Batteries not charging?

[pennzo]

Hi!  Newbie to this board and am researching to see what might be the problem, but here it goes.....we just had our 2000 Windsor fully serviced at the Cummins in Jacksonville, Florida last week.  I brought the Green Bean home and am having an issue with the house batteries.  I have the generator running and the inverter on, but it doesn't seem to be charging anything....I am close to 50% battery remaining, and I don't see where the RC7-GS Trace display states charging.  It only glows green for "INVERTER", but I don't see the light illuminating yellow for "CHARGE".

I have turned everything off in the Bean...yet I don't see anything charging....when I am hooked up to shore power at the storage facility in Thonotosassa (I use the Progressive Industries charger/protector), I can see where the yellow light is illuminated for "CHARGE", but now that I'm at the house cleaning and loading it in preparation for a trip to Marianna this weekend, I am failing to see it charge.

 

They also replaced my Deka batteries last week with new Cummins batteries.  Is it possible the technician hooked them up incorrectly or didn't turn the HOUSE batteries "ON" so they may be charged by the generator?  Is everything operating as it should? Or am I frying our coach?

Sorry for my ignorance...we're new to all of this and want to gain better understanding and take care of our Green Bean properly....and suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

[John Haggard]

First off

Shops do turn the battery switches off to service rvs

They certainly did to replace your batteries.

 

But

12 volt runs both ways, always.

So if your using the DC. energy,  power  from the hoyse batteries. You battery switches must be on.

So do you have A.C. current, power while running your generator. 120.

There is also a on, off switch on the generator.

 

This is a simple starting point to diagnose your problem.

Then

Your inverter , converter charger may have fuses. 

 

[pennzo]

John,

Thank you so much for the reply....I did go outside and checked the cutoffs for the House and Chassis batteries...both are "ON"...however, I did notice inside the coach there was a rocker switch for Battery Cutoff, which was in the ON position, so I turned that off.

When attempting to start the generator earlier today, it gave me an ERROR red light illumination on the Trace and the message read "Low Batt", so I started the Green Bean.  Then I started the generator and the warning message and error light disappeared.  I can use small things like the TV and interior lights, but not the A/C.  The DuoTherm won't even turn on....did I accidentally fry something? 

We've only used the coach on a couple of occasions and were always hooked up to shore power.  I was under the impression/understanding that if I ran my genset, it would charge the house batteries. 

When the GREEN inverter light is on, does this mean I am using the energy stored in the batteries, or does this mean I am taking the enrgy created by the generator and storing it in the batteries?  My apologies again....really new to all of this and am going thru all of the Monaco literature to see if I am pulling a Homer or if there's something really wrong.

[Frank Bergamo]

Eddie,

check to see that the circuit breakers for the inverter are on. These will be located in the AC circuit panels in the coach. I believe  also that there is an on/off switch on the inverter, make sure this is on also. Your battery cutoff switch should be on, I would turn it back on. As far as hooking up the new batteries correctly, that is definitely a possibility that something was overlooked when installing. Hope this helps.

[John Haggard]

If the green light is on solid.

Your running AC off the Inverter.

If your generator is running.

You should not be running off the inverter, House Batteries.

Generator running

Green light should flicker.

Generator runnibg

All AC appliances should be working.

A.C. units

TVs

110 lights

110 outlets should be Hot.

And you should be charging the house batteries.

Turn that switch back on with the generator running.

And see of your still inverting???

Check the on/off switch on the front of the generator 

 Next to your generator start , stop switch.

Make certain its on.

 

 

 

 

[Steven P]

I agree w above,  it sounds like your generator is not doing its job.  That could mean your breaker is off at your generator or your transfer switch is not working.  If it all works when hooked to shore power, but no ac power (check outlets) on genny, start at genny. Post pics if you can. 

[pennzo]

Thanks for everyone's input!  This is what I've found out checking this morning.....the batteries are currently sitting at 5.8 VDC, (checked with the Multimeter), hence the Low Batt warning on the Trace display.   When I run the Genset, I DO have 110 at the outlets.  MW and fridge will work, but Duotherm is not working.  I have checked all fuses in the back of the coach and non are tripped.   I turned the Battery Cutoff switch at the steps back to ON position. 

Can I take a battery charger to the House batteries in an attempt to charge back up and troubleshoot further, or am I better off taking it back to Big Boys storage, hooking back to Shore Power and trying to figure out what else is going on?

