the chassis, or either of the batteries exceeded 15.5 volts.

I had two primary concerns.  The first being how the 15 minutes was determined.  They didn't know, but guess that the alternator would not overheat and destroy itself within those 15 minutes.  I'm not convinced.  My second concern was charging profile.  They admitted there was no charge profile, it was not a smart charger, other than it would disconnect the house batteries within 15 minutes of them becoming within 0.2 volts of the chassis battery (bassically greater than 14.0 volts).

Now on to this new one.  I have has several clients ask about it.  I have not done a review other than to read the promotional brochure (they don't publish any specifications, and I haven't called to talk to anyone).  The new one is a bit more vague, but it clearly identifies that it is Bi-Directional (will allow connecting the chassis batteries when the inverter/charger is working.  It claims to "monitor the voltage of both .... over long periods of time", but I don't know what the voltage will tell them, nor how stores and uses the "over long periods of time" data.  It also states that if "the charging system is drastically overburdened" the batteries will be isolated.  But it doesn't define how it senses this and what the parameters (i.e., > 100 Amps) defines "overburdened".  I'm sure this is response to the previous version not taking into consideration any burden, but "hoping" that it wouldn't destroy anything during the 15 minute connection period.  They also state "if the Li-BIM sees a long-term charging of both batteries it will allow the batteries to remain connected and allow the charging system to do its job".  That's some word salad there.  My take away is that they no longer use a predefined guess of 15 minutes, but as long as it's not overburdened, it will keep the batteries connected.  I don't think it can really tell if there is charging going on.  It doesn't have any control of voltage or current.  The alternator still sets the voltage, and the batteries (and any loads connected to them - headlights, refrigerators, etc - sets the current.  It can open the house battery connection and stop all charging - that's it.  Now, after an hour, it will isolate the batteries to prevent overcharging (how did the one hour come into play?  Likely another guess), and will only reconnect "if one of the batteries drops to approximately 80% charge".  Based upon the connections to the device, they have no way of determining the State Of Charge.  They can only measure the voltage of the batteries under some load, which they don't know.  I suspect they have just programmed a guestimate voltage in to say the batteries are charged.  

This version has addressed, but not satisfactorily, the concerns I related to the engineer relative to the previous version.  It still isn't a smart charger.  It can't determine the state of charge or apply an appropriate charge profile (Bulk, Absorption, Float).  I don't know how it knows and handles "overburdened" alternator current draw.  But I will also state that I don't know of a device similar that does the job. 

What I have done is to completely (and permanently) isolated the chassis system and alternator charging for the house system and the inverter/charger.  The alternator only charges the chassis battery and only works when the main engine is running (obviously).  It does not charge the house batteries.  The house batteries are charged by the inverter/charger when or shore power, or the generator.  This does not directly charge the chassis battery.  I have installed, but have not found the need to connect, a stand only battery maintainer that plugs into the block heater which could be enabled to charge the chassis battery when the inverter/charger is powered.  I also have 1400 Watts of solar on the roof.  I used to original Monaco 100 Watt panel just for the chassis battery through its own MPPT controller.  This was a result of not finding any panels that could be use in combination with that panel, so deployed it to the chassis battery instead of simply removing it.  The other 1300 Watts are used to charge/maintain the house batteries though two MPPT controllers.  The MPPT controllers are smart chargers that can be programmed to Bulk, Absorption, and Float, just like the inverter/charger.  I've only had a couple times when the solar didn't keep up.  One time was a snow storm last year where we got over 8" of snow and it didn't get above freezing for a week and I was out of town so I couldn't plug it in.  The other time was when the repair (body) shop didn't turn off the battery disconnect switches and it was inside for over 10 days.  In both cases, the engine generator started up and charged up the house batteries.  The chassis battery didn't discharge in that short period of time. 

Sorry about the long post but I've had a lot of people bring this to my attention, and I have discouraged them from purchasing.  After understanding there concerns and requirements, I've provided alternative solutions.

  -Rick N.

Thanks for the explanation, always better to have advice rather than learn by error.

This little gizmo replaces your standard BIM and integrates charges for both AGM and Lithium battery banks.

Lithium Battery Isolation Manager | Precision Circuits Inc

The Lithium BIM (Li-BIM) isolates the two battery systems, chassis, and coach, in a motorhome. This prevents loads in one system from discharging both. It also connects the two battery systems together during charging. Both batteries are charged if either is being charged. The coach battery is charged while driving and the chassis battery is charged while plugged into Shore Power at a campground.

The Li-BIM monitors the voltage of both the Lead Acid Chassis and Lithium Coach batteries over long periods of time. If it senses a charging voltage, it connects the two batteries together. If the charging system is drastically overburdened, the batteries will be isolated, however, if the Li-BIM sees a long-term charging of both batteries it will allow the batteries to remain connected and allow the charging system to do its job. Once the batteries have charged for one hour, the Li-BIM will isolate the batteries to prevent overcharging, and will only reconnect the batteries for charging if one of the batteries drops to approximately 80% charge, and the other is being charged. This long-term monitoring of the batteries prevents the annoying relay clicking that exists in simpler isolation modules today. The Li-BIM does not guarantee 100% battery charge but prevents harmful charge levels.

Note:

The Battery Isolation Manager goes between the Chassis and Coach Batteries to maintain both batteries when either one is charging.