help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Topic: help! broken down! Alternator Issues (Read 4751 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #125 – May 16, 2016, 06:21:10 pm

Quote from: cubesphere – May 16, 2016, 05:17:22 pm

If I had included daytime running lights, the generator would not have been enough to keep the voltage at 12 to get home without incident.

I think your AC power supply (10 Kw generator) was probably more than sufficient, but perhaps your battery charger, or inverter/charger, was not up to the task? I don't know what size charger was fitted to the '95 U320...

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #126 – May 16, 2016, 09:11:20 pm

Quote from: FourTravelers – May 16, 2016, 05:01:10 pm

If all else fails................
Here is one that might work...... our engines are different so maybe not.......?

Poweline High Performance Alternator 14V 10 401 Heavy Duty Lightly Used | eBay

Just bought it for $200

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #127 – May 17, 2016, 02:17:31 pm

Chuck, Jeannie,

I did run the lights with the generator on, however, the voltage dropped to 9-10 so I did not want to risk damaging the engine with low voltage. The new regulator installed was only 87.00 dollars, beats the price of a new one! I do have a 10 Kw and overall power was not the issue in this circumstance. I will look into the inverter though as you suggest, thank you.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #128 – May 17, 2016, 02:24:44 pm

Quote from: cubesphere – May 17, 2016, 02:17:31 pm

Chuck, Jeannie,

I did run the lights with the generator on, however, the voltage dropped to 9-10 so I did not want to risk damaging the engine with low voltage. The new regulator installed was only 87.00 dollars, beats the price of a new one! I do have a 10 Kw and overall power was not the issue in this circumstance. I will look into the inverter though as you suggest, thank you.

What inverter/charger do you have? If SET PROPERLY (not a low setting on power share/power save) operating properly AND your boost switch is working properly (so that the inverter/charger charges the house battery bank and the boost switch then allow that to charge the chassis battery) your inverter/charger should be well able to provide needed 12 VDC unless you run all your 12 VDC stuff. So clearly do NOT run the dash HVAC fan and run lights and other things as .

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #129 – May 17, 2016, 08:00:46 pm

Hi Brett,

I will look to see what I have tomorrow after work and get back to you with the details. I will also check the forum after knowing what inverter I have to find out about power settings which I thought were set at the factory until you mentioned it, good to know!

Thank you

rob

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #130 – May 30, 2016, 07:52:57 am

Hello Brett,
I hope your trip has been enjoyable thus far! I have been somewhat busy of late and just got back to look at the inverter. It says Freedom on it, however, you said to check settings and I do not see a place on this unit for adjustment? Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place. Are the settings for power located in the generator compartment? I am going back up there today and will look around. I did not find to much on this subject online. Thank you.

rob

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #131 – May 30, 2016, 09:09:45 am

Quote from: cubesphere – May 30, 2016, 07:52:57 am

, you said to check settings and I do not see a place on this unit for adjustment? Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place.

Are the settings for power located in the generator compartment?

Rob,

Not knowing which Freedom(if it is original to your '95) unit you have or the age will depend on what to look for. On some interior wall or in a cabinet you should have a Link 2000 system that gives you all your battery and converter/inverter info along with your charge settings. Here is a link to the manual for our unit yours may look different or be newer but this is what you are looking for.

http://www.xantrex.com/documents/Discontinued-Products/Link2000-445-0198-98-01_rev-1(Vendor).pdf

Pamela & Mike

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #132 – May 30, 2016, 07:57:06 pm

The settings are on the remote panel in the coach, depending on which remote you have will dictate how to adjust it. If it has the newer remote panel that is set up from the front switches, but if the older there are switches at the rear of the remote panel

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #133 – May 31, 2016, 01:47:14 pm

There is so much good information in this thread. I've learned a lot reading how to test the alternator, batteries, and there are so many possible trouble spots. Thank you all for the info.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #134 – June 06, 2016, 05:55:53 pm

We got our reworked Powerline alternator back today and it literally looks brand new! Threw that puppy in and our batteries charged right up! Yay! Here are a couple of pictures of the new old alternator. They sandblasted it and everything.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #135 – June 06, 2016, 06:13:43 pm

And another pic of the alternator installed...looks so clean and new!

We ended up taking it to Adema Alternator and Starter in Coopersville, MI for anyone in the Grand Rapids area who might ever be searching this thread. They did a fantastic job.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #136 – June 06, 2016, 06:38:28 pm

Quote from: Walkerfam7 – June 06, 2016, 05:55:53 pm

Threw that puppy in and our batteries charged right up!

Good News! Everybody likes a story with a happy ending!