Happy 57th Birthday to me....😖

If the Fuse at the Genset is "OFF", could this be my smoking gun?

[pennzo]

Well, I turned the Breaker on the Genset itself back to the ON position, but it failed to start, so I started the Bean.  Once the bean started, the Genset fired right up...and it originally showed 92% total charge, but has been dropping since I started the coach. 

So, is it the Coach running or the Genset that is responsible for the charging?  I'm feeling lost and a bit frustrated....before I left for Cummins to get service, I was sheltered, plugged in and everything worked....now, it seems everything's falling apart and I don't where to start to fix it....🤯

[John Haggard]

15 minutes ago, pennzo said:

Thanks for everyone's input!  This is what I've found out checking this morning.....the batteries are currently sitting at 5.8 VDC, (checked with the Multimeter), hence the Low Batt warning on the Trace display.   When I run the Genset, I DO have 110 at the outlets.  MW and fridge will work, but Duotherm is not working.  I have checked all fuses in the back of the coach and non are tripped.   I turned the Battery Cutoff switch at the steps back to ON position. 

Can I take a battery charger to the House batteries in an attempt to charge back up and troubleshoot further, or am I better off taking it back to Big Boys storage, hooking back to Shore Power and trying to figure out what else is going on?

Happy 57th Birthday to me....😖

If the Fuse at the Genset is "OFF", could this be my smoking gun?

The only time you would turn the fuse off is to service the generator. 

It has to be on ALL the time otherwise.

Happy Birthday

Pennzo

 

🥳

[pennzo]

John, Frank and Steven!

Thank you for your prompt replies and support.  I have since turned off the coach, and the Genset seems to be "Bulk Charging" and I'm at 71%  of Full.  I have turned everything else off (with the exception of the MW, doesn't seem to be an OFF button for that 🤭)

I will continue to allow it to run until I've check the house batteries with my multimeter to verify proper voltage...

Now, onto bigger fish....I am eating 15A fuses for the right side dinette lighting area...no porch or handle.light, either....time to remove/check all lighting devices, put a new 15A in and slowly reintroduce each fixture until I get a blown fuse..there should be my issue...

Can't help but have a nagging doubt thinking it's the door handle...it was recently installed at Lakeland's Creative Coach...but we could never get it to turn on.....but admittedly we were a bit oblivious, as writing  a large check for the many repairs was overwhelming. 

I need to do better at troubleshooting for my self...and my pocketbook.   😆

[jacwjames]

The breaker that is shown in the photo is in the OFF position.  This is preventing power from going to the transfer switch.  So before when you got the generator running it was not feeding power to the coach.  

With  in the ON position it will provide power to the transfer switch and start charging the batteries. 

In most cases the transfer switch is set to give the generator priority, even if you are plugged in to shore power.  

If you are not familiar with the systems in your coach take the time to thoroughly read the manual.  Mine does a pretty decent job of explaining everything and even though I've owned my coach for ~12 years I still take the time to pull it out an review different systems, especially the more complicated ones.  I spend hours reading both Monacoers.org and IRV2.com posts.  If I see one that peaks my interest I will even dig into the problem a little more and download any info I can on it.  I have an extensive library of documents for the systems on my coach. 

[pennzo]

Jim,

I see you own a Windsor, too!  👍

Yes, I was going thru the Owners Manual last night, but will admit it was a bit lean in content.  Informative but generic.  I too have reviewed/researched iRV2, this site and Google, of course, among others for more understanding and insight into the inner workings of our coach.  

I will eventually own a library of research for the systems in our coach and as I gain more experience from ownership and the experiences of others.  It just seems the timing of my issues could not have happened at a better time. 😆

Thank you for your insight and response.  I will update the post with findings and solutions as they occur.  

[John Haggard]

Get your house batteries tested.

If they are that low ???

Even if new

A dead cell will keep them from charging at all.

 

[pennzo]

John, the batteries are charging now...they're at 75% and climbing...I do have an 18 month full replacement warranty thru Cummins, so that's reassuring..

