[Land Yacht]

Last week I was at Newell for yearly PM. During the service, the tech removed all the battery cables cleaned them, and load tested all the batteries. I had to replace the start batteries but the house tested OK.

Since then the charger portion of the Heart Inverter never goes into float, it stays in accept charging at 14.25v and cooking the water out of the batteries. When I first noticed this, I turned off the charger, and tried it later - same situation. Sunday I added 3 gallons of water to the house batteries, most of it to the 1st battery in line. I also found a loose negative terminal. This morning I called Newell and talked to a tech who did not really have any idea of the problem, but suggested I remove the 1st battery out of the bank. So, I did that tonight. Still after 1.5 hours of charging, the system did not go into float, so I shut it off.

The manual says that 14.1v for an hour then it should go to float.

I have no more ideas, and believe Newell did something because it worked fine before they touched it, and I want them to take responsibility, so I guess I will take the coach back. Any other ideas?
Thanks Mike

[RussWhite]

Mike,

Well, as I am sure you know, this story does not make much sense. Under normal circumstances, when the batteries will no longer transition to float it is time to check the RV maintenance budget and buy some new batteries.
I can only suggest you check the settings on the inverter/charger, but why would they have changed?

After that I am with you - take it back and hope they will take care of you. Good luck - Russ EE

[Land Yacht]

Mike,

Well, as I am sure you know, this story does not make much sense.  Under normal circumstances, when the batteries will no longer transition to float it is time to check the RV maintenance budget and buy some new batteries.
I can only suggest you check the settings on the inverter/charger, but why would they have changed?

After that I am with you - take it back and hope they will take care of you.   Good luck - Russ EE

I wondered if 1 battery was bad causing the issue. The tech on the phone picked to isolate the battery that cooked the most water out of it, but that was not the answer. The batteries are only 2 years old, and charged fine prior to service. 

I too thought surely they did not change the settings...

[Richard]

What is the voltage of bank at rest? During charging?

Have you looked at the menu to see what the charge settings are?

[RussWhite]

I have had another thought. If wires were disconnected I wonder if it is possible the "sense" wires were not connected properly. Sensing circuits allow a charger to get a true voltage from the batteries through wires that do not carry charing current and therefore do not have significant voltage drops. The charger needs to know the battery voltage and should it not be able to "sense" that voltage it will keep charging at a high rate in an attempt to get the voltage up. Worth a look. Russ

[Land Yacht]

What is the voltage of bank at rest?  During charging?

Have you looked at the menu to see what the charge settings are?

Voltage at rest 12.5v. Battery 1 and 12.65 battery 2. Is #1 the house and #2 the start?

Voltage charging 14.25 when the inverter is in "accept". When in charge it is 13.65 or something. The sequence when the charger is turned on is "charge - accept - float" it never gets to float any more since they performed PM.

I have not looked at settings, and don't know how or what to look at. My assumption ? Is why or how would have the settings changed? But I see your point, part. Of troubleshooting. I guess I will have to read up on it...

[Land Yacht]

My owners manual only shows dip switches on back of remote panel. Are those exposed where they could accidentally be changed? A different tech was in that panel but not messing with intervertebral remote panel. Seems unlikely anything changed. Are there other settings not listed in owners manual for Freedom 25?

After a closer look, the panel is a Heart Link 2000, and not the same as my owners manual, so it must have been replaced. It has a setup button, so it must have software setup. I just need to find a manual.

[RussWhite]

I too have the Link 2000. Yes, Battery #1 is normally the house, and Battery #2 the start.
Here is a link to the manual: http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discont...endor).pdf

I would also gladly email to you if you get me your address.
The inverter/charger does not directly charge the start batteries. You probably have a device called the echo charger that will in theory send some charging current to the start batteries after the house batteries have been "satisfied".

My house batteries, over a long time ( years ) started taking longer and longer to reach float. Eventually they would not and I went to new batteries which it seemed went to float very quickly.
Russ

[Land Yacht]

I too have the Link 2000.   Yes, Battery #1 is normally the house, and Battery #2 the start.
Here is a link to the manual:   http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discont...endor).pdf

I would also gladly email to you if you get me your address.
The inverter/charger does not directly charge the start batteries.  You probably have a device called the echo charger that will in theory send some charging current to the start batteries after the house batteries have been "satisfied".

My house batteries, over a long time ( years ) started taking longer and longer to reach float.  Eventually they would not and I went to new batteries which it seemed went to float very quickly.
Russ

Thanks Russ!!! I downloaded and will read tonight. I do suspect 1 or more batteries, but they are only 2 years old and in the PM, Newell load tested them and all appeared OK. I wonder if load testing, caused a short or something in 1 or more batteries and it will take new one... Heading back to Newell to let them sort it out since they worked on it, and then I started having problems.