Auto Gen Start

[miacasa_2000]

Never used this feature as of yet and I was wondering what parameters I should set to have the geny auto start while driving with my new to me residential fridge.  I first checked the basic settings and they were like my book as in Search sense: defeat,  auto LBCO: on, Bat Cap: 500amp, Bat type: liquid lead acid, charge rate: 100%, shore power: 30amp, external shunt: none, Fuel gauge cut out : 11.8 vdc 

That is my first question should I leave that at 11.8 volts?   Second question gen start at ? I put in 11.5 VDC is that too high?   Third question gen stop? I put 95% SOC  thinking that I would charge up higher before it quit and I started drawing off my Batteries again.

All this came about because I put in a residential fridge and on my shake down trip only got about 3 hr. before inverter alarm sounded so I just reached down and started the geny.  My batteries are getting a little long in the tooth and I will replace them soon but they still hold 12.5 specific gravity when my RC7-GS says there 100%  down a little I know but still up there. Which leads me to my fourth question Shouldn't my alternator be able to keep the house batteries up? This new dc inverter fridge use very little ac amps. The highest reading I got was 1.9 amps this of course without defrost or ice cube heaters on. ( this was read on the single wire hot leg at my on / off switch with my clamp meter. I'm not sure what 2 amps 120v ac relates to dc volt / amps being consumed by the inverter maybe that is too much for the alternator.

Thanks in advance

Roy  2003 Dynasty

[jacwjames]

It sounds like your batteries are gone, I installed a new residential and with new batteries I can easily last the night.  I'll usually run the generator until I get 90% of charge and then when I wake up I still have 80% charge. 

This was provided to me by DR4film.  I have not needed to use AGS yet but have these settings if I decide to.

RC7-GS Remote Panel Programming

 

·       Search Sense              =     Defeat                                     

·       LBCO                          =     ON                                           

·       Battery Capacity        =     500 amp                                  

·       Battery Type              =     Liquid Lead Acid                      

·       Charge Rate                =     80%                                         

·       Set Shore Power         =     30 amps                                  

·       External Shunt            =     None                                       

·       Fuel gauge Cutout      =     11.8 VDC @ 0% SOC                 

·       Generator Start          =     12.0 or 12.2 VDC                            

·       Generator Stop           =     Auto Float                               

·       Generator Quiet Time =     23:59 & 00:01

 

You must set clock to military time for Auto Gen Start

[Ivan K]

31 minutes ago, jacwjames said:

It sounds like your batteries are gone, I installed a new residential and with new batteries I can easily last the night.  I'll usually run the generator until I get 90% of charge and then when I wake up I still have 80% charge. 

This was provided to me by DR4film.  I have not needed to use AGS yet but have these settings if I decide to.

RC7-GS Remote Panel Programming

 

 

·       Search Sense              =     Defeat                                     

 

·       LBCO                          =     ON                                           

 

·       Battery Capacity        =     500 amp                                  

 

·       Battery Type              =     Liquid Lead Acid                      

 

·       Charge Rate                =     80%                                         

 

·       Set Shore Power         =     30 amps                                  

 

·       External Shunt            =     None                                       

 

·       Fuel gauge Cutout      =     11.8 VDC @ 0% SOC                 

 

·       Generator Start          =     12.0 or 12.2 VDC                            

 

·       Generator Stop           =     Auto Float                               

 

·       Generator Quiet Time =     23:59 & 00:01

 

 

 

You must set clock to military time for Auto Gen Start

 

These are the settings I use too. Gen start at 11.5v is way too low, I expect the inverter to be long in alarm by then. When plugged in at home, I lower the Shore Power and charge rate to minimum. I don't use SOC values for anything because I don't trust them.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Ivan K
Corrected wrong statement...

[Dave Pumphrey]

Your house batteries should be charging with the engine running. The residential fridge does not pull that much, shoud be able to run overnight without batteries going too low.

I would get them load tested, & find out why they are not being charged by the alternator. 

[miacasa_2000]

thank you all.  As you read in my basic set up it mirrors what Richard provided except my Monaco book said to set charge rate to 100% not 80 % I will change that to 80 but can anyone explain the difference as in.  does 100% hurt the batteries or just waste gen running longer for no gain?  Also my book never gave any recommendations on the start or stop so thank you. Also besides the question above I guess I have 2 more

Ivan you change your settings when plugged in. I use 50 amp when home , campsites , and Fl. wouldn't I just turn the auto start off and not have to reset the settings?

Dave I have a load tester that I only used on single batteries so my question is do I treat them as one and test the load all together or do I have to separate them and test them individually ?

Roy 2003 dynasty 

[Dave Pumphrey]

17 minutes ago, miacasa_2000 said:

Dave I have a load tester that I only used on single batteries so my question is do I treat them as one and test the load all together or do I have to separate them and test them individually ?

Roy 2003 dynasty 

Separate & test individually. 

Also see if they are charging with engine running, (volt meter), if not, why?

[Ivan K]

2 hours ago, miacasa_2000 said:

Ivan you change your settings when plugged in. I use 50 amp when home , campsites , and Fl. wouldn't I just turn the auto start off and not have to reset the settings?

Roy, I only change the Shore Power settings when parked and not in use in or outside my shop since it is only plugged into 20 amp outlet. Or in parks with 30A. Honestly don't know if it even matters since it is only to keep the batteries alive and when I looked yesterday, it took 4 amps in Float. AGS is ON just in case of a long outage but I turn it off when driving so I can operate the gen from my seat without it stopping the gen. Since you have 50A everywhere you go, you have nothing to worry about.