I haven't multimetered the house batteries.... still working on securing the 50A Shore Power to the Coach (it's very loose and the existing fasteners are useless?), securing the rain drain over the door (just noticing was hanging off, screws rusted and dusted) and have yet to service the Norcold on propane option (although, it works fantastic on Shore/Genset)....oh, I think I may have found my dead short...it's the outside porch light...it's really buggered and the on/off button just disintegrated in my hands,so it's removed and Lazy Days in Seffner has one for me tomorrow.   👍

I'll be ready to take a break in Marianna at this point! 😆

[John Haggard]

Fantastic 

Great news

 

No

No breaks 🤣

[pennzo]

😆

I have re-secured the external 50A Shore Power with new SS screws and it's solid now.  Same applies for the rain drip edge over the entry door, complete with new sealant...

Cleaned out the Norcold area of all manner of dirt, dust, debris and hornets/wasps nests...even out of the exhaust....🤯

I am able to get the Propane to fire up, but that's all....no blower engaging, no cooling going on, so I'm shutting it down to explore further....THEN, I'll take a break...👍

[John Haggard]

Thats big progress 

[Frank Bergamo]

Eddie,

on the Norcold there is no blower, just the sound of the burner operating. Takes roughly 24 hours or longer depending on outside air temperature to cool down. Keep at it, you will figure it out. Hope this helps.

[pennzo]

Frank,

Thanks for your suggestion.  I was expecting to hear a blower of some type to blow/suck air over the unit to remove the heat generated from the propane...I see there's 2 'exhaust' ports below the Norcold opening with what looks like a blower wheel inside, so I was expecting to hear something 'cooling' or 'blowing'....they also included the wasps nests since removed...big ones, too!  😆

I'll go back out there and fire it back up...I was able to get all 3 burners on the stove top to ignite (they're the old Atwood manual light burners), so hopefully I've eliminated a regulator issue from the propane tank...will check back in with pics to share...   👍

[jacwjames]

Below the refrigerator is your furnace, the 2 ports you see on the outside are the intake and exhaust of the furnace. 

There are a couple of small fans mounted on the rear of the refrigerator up high and will occasionally come on but I never heard mine.  They are intended to improve airflow and cooling.  Some people have opted to mount additional ones to improve the refrigerators performance.  I mounted on below that was controlled by a snap disc attached to the burner tube.  I saw marginal improvement.  My Norcold failed a couple years ago and I replaced with a residential. 

Also, the Norcold refrigerator of your vintage had a recall where they installed a couple of heat sensors in the exhaust stack ad control Black Box and would cut the refrigerator off it reached a certain temperature.  The Norcold has a know safety issue, many fires have been caused by the Norcold resulting in a class action suit (hence the recall) back years ago.  When my Norcold failed the Black Box kicked the refrigerator off and the bottom was covered in the yellow ammonia dust.  No fire but at that point I had enough of the Norcold.

[pennzo]

Jim,

That's been my biggest fear...it's operated flawlessly on Shore Power and the Genset, so I feel I might be pushing my luck trying to get it to work on propane.  But, if we want to keep our foodstuffs cold whilst OTR, it's gotta work.

I've included pics of a starting point to see if the propane will function.  The pics were taken about 2030 this evening. 

I'm going back out there around midnight to check my progress....and to make sure the Coach isn't ablaze.  😆

[Frank Bergamo]

Eddie,

is the thermometer in the fridge or freezer? 32 degrees is great for the fridge side, 10 or below for the freezer. Also, it is critical that the coach is level or as close to level for the unit to work properly. If it is not level you can damage the heating coils requiring replacement of the coils. Hope this helps.

[pennzo]

Frank, the thermometer is sitting in the fridge,, 1st shelf......and no, the Coach is outside the front of the house on a slight incline, so no, it's not truly level.   Guess I need to head back out there and either attempt to level it, OR, shut it down?  

Thanks for the heads-up!  👍

[jacwjames]

I kept a remote temp sensor in both the freezer and fridge.  We kept extra freezer blocks in the freezer and move them to the fridge if the temps started to climb.  We became very paranoid of the fridge over time and even though we monitored it we lost lots of food stuffs over the years.  We never saw temps much below 40F in the fridge, most of the time warmer then that.  Freezer was slightly better, my wife enjoys ice cream but learned to live without int the motorhome.

[pennzo]

Jim, I've experienced 34° in the fridge whilst plugged into Shore Power in San Antonio, Texas during springtime....and it's had no problem with the freezer, either....it's had the recall done to it (called the Monaco recall hotline) before I bought it...

Sorry to hear about not being able to enjoy ice cream...Penny and I love it...when the time comes to replace the Norcold, can you suggest residential alternatives?