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #137 – June 06, 2016, 07:19:55 pm

I am putting in a new 240 amp Delco. Throwing it in doesn't exactly describe how it went for this guy with only one fully functional shoulder. But in it went. Surprisingly the 240 amp Delco weighs less than the 160 amp Leece Neville. I am glad it went well and help the was available. Motor on.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #138 – June 06, 2016, 09:31:41 pm

Well, "threw it in" was definitely my (Siobhan) perspective as I did nothing at all...lol. Well, I did take a couple pictures 😅

Anyways, it didn't seem to take them too long to get the alternator reinstalled. We had labeled everything before it was removed, so that was really helpful.

So, it seems like somehow we have a new problem that had suddenly appeared,now that we have the alternator installed. Maybe its related somehow, but it doesn't seem like it should be. We drove the rig about 5 miles from my inlaws' house to my sister inlaw's house to wash it, no problem at all. We did some washing, mostly on the roof because we got attacked by oak tree pollen junk last week at our campground. Then, when we started up the rig to go the audible alarm and the ABS light wouldn't go off. We drove that way, very carefully another 5 miles or less back to our campground. Would something with the alternator cause this new issue or is this just another failure we are having that I need to start a new thread for?

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #139 – June 06, 2016, 09:56:36 pm

Sorry to hear of the situation and pleased to see the shine on the "new" alternator. This might be a good thread to split and rename in order to get some ideas going. I drive the same year coach but I haven't had this situation...yet. Good Luck!

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #140 – June 06, 2016, 10:02:49 pm

From several years ago ....

My ABS light is on - Do I stlll have air disk braking?

Yes, when the ABS light on the dash is illuminated, the vehicle has all regular braking capabilities. Only the anti-brake skid feature is not operational. If your light stays on, contact a qualified service professional for repair as soon as possible.

Here is some diagnostic ideas from Michelle...
ABS dash Brake Light

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #141 – June 06, 2016, 11:22:03 pm

Roger, that's great link. Its late, so I will have to try and check for the blink codes tomorrow, but I looked through the list of them and one is to check for high voltage. My father in law thinks its good that our trimetric (as well as his voltmeter) was reading the batteries at 14.2-14.4. As long as we have had this coach they've always hung out around 13.5. I wonder if our alternator is working too well now and overcharging the batteries. My husband said that they replaced some kind of air intake with a bigger one to allow more air in (even though we told him we wanted it repaired exactly as it was) so it would perform better. I don't know...I think my first check in the morning will be to make sure that our batteries haven't boiled over :/
Any thought from anyone? Is 14.2-14.4 ok?

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #142 – June 06, 2016, 11:34:33 pm

Oh, and just for reference, our dash meter is only showing 13V, but it always seems to be about 1.5V less than what we get on the trimetric. Is the dash meter faulty or is it reading something different than what the trimetric reads?

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #143 – June 06, 2016, 11:38:28 pm

Neither the dash meter nor Trimetric will give a good a measurement as a good DMM connected directly to the battery posts.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #144 – June 06, 2016, 11:48:00 pm

Tom...my father in law's DMM was getting the same measurement as the trimetric...14.3-14.4. Is that too high?

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #145 – June 07, 2016, 01:08:00 am

What kind of battery?

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #146 – June 07, 2016, 01:15:45 am

Typically, 13.5 is too low. 13.8-14.2 about right. 14.4 might be just a tad high. But pretty close to right.

Where is the alternator sensing the voltage?

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #147 – June 07, 2016, 07:54:34 am

Quote from: Walkerfam7 – June 06, 2016, 06:13:43 pm

And another pic of the alternator installed...looks so clean and new!

We ended up taking it to Adema Alternator and Starter in Coopersville, MI for anyone in the Grand Rapids area who might ever be searching this thread. They did a fantastic job.

Looks as if they did great work for you. It's really good to hear that you have your alternator working and ready to hit the road again. Hope you can sort out the ABS light issue.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #148 – June 07, 2016, 08:28:06 am

Quote from: wolfe10 – May 09, 2016, 04:51:16 pm

That suggests that your chassis batteries are bad/bad connection.

You will still want to verify that the alternator is charging both banks with the engine running.

With engine running, the dash gauge should show 13.5+ VDC-- that indicates that the CHASSIS batteries are charging.

With the engine running the monitor should show 13.5+ VDC-- that indicates that the House batteries are being charged.

Mr. Wolfe....the "monitor" you mention as far as house batteries are concerned....where is this monitor usually located? Thanks.

Re: help! broken down! Alternator Issues

Reply #149 – June 07, 2016, 08:45:28 am

Quote from: Walkerfam7 – June 06, 2016, 11:34:33 pm

Oh, and just for reference, our dash meter is only showing 13V, but it always seems to be about 1.5V less than what we get on the trimetric. Is the dash meter faulty or is it reading something different than what the trimetric reads?

I wouldn't be overly concerned about the reading on the dash voltage meter. On our coach it's very dependent on things such as whether or not the headlights are on. The system voltage doesn't change significantly when the headlights are on, but the dash voltage meter reads a volt or so lower when they are on.

As has already been mentioned, the accurate measurement of voltage at the batteries is at the actual battery terminals.

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