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Topic: Charging Dead House Batteries. (Read 527 times) previous topic - next topic

Charging Dead House Batteries.

Today I noticed that my Coach power was disconnected.  :o  I got back from a trip about a month ago. Parked the Coach in my shop and plugged in the power.

I week or so later I had managed to finish unloading the coach and cleaning the inside.  My regsitration and inspection was due so I backed the coach out of the shop.  Washed it and the next day took it for the inspection which passed.  I returned home and backed in the shop.  Thought I connected the shore power  :(

Today weeks later I noticed the shore power was NOT CONNECTED.  Plugged it back in and checked the batteries.  The start bank was fine but the House Batteries were dead and the fridge was hot. :-{

Enabled the charger and it would charge for a while and trip. Charge and trip.

Unplugged shore power and checked the house batteries.  A little over 3 volts. Since the inverter/ charger would not handle it I dug out my old Trolling Motor charger. Connected it. It started pulling 12 amps.  It is a dumb charger with a timer and trickle charge after an amount of time.  After an hour or two it was down to 10 amps.  Checked an hour later 10 amps and voltage was up to 13.5 volts. Unplugged the coach and voltage started dropping slowly.

I plugged the coach in and now the inverter charger is finishing the charge.  Fingers crossed,  Batteries are about 4 months old.

What is your bet. Will the batteries be usable.  They are not warm and new so I am thinking I may have a chance for usable batteries.  I will continue to monitor the battery temp and when the inverter says they are done will load test them and check for capacity.

Will let you guys know the results.

2006 Nimbus 336
Built 2005 may be one of the first coaches labeled Nimbus.
DEMCO Air-force One braking system.
Towing 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport.
Road Master Falcon 5250 tow bar.

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #1 –
You didnt say what type of bats--assume AGM or Gel, or how old they are.  You probably didnt do them any favors but they may be ok--perhaps some reduced charging capacity or service life.  Wouldnt see any harm to the fridge.  Inverter/chargers often wont charge deeply discharged bats so your recovery method was good.  Let us know how things turn out.
Old Scout
2015 IH45
New Braunfels Tx

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #2 –
He did say the batteries are only 4 months old. 

What inverter/charger do you have?  I know my Xantrex has a low voltage cutoff and wouldn't run them down below 11.0V or something in that range.  Remember other things do pull from the batteries unless the salesman switch is off though, like the aux air pump, HWH system, etc.
Keith
2003 U320 38' #6197

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #3 –
I hope your batteries have a warranty.
1993 U225 Build #: 4285
500 Watts Solar
Honda CRV AWD
Former 1981 Foretravel Travco
Retired, Full Time Off Grid Snowbird

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #4 –
The first thing you have to do is to make sure when you connect to shore power is to make sure the charger is working and be able to really easily check it. Nice to have WiFi to the house to notify you if it has failed for some reason or another.

The batteries are a fair expense and very vulnerable to outages, neglect, etc.

I was not happy with the converter/charger so ordered a new one from Amazon that had better reviews than our PowreMax as it's charge voltage was never constant for very long. I chose a Progressive Dynamics 45 amp as we are solar and don't need the charger while out from beneath our Quonset hut. Amazon.com: Progressive Dynamics PD9245CV Inteli-Power 9200 Series Converter/...  It keeps very close to the advertised 13.20 volts and every 20 hours, it gives a 15 minute recondition voltage surge. Ours came with the pendent.

I had already installed large red LED voltage readouts where the Audit CRT was. These are only $8 delivered with one going to the house batteries and the other to the engine batteries. I leave these on 24/7 so I just have to poke my head in the door to see the voltages.

Rather than dedicating another charger to the engine batteries, I ran a  connecting jumper from the HWH panel ligher plug (house battery) to the dash lighter plug (engine batter) via a HD coiled zip cord and 5 amp fused plugs with LED power indicator lights. One end should be partially plugged in and then both plugged all the way in to avoid popping one of the 5 amp fuses. The lighter outlets are protected by a much larger fuse under the dashtop. So, any short in the jumper or fused lighter plug male side can't start a fire, etc as the five amp fuse protects the wiring. You do have to purchase two male lighter plugs with a fuse and LED power indicator in each one.

The jumper keeps the AGM house batteries as well as the conventional maintenance free engine batteries charged at approx. 13.2 volts as seen in the photo below. The jumper has kept the house batteries in good health for 14 plus years as well as doing a good job on the 31 series engine batteries.

Before starting the engine, I disconnect the jumper. It is not meant to charge the engine battery but to gradually bring both batteries to the proper float/maintenance voltage.

The dash gauges are great for keeping a check on the alternator, watching the solar voltage, watching generator charging and even caught my Allison transmission relay stuck on with power to the Allison ECU draining the engine battery 24/7 until I noticed the engine battery had lower voltage compared to the house batteries. I scratched my head trying to figure out why the reading was lower until I noticed the light on the Allison shifting panel was on and had been since we returned home from a trip.


