Battery Control Center / BIRD Intellitec

[Bob125]

Does anyone have a manual for Intellitec battery control center / Bird part number 74-00824-000?

I'm monitoring my charger and not for sure it's working to charger the chassis battery.  Would like to know the voltage thresholds and conditions when the BIRD is supposed to connect the chassis battery to charge. 

Thanks for any input, Bob...

 

[joefromperry]

I had a similar problem with my chassis batteries not charging, and found the problem not to be the board, but the big boy relay.

[David Pratt]

There is no manual for this relay, so maybe the following will help you. Here is the info for the Big Boy System that might be helpful.  That circuit board is called the Bird Relay Module which is located in the RRB.  There is a Green LED-(ISO Relay On)-third from the top on the board that should be Illuminated and the Big Boy Relay should have a low humm and be hot to touch when working properly. When you disconnect from shore power and the generator is not running, the Green LED should be out. The Big Boy Relay will drop out of the circuit when the dc voltage drops to 12.5 to 12.8 vdc when measured at the Battery side of the Big Boy Relay. When connected to shore power or when the generator is running you should have power to the #2 pin on the eight pin connector on the right side of the board. The #1 pin is ground and the #3 pin is powered on when you turn on the Ignition Switch. Pin #4 is from the battery boost circuit, Pin #5 is the Domestic power circuit. Pins #6 & #7 are blank. Pin #8 is a ground circuit. The six pin connector on the top of the board powers up the relays. The left pin is Pin #1 and is ground, Pin #2 powers up the Big Boy Relay, Pins #3-4-5-6 power up the two Domestic Relays to the right of the Big Boy Relay. When working properly you should measure about + or - 4.6vdc on Pin #1 when the Board is powered up and the Big Boy Relay is working. If the BB is powered up and running correctly, you should have around 4.5 to 4.8 vdc on pin 1 of the 6 pin connector. You should also have that same voltage on pins 1, 4, 5 & 8 on the 8 pin connector. On the BB Solenoid you should be seeing 12.8+ vdc on the chassis side battery post-(left side) and 13.0+ vdc on the house battery side post-(right side). A differential of .3 to .6 vdc between these two posts is normal. If your Inverter is set up correctly and the Bird relay is working-(green light on) the Inverter through the BIRD Relay and the BB will charge the Coach Batteries first and then the Chassis batteries and when all the Batteries are fully charged the Inverter will go into float charge. When plugged into Shore Power or with the Genset running the Green LED will be Lit on the BIRD Relay Circuit Board, If not I would venture to guess that the circuit board is failing or has failed. The relay above the eight pin connector on the BIRD circuit board controls the Big Boy Relay, it could be failing.

[Terry T]

I apologize for this, did you check the 7.5 amp fuses?

Terry

[Bob125]

Thanks for the ideas and information.  I did check the 7.5a fuses and both were good.

When I plug in the Iso Relay green LED is lit.  After a while, when the house battery charger goes to float charging the LED goes off.  The chassis batteries end up around 12.9v and the house batteries at 13.1v.  But the green LED goes out.

Does this sound like the BIRD is working?  I was thinking the chassis batteries voltage should be around 13.1 (float charge voltage) and the green LED should stay on.

Thanks again for any help, Bob...

[David Pratt]

The green light should remain on when connected to shore power or when  the generator is running regardless what state of charge the batteries are in. When the batteries are in float the light should be on, the Big Boy Relay should be humming and hot to touch and the voltage on the Big. Boy should be above 13vdc on both of the large posts. The voltages I sent you for diagnosing the bird relay need to be verified.

 

[David Pratt]

Rethinking about the voltages you are seeing, the house batteries should be at a higher voltage than the chassis batteries by +/_ .3 to .4vdc. If the batteries stay charged at that voltage, the bird relay is probably working. I am just not sure why green light goes out when in float. Does your coach have the chassis MUX system.

 

[Bob125]

I was thinking that also (that green led should stay on). If the chassis is holding 12.8-12.9, is that enough not to be too low for starting?  If I don’t start for a long time I think they even drain lower like 12.6.   I was thinking more like 13.1 -13.3 was better.  I know the bulk charge will be over 14v.  
 

Yes, this is a 2009 Beaver Marquis with the Kongsberg CCM.  I’ve always thought I used up chassis batteries quicker than I should.  This last set last 4.5 years.

 

thanks for all the help and info, Bob...

[David Pratt]

Please give me a call at 321-427-6909 so I can discuss further. It can get lengthy and I do not want to burn up a lot of Forum space. 

[Bob125]

Thanks Dave, I will call you.  Before I do, I am tracking and working on some different load combinations.  For instance, yesterday, the green light stayed on longer than the first observation.  I'll get some more history before I call you.  It's definitely a situation where I need more education of how this system works.  Thanks, Bob...

[Ivylog]

I replaced the 2 diodes on the BIRD board 10 year’s ago when it was back feeding 12V power to the fuel shutoff... engine would not shut off.

A year ago I had to replace them again but this time they exploded. Didn’t have the correct amp diodes so put 3 smaller ones in parallel. This lasted until a month ago when one exploded again and melted the solder connection to the other 2.

Called M & M about having them re-work the Bird board...$95 to troubleshoot and another $350 to repair...NOT. Did my own troubleshooting and discovered the Big Boy was drawing 9 amps... one of the small coil wires was shorted to the case/ground... Yes, I’d replaced one of the 7.5 amp fuses with a 10A.

Tried the 40MT starter solenoid I have but the Bird would not energize it... requires almost 15 amps. So much for it being a replacement... only good as a $25 source of new contacts. Thought about going the Blue Sea route but ended up buying a $150 Big Boy which  takes 4 amps to energize. 

Only been a couple days but everything is working.

Edited May 20, 2021 by Ivylog

[pwhittle]

Hi Dick,

We appreciate you showing us the hard way to do things.

Paul

[Guest Ray Davis]

10 hours ago, pwhittle said:

Hi Dick,

We appreciate you showing us the hard way to do things.

Paul

ROFLMAO