04-28-2019, 10:21 AM
howdy all,
i have resolved this and it was not straight forward so i will step through it from the beginning.
initial symptoms were that the start batteries would not charge up to where they should be using the echocharger when sitting plugged in. i did put in new starting batteries about 6 weeks ago.
the xantrex echocharger that was original to the coach showed to be always charging the start batteries. the configuration was that the start lead from the echocharger went to a 10a blade fuse in a fuse block then over to the start side of the battery isolator. the same thing for the house battery lead from the echocharger. the ground went to a good ground.
the voltage of the house batteries at both sides of the fuse block was 13.1 to 13.2 volts as it should be. they are being kept charged by the magnum inverter charger.
the voltage of the start batteries on both sides of the fuse block was about 12v. and holding. just barely enough to start the coach.
with the blade fuses out, everything ohmed out ok.
so i assumed the echocharger that was 19 years old was bad. i liked the features of the amp-l-start so i bought one and installed it. only i put new 15a blade fuses in the fuse block.
it immediately went to charge mode and i thought all was fixed. about 24 hours later i hear beeping and i looked at the amp-l-start and the indicator light for the start side said the start batteries were not connected. the voltage on the house batteries was still about 13.1v and the start side still about 12v. so it had not charged at all.
still everything ohmed out good.
i decided to put a new lead from the start side of the amp-l-start directly to the start side of the battery isolator. immediately the error light went off and it went into charge mode.
after about a day and a half, the house side was still at about 13.1v and now the start side was at 13.01 v. so it was working now
the issue was that the old fuse block had enough corrosion inside it to stop enough current from going through. it was doing some charging (because i disconnected both sides for a day and the start batteries went down to under 11v), but not enough to get it up to where it should be.
a very subtle issue that was not found with a volt meter/ohm meter but by trial and error.
richard had a similar issue on his hwh control box where a fuse holder had enough corrosion to cause intermittent issues.
i like the indicators and noise indicators on the new amp-l-start so i have no regrets replacing the older less featured echocharger.
thats my story and i am sticking to it
tom
i have resolved this and it was not straight forward so i will step through it from the beginning.
initial symptoms were that the start batteries would not charge up to where they should be using the echocharger when sitting plugged in. i did put in new starting batteries about 6 weeks ago.
the xantrex echocharger that was original to the coach showed to be always charging the start batteries. the configuration was that the start lead from the echocharger went to a 10a blade fuse in a fuse block then over to the start side of the battery isolator. the same thing for the house battery lead from the echocharger. the ground went to a good ground.
the voltage of the house batteries at both sides of the fuse block was 13.1 to 13.2 volts as it should be. they are being kept charged by the magnum inverter charger.
the voltage of the start batteries on both sides of the fuse block was about 12v. and holding. just barely enough to start the coach.
with the blade fuses out, everything ohmed out ok.
so i assumed the echocharger that was 19 years old was bad. i liked the features of the amp-l-start so i bought one and installed it. only i put new 15a blade fuses in the fuse block.
it immediately went to charge mode and i thought all was fixed. about 24 hours later i hear beeping and i looked at the amp-l-start and the indicator light for the start side said the start batteries were not connected. the voltage on the house batteries was still about 13.1v and the start side still about 12v. so it had not charged at all.
still everything ohmed out good.
i decided to put a new lead from the start side of the amp-l-start directly to the start side of the battery isolator. immediately the error light went off and it went into charge mode.
after about a day and a half, the house side was still at about 13.1v and now the start side was at 13.01 v. so it was working now
the issue was that the old fuse block had enough corrosion inside it to stop enough current from going through. it was doing some charging (because i disconnected both sides for a day and the start batteries went down to under 11v), but not enough to get it up to where it should be.
a very subtle issue that was not found with a volt meter/ohm meter but by trial and error.
richard had a similar issue on his hwh control box where a fuse holder had enough corrosion to cause intermittent issues.
i like the indicators and noise indicators on the new amp-l-start so i have no regrets replacing the older less featured echocharger.
thats my story and i am sticking to it
tom
2002 45'8" Newell Coach 608 Series 60 DDEC4/Allison World 6 Speed HD4000MH