As I mentioned, Forest River told me to check the plug in the outside compartment "black box" under the drivers seat window. It seemed OK. Then he said to press the black button on the circuit board. While the rig was plugged in, I got no response. Later I went out and disconnected the shore power and tried the same thing. I got the clunking sound from the battery solenoid. I did it several times and it clunked each time, I suppose opening and closing the switch each time I would do it. This morning I went out and checked the house battery voltage, 12.7. I fired that mother up and checked the voltage, 13.3! So something I did yesterday by clunking the solenoid seems to have fixed teh problem. I reported that back this am and FR really does not know what we did to fix it. So maybe I'm just crazy. But I can't be because I traveled six hours with low house batteries last summer. Man, I don't know. I suppose I should just be glad the darn thing is working. But I like to understand these things. This, I do not understand.
Joeycockerspaniel wrote: This is our third motorhome, first-2003 Hurricane, 2nd-2004 Southwind, third-2006 Forest River Charleston, and not one of them has had the feature that allows the engine to charge the house batteries. My fiend has an '06 Phaeton and for all we can determine his engine does not charge his house batteries either. Yet I read posts of folks who own units that evidently do have that feature. It sure would be nice if it did. Am I missing some kind of switch or a setting or something? Is there an attachment that is needed to charge the house batteries along with the chassis batteries? In this unit we do have a 2000 watt inverter installed in the system. The others had no inverter and I don't know if that would make a difference anyway.
I'm really curious about this. Somebody clue me in?
Thanks very much!
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It's called a BIRD (Bi directional Isolator Relay Device). FW products have had it since 1999 - others may or may not. Here is the FW description.
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The battery control center, has an isolator that is intended to be used to charge the batteries from the alternator or inverter charger. The way it is designed to work it activates the isolator relay (solenoid) to link the batteries when either charge source achieves a voltage of 13.3 or greater. The activation follows a 12 to 20 second time delay. The relay is intended to remain activated until the voltage drops below 12.6 VDC.
The solenoid that parallels the battery banks for charging is normally located in the same compartment as the battery control center, although often out of sight. The solenoid receives power from a white 2 pin connector located in the corner of the battery control center circuit board. You can follow the wires from the board to the solenoid or have someone press the auxiliary start switch and find it by sound. The auxiliary start method only works when the coach is not running, unplugged from shore power and the solenoid is no longer being powered for charging. About the battery control center, it does indeed have an isolator/auxiliary start solenoid that is intended to be used to charge the all of the batteries from the alternator or inverter charger. The way it is designed to work the battery control center pc board activates the isolator relay (solenoid) to link the batteries when either charge source achieves a voltage of 13.3 or greater. The activation follows a 12 to 20 second time delay. On initial activation the relay coil receives 12 VDC for about 4 seconds and then drops to a 50% duty cycle @ 300 Hz. My meter shows a voltage of 4.75 VDC. The relay is intended to remain activated until the voltage drops to the drop out level. The drop out levels vary by circuit board revision, revisions A and B drop out at 12.2 VDC in both ignition activated and charger activated modes. Boards with revision C and up drop out at 12.2 VDC with ignition on and 12.6 VDC when charger activated. The change was made to retain a greater amount of charge in the auxiliary battery. If the relay never drops out and the voltage is below the drop out level, the board is defective.
Regarding my jacks alarm going off for the six hour ride from Savannah, this response I received from Forest River regarding the alarm and the voltage necessary for it to stay quiet:
"The sound you were hearing that about drove you crazy was a low voltage indicatior light. Your assumption is correct that the noise will continue until the battery voltage is past a certain point, I think something around 13.2. But yes, if the unit sat on the FTL dealers lot with the disconnects on and not being started, they could have gone down pretty far. When not driving down the road, but plugged in, it is the same function to charge the chassis batteries. That is the purpose of the solenoid is, to charge the house batteries while driving down the road, and to charge the chassis batteries while parked and camping. As long as all the things we talked about are in place."
Maybe that tidbit will help someone 'down the road.'
Quote: My engine will keep the batteries charged for a whole trip. We run everything, except the air, off the invertor when we travel. Just got back from Fl. and the wife and kids watched TV, ran multiple laptops, cooked with the microwave etc.......batteries were fully charged at the end of the day.
How long can you run a microwave on the inverter? I have never even attempted that. We will fire up the generator to use either the ACs or the microwave.
They don't cook a dinner or anything like that. It's usually a couple of hot dogs or some popcorn. If the DW wanted to do a roast or something of that nature, I would run the genny.
BTW, I,ve got a 2,000 watt invertor which is what determines what you can operate. Once you determine what you turn on without overloading the invertor, it's just a matter of battery life.
2006 Forest River Charleston 40TS
330 Cat
6 speed Allison
CR-V toad
One great wife, 2 perfect kids, and Boomer(the 85 lb. Labrador Retriever lap dog)
13.3 volts is just on the bottom end for charging-you should really get something higher than that. If it cuts off at 13.2 volts (normal float voltage) you might not have been getting enough voltage to kick it on, indicating your voltage regulator or your converter charger may be set at too low a voltage. Just a thought in case it comes back.
MartyAndPeg wrote: Your friend with his 06 Phaeton either has a bad solenoid or isn't checking it right. This is a standard feature on Tiffins DP's.
How do you test the solenoid?
I mentioned that because I did have a solenoid go south. My "real" test was I noticed that my A/C inverter power seemed low one day as we were driving thru New Brunswick. We also have an external DC voltage monitor (actually the See-Level system) along with the inverter panel, and they both showed 12.6V as we were driving. We were due for a stop anyway, so as it was running, I went outside and "tapped" the solenoid (lightly) and the DC voltage jumped up to 13.8V. I called Tiffin and they sent me out a new solenoid, which took about 10 minutes to swap out.
Seeing it is basically a relay, you could check for 12V across the input side, then check the output side to see if it's closed.
Marty & Peg (and 2 cats)
2005 Tiffin Phaeton 40QDH/350HP Cat/MH3000
2007 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4/Brake Buddy
2007 Harley Davidson Softail Custom
Full-Timing-7 years and counting!
Looking for a purpose in life, try Habitat for Humanity RV-Care-A-Vanners!
I know I asked this earlier, but was wondering if you drive with the house power on or off. The reason I ask this is because I don't think the house batteries charge with it off. Just a thought. By the way, we have two Cocker Spaniels. What a couple of sweeties they are.
Kevin & Dawn
Doggies:
Persalina, We love you & miss you so very much!
Moonbeam
Chloie Pearl
'07 Itasca Suncruiser 35L
Workhorse 24-8.1 Vortec w/6 sp. Allison
93 Jeep Wrangler Toad
Roadmaster Even Brake
My '89 charges while underway and I have always run my fridge off an inverter while on the road. I was told (wrongly?)that it was a fire hazard to run propane appliances while underway. Many miles later, the batterys are charged, & the alternator is still operational. I guess though, I need to change my ways?
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