Alternator charge warning light and chime

[Tom Cherry]

57 minutes ago, tomevansfl said:

Thanks Gary. Sorry if I misled. My generator was on while driving but not at idle at any time except while waiting for a traffic signal change. That was the only time the alt charge light did not flash at irregular intervals, it only flashed while going down the road. I’m glad it doesn’t mean there is something “broken” in my electrical system. 
 

My charger (Xantrex) says float charging. It is when I use the inverter to supply the residential refrigerator that no power is detected. The Xantrex buzzes or clicks when switched on and then switches off. I am interpreting that to mean my house batteries are at the end of their service life. The only time I have used the house batteries has been the 24 or so hours before leaving to pre-cool the refrigerator for the trip. The last two times we just left the perishables in the ice chest until we were on generator for the trip. Our fridge cools down very quickly so that hasn’t been an issue. We are going on a week-long trip in two weeks.
 

My wife has scoped out the grocery stores near our destination so we decided to run the generator to operate the house air conditioners on the 2-1/2 hour drive and let the fridge run for that time so it will be cold when we arrive at the grocery store near our campground. 
 

When I replace my house batteries I plan to replace them with lithium and add solar and upgrade the charger/inverter to work with the lithium.  Until then, I’ll wait until the fridge has run on generator or shore power long enough to reach operating temp before adding perishable food to it. 
 

Thanks again for the help. 

Interesting.  And you obviously know that just putting in Lithium’s is not a cure-all or fix all.

I’m not a Xantrex expert and folks have been baffled about some of the idiosyncrasies of them….especially at an advanced age.  Assume you have removed 12 VDC cables from the Xantrex and let it sit, off and idle, for a while.  That generally resets it. If your House battery switch does the same….disconnects power, then you might try powering down,  remove the Xantrex cables…turn back on the house and wait a while….then power down….reconnect and see what’s going on.

Next up, we have a file (Files section) called Battery 101.  It addresses a lot more a out flooded and AGM.  However, if you wanted to actually measure, accurately, without a meter that really doesn’t work well on deep cycle batteries, do the recharge and draw down test.  Then measure the voltage on each.  Since you can’t get the Inverter to work, then that might be tough for a good DC drawdown.  

BUT one sure way.  Drive with a jumper cable between the positives for a few hours. Your House should be fully charged….measure the voltage.  Then see if the Xantrex works.  Some inverters DO require a good battery for the internal ATS that switches the incoming power (used for charging as well) to outgoing.  If the batteries will NOT invert or work then.  Put back ON the Jumper cable.  With the Chassis in parallel, the Xantrex ATS should switch.  If it doesn’t….internal issue and maybe the House bank isn’t an issue.

The other issue….never depend on the cables to be  foolproof  We have had many issues of a bad Ground to the chassis Ground stud.  Chase both house and chassis and remove or loosen and rotate side to side or clean.  Good PM….will also ensure you don’t have issues with the investment in Lithiums.

That is the only way to really troubleshoot,  Good Luck,

[tomevansfl]

On 7/15/2023 at 3:02 PM, Tom Cherry said:

Interesting.  And you obviously know that just putting in Lithium’s is not a cure-all or fix all.

I’m not a Xantrex expert and folks have been baffled about some of the idiosyncrasies of them….especially at an advanced age.  Assume you have removed 12 VDC cables from the Xantrex and let it sit, off and idle, for a while.  That generally resets it. If your House battery switch does the same….disconnects power, then you might try powering down,  remove the Xantrex cables…turn back on the house and wait a while….then power down….reconnect and see what’s going on.

Next up, we have a file (Files section) called Battery 101.  It addresses a lot more a out flooded and AGM.  However, if you wanted to actually measure, accurately, without a meter that really doesn’t work well on deep cycle batteries, do the recharge and draw down test.  Then measure the voltage on each.  Since you can’t get the Inverter to work, then that might be tough for a good DC drawdown.  

BUT one sure way.  Drive with a jumper cable between the positives for a few hours. Your House should be fully charged….measure the voltage.  Then see if the Xantrex works.  Some inverters DO require a good battery for the internal ATS that switches the incoming power (used for charging as well) to outgoing.  If the batteries will NOT invert or work then.  Put back ON the Jumper cable.  With the Chassis in parallel, the Xantrex ATS should switch.  If it doesn’t….internal issue and maybe the House bank isn’t an issue.

The other issue….never depend on the cables to be  foolproof  We have had many issues of a bad Ground to the chassis Ground stud.  Chase both house and chassis and remove or loosen and rotate side to side or clean.  Good PM….will also ensure you don’t have issues with the investment in Lithiums.

That is the only way to really troubleshoot,  Good Luck,

Thanks, Tom.  I'll peruse the Battery 101file (I wasn't aware of this file or service offered in the file section) and try the methods you recommend and see if that can identify an issue.