So I finally got my generator running.
I let my house batteries go down to 60 percent to see if the generator would change them and how quickly they would charge.
I waited about 1/2 hour and there was no change.
Now I did have lithium batteries installed several months ago but never was able to see if they could be charged this way.
I do have a separate charger the I plug in by itself. And my engine charges them through the alternator and my BIM.
They told me to turn the inverter / charger breaker by the bed, off.
How does the generator charge the house batteries.?
The only way the generator can charge your batteries is with a inverter/charger, or some other charging source that is connected to the 110 volt system powered by your generator. I'm curious why they " who was they" told you to turn of your on Board charger/ inverter. If it was the folks that repaired your generator, I doubt they have a clue about how you coach works with respect to battery charging. Try turning the breaker to you inverter charger back on and make sure your charger is turned on
It was the maker of the battery. I had them install it.
So if I get the lithium battery charger plugged into the on board 110 volt system that would charge the batteries when the generator is running?
They told me always make sure that breaker must be off because it would destroy the batteries.
I didn't get inverter charger specifically for these batteries. Either I was mislead thinking I could use my current one or I just wasn't informed enough with the process.
I don't remember them saying anything about the inverter.
So when they came to do the install they just brought a small charger which I plug in shore power.
However I do have an electrician coming that is going to wire it to the 110 side. So when I plug in to shore power it will automatically charge.
And from the original poster 18360: "Now I did have lithium batteries installed several months ago but never was able to see if they could be charged this way.
I do have a separate charger the I plug in by itself."
Dear Bruce, what are the charging voltages for a Lithium battery?
Equalize setting needs to and must be "off". Also temp setting should be "off" if possible.
From Battle Born web site for 12V system: "We recommend a bulk and absorption voltage of 14.4V. A float is unnecessary, since Li-ion batteries do not leak charge, but a floating voltage under 13.6V is fine."
If your inverter charger has adjustable settings then all you need to do is change the settings to be within the parameters given for charging by Battle Born batteries. I have been using my inverter charger to charge my Battle Born batteries for over a year now.
Rick post what kind of inverter you have and someone here should be able to walk you through the system menu to show you how to make sure the charger is on. You should be able to access the menu through the panel mounted inside the coach. I have a mid entry and it is located to left of my door. On my menu you just use the arrow keys to highlight the Inverter or charger and enable them or disable them. Jack already has the charge settings for you above.
I have Briter lithium batteries.
I have a hart freedom inverter charger i think.
So you can use a lead acid smart charger just so long as it doesn't equalize or stir the electrolyte. Which means no to the PD 9200/9100 series since they can't be programmed.
I don't know if the Heart has the same issue as my Magnum but, due to the higher nominal voltage of the lithium batteries, the charger defaults to float mode and charges very slowly. Even with a heavily discharged battery, it see's enough voltage to think it's fully charged. I have to manually change it to bulk mode each time I connect the shoreline or start the generator if I want it to charge at full speed. Magnum says it can only be fixed by buying the newest version of their remote controller. Maybe the Heart is also defaulting to float mode?
Beamalarm shows you have Heart Freedom 2500. Do you have original Heart Freedom manual?
1998 Foretravel U320 Specifications (http://beamalarm.com/foretravel-links/models/1998_foretravel_u320_specifications.html)
If you have the following Freedom, see your manual or see the following pdf of the manual. I would set to 12 Volt Gel Cell Cold Temperature setting, as it has equalization off with highest bulk setting and float setting.
With this setting the bulk and equalize will be 14.1 and the float is 13.6.
While this setting is not perfect, it is the best for your installed inverter/charger. Perfect would be 14.2-14.4 and so this setting is just fine.
The wet cell settings have equalization and may hurt your lithiums.
See page 17 of following manual for above 12v Gel cold temperature defaults. See page 30-31 for dip switch settings, 1-8.
So if you if you plug or hard wire your lithium charger to the coaches 110 system that will charge any time 110 volt is available from any source. You will still need to turn the breaker on for the inverter/ charger, or you will not have any inverter. With that said just made sure the charger setting is off, as described in the link that Jack posted.
A better fix would be to install a later magnum inverter which beyond being full wave output it also can auto start in bulk mode with the use of its additional ME- ARC remote panel and then has no wired in time limit to its bulk charge. At least I think that's how it's capable of working with the newer technology.
I'll stick with AGM batteries
So you spend money for lithium ion batteries, but don't have a proper charger for them. The first thing you need to do is put in a proper inverter charger. Do not mess with trying to make an old inverter make do because it could damage or ruin your batteries. There are could an inverter chargers out there that will accommodate lithium batteries. Victron multiplus it's the one that I use and many others. Well it's not cheap neither were those batteries. Seriously do yourself a favor make sure you are able to charge them properly.
As I said, the above settings will be fine.
As Bob said, replacement of your inv/chrgr should be a "huge" consideration. The first update I did when acquiring my FT was to update the 21 year old inverter/charger to a sine wave unit with a more modern, multi stage charger with temperature control. The above features are "huge".