Pierce
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #5 –
Batteries charged. Seem ok will have to do load test.

Another problem. No power to the HWH air pump. Cables disappear into the center cable bay. Tracing them out now.
2006 Nimbus 336
Built 2005 may be one of the first coaches labeled Nimbus.
DEMCO Air-force One braking system.
Towing 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport.
Road Master Falcon 5250 tow bar.

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #6 –
Quote from: tmehrkam –
Thought I connected the shore power  :(
 Will the batteries be usable.  They are not warm and new so I am thinking I may have a chance for usable batteries.

Will let you guys know the results.
The damage done to a lead acid battery of any stripe is mechanical and is not reversible.
You've lost a little storage capacity up front.
1992 Foretravel Grand Villa
U225 SBID Build No. 4134
1986 Rockwood Driftwood
1968 S.I.A.T.A. Spring
1962 Studebaker Lark
1986 Honda VF700C
1983 Honda VF750C
Charlie, the Dog was broken out of jail 24 Oct 2023
N1RPN
AA1OH (H)e who must be obeyed.

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #7 –
Quote from: tmehrkam –
Batteries charged. Seem ok will have to do load test.

Another problem. No power to the HWH air pump. Cables disappear into the center cable bay. Tracing them out now.

Check for fuse?
1993 U300 40ft GV SE
Build # 4344

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Jeff & Sandy –
Check for fuse?
The fuse near the relay is fine. The heavy 12v power cables to the relay are dead.
2006 Nimbus 336
Built 2005 may be one of the first coaches labeled Nimbus.
DEMCO Air-force One braking system.
Towing 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport.
Road Master Falcon 5250 tow bar.

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #9 –
That compressor should be fed from one of the manual reset breakers that are hid in the basement.  Now I don't recall the exact location of these breakers on a Nimbus but the other coaches they are behind the white fiberglass cover in the basement.

Mike
Pamela & Mike 97 U 320

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Pamela & Mike –
That compressor should be fed from one of the manual reset breakers that are hid in the basement.  Now I don't recall the exact location of these breakers on a Nimbus but the other coaches they are behind the white fiberglass cover in the basement.

Mike
I will trace it out next week. It goes through the back wall two the cable tray. Do not know if it goes forward are aft from there.
2006 Nimbus 336
Built 2005 may be one of the first coaches labeled Nimbus.
DEMCO Air-force One braking system.
Towing 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport.
Road Master Falcon 5250 tow bar.

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #11 –
With your Nimbus being one of the first ones, those were rebadged U295 coaches that were caught on the line during swap over. If that is the case look on the rear bulkhead of your big bay. 

Mike
Pamela & Mike 97 U 320

"It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters."

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #12 –
Quote from: tmehrkam –
I will trace it out next week. It goes through the back wall two the cable tray. Do not know if it goes forward are aft from there.
Not sure how different the Nimbus is, but mine goes through the back wall, into the cable tray, then around the center divider between the curb side and street side, then comes back in and down into the circuit breaker area.  Does the Nimbus have this panel to remove?

See the circled area.  That's where my HWH pump 40A circuit breaker is at.  There could be a reset button on the side of it.
Keith
2003 U320 38' #6197

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #13 –
Quote from: WS6_Keith –
Not sure how different the Nimbus is, but mine goes through the back wall, into the cable tray, then around the center divider between the curb side and street side, then comes back in and down into the circuit breaker area.  Does the Nimbus have this panel to remove?

See the circled area.  That's where my HWH pump 40A circuit breaker is at.  There could be a reset button on the side of it.
That is where I found it. Mine has a mix of manual reset breakers and auto reset breakers. More auto reset than manual reset.

It is difficult to see the difference between the two. The reset button is tiny. I could not see them with me cataracts.

Cataracts will be fixed before next year. 🥳
2006 Nimbus 336
Built 2005 may be one of the first coaches labeled Nimbus.
DEMCO Air-force One braking system.
Towing 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport.
Road Master Falcon 5250 tow bar.

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #14 –
Thank everyone that posted. I plan to load test the batteries in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully not too much loss of capacity. Never over heated during the process.

The photo Keith posted looks a lot like my arrangement I do not under the completed routing of the power cables. The DC distribution panel and HWH system is in the same compartment. Why the complected routing. Made it difficult to trace the CKT.
2006 Nimbus 336
Built 2005 may be one of the first coaches labeled Nimbus.
DEMCO Air-force One braking system.
Towing 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport.
Road Master Falcon 5250 tow bar.
 

Re: Charging Dead House Batteries.

Reply #15 –
Mine goes like this...the dotted line is behind that bulkhead.
Keith
2003 U320 38' #6197