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No start and house batteries dead!

December 19, 2021, 11:50:59 am

Good morning,

Looking for some quick advise before a bail on this trip planned to start today.  It has been cold and is currently in the mid 20s so yesterday I came and started the generator to make sure house batteries where charged and started the aqua hot furnace so to have a warm start today.

What I found, coach was cold and house batteries are dead. Motor started for a second and quit, started again and quit again and now is a no start. Generator will not start due to house batteries.

I have put on a charger to the house batteries so that I might get the generator to start soon.  Is there anything else anyone can think about for me to do?

Warm regards,
Tom

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #1 – December 19, 2021, 12:00:42 pm

Jump start with your car with larger cables (no $10 sets) connected for 10 minutes or so.  Don't be surprised if both sets of batteries have shorter lifespans now. Once the main engine starts, it will charge both sets of batteries.

Pierce

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #2 – December 19, 2021, 12:06:22 pm

At 20 degrees unfortunately a dead battery can freeze, if this happened you will need new batteries. Follow Pierce's advice to start, then see if any batteries can be saved, i.e. take a charge.

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #3 – December 19, 2021, 12:09:11 pm

If your house batteries got frozen they are toast. Did you try the boost switch when
you tried to start the generator. If your house batteries are too bad you might want
to disconnect the ground on the house batteries and put the charger on the engine
batteries and push the boost switch and start the generator that way.

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #4 – December 19, 2021, 12:15:02 pm

If your house and engine batteries are fully charged, it's almost impossible to freeze them. Remember the old DieHard commercial where the battery was inside a block of ice for the entire winter and then started just fine? But, if the batteries are allowed to discharge, there is a good chance it going to be like the posts above. If you can't plug in to shore power for storage and don't have a solar panel to keep both banks charged, then disconnect both sets of batteries after bringing them up to full charge before leaving the coach for an extended period.

Pierce

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #5 – December 19, 2021, 12:20:49 pm

If you set the thermostats to keep the coach warm and the Aqua Hot went out all the fans would keep running looking for heat to shut them off.

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #6 – December 19, 2021, 12:46:57 pm

Update:

I put a charger on the house batteries and got the generator to start. I felt great then and started the Aqua hot and all seemed well then I came back and the aqua hot was off and there is not enough juice, with generator running, to get any heat to stay on. I have now put in a 110 heater to warm the bus and the block heater is on.

I am confused why the generator is not charging the house batteries enough to run the AQHOT.

Thoughts anyone?

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #7 – December 19, 2021, 12:51:33 pm

Check and make sure the generator is working as the charger in the inverter is
more that enough to run the Aqua-hot.

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #8 – December 19, 2021, 12:53:40 pm

What is battery voltage?  If below about 11.5 VDC, a smart inverter/charger will not attempt to charge them.

You can jump them from another vehicle, start big engine, etc to get house bank voltage up to where the smart charger will take over.

What amperage and voltage does your inverter/charger display show?

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #9 – December 19, 2021, 01:00:12 pm

Sorry you said you have an electric heater going, so the generator is working. I would
think you have an inverter problem. You should have over 13 volts. If you have an
inverter like mine the charger can be turned off. 

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Re: No start and house batteries dead!

Reply #10 – December 19, 2021, 01:08:00 pm

It would seem that the Aqua Hot controller or other component is causing your problem. Turn the A.H. on and see if the light is going out. That tells you the problem is in the Aqua Hot.

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