NORM WADDELL
PENSACOLA FL 32514
Senior Member
Joined: 11/16/2000
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On motorhomes, when plugged in at home,
the HOUSE Batteries charge, but the ENGINE
battery does NOT charge. (I have never understood
WHY this is.)
My motorhome, after weeks in the driveway, has a weak
engine battery.
My mechanic says.....when plugged in, put a
jumper from a house battery positive to the
engine battery positive, and that will charge
the engine battery..........check the water level
every day for a while to ensure no overcharging
L NORMAN WADDELL
30 FOOT ALLEGRO
SATURN TOAD
WIFE AND 2 DOGS SUGAR BEAR & COCO BEAR
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Sully2
Cincinnati
Senior Member
Joined: 01/20/2003
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NORM WADDELL wrote:On motorhomes, when plugged in at home,
the HOUSE Batteries charge, but the ENGINE
battery does NOT charge. (I have never understood
WHY this is.)
My motorhome, after weeks in the driveway, has a weak
engine battery.
My mechanic says.....when plugged in, put a
jumper from a house battery positive to the
engine battery positive, and that will charge
the engine battery..........check the water level
every day for a while to ensure no overcharging
That will work ( a FUSED wire)...or..
You can install one of these...http://www.lslproducts.com/TLSPage.html
2000 Country Coach Allure; Cummins ISC 330 HP; 71/2 - 8 MPG regardless
2002 Jeep Liberty
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raythom
Austell GA
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Joined: 08/08/2008
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Some MHs have a trickle charger for each bank of batteries. Mine has this but neither of them are connected to the house wiring. I have to connect a separate extension cord to the batteries that are in need of a boost.
Ray & Mollie Thomson
Pepper - long haired chihuahua
1986 Holiday Rambler Imperial - Chevy 454 V-8; TH400
2002 Lincoln Continental - 4.6L V-8
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him."
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Mr.Mark
California/Tennessee
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Joined: 09/24/2006
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Norm, in my coach, all of the batteries charge while plugged into the 15 amp garage outlet (2 engine and 8 house). My charger and inverter work together as not to over-charge the batteries. I check the house batteries monthly and add a few drops to each cell if needed (distilled water).
Thank goodness I have a management system that monitors the charging system this way as I don't want to be 'too' hands on.
MM.
Mr.Mark 
2008 Monaco Dynasty, 42ft., 4 slides, 425 hp clean-air Cummins diesel
2007 Honda CR-V EXL, AWD, w/Nav and the M&G braking system
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deandec
El Dorado Hills, CA
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Joined: 09/26/2001
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Use your chassis battery shutoff when storing the MH.
Dean
95 CC Magna Jeep GC
(Vietnam Vets may be eligible for medical care and disability compensation. Contact the VA if you have prostate cancer or type 2 diabetes.)
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smkettner
Southern California
Senior Member
Joined: 03/21/2005
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Install Trik-L-Start or Xantrex Echo Charge for an automatic jumper.
On edit: Sorry it is Trik-L-Start not Trik-L-Charge. 
* This post was
edited 10/06/08 11:47am by smkettner *
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
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RCtime
Rancho Palos Verdes, Ca.
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Joined: 01/18/2004
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smkettner wrote:Install Trik-L-Charge or Xantrex Echo Charge for an automatic jumper.
---------------------
Ditto
I use the trik L charge. $60.00 bucks and your worries are over.
Google it and check it out.
Ron
2002 34HD Winnebago Journey DL, Cat. 330
2004 Honda CRV - Garmin 2610
Great wife & Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
TT/N
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bingoldsby
Oregon State Parks - somewhere
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Joined: 10/22/2006
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I just recently got into trying to solve his situation myself. After burning up the house to chassis battery boost solenoid (turned it on with a jumper wire - not knowing it was only intended to be on for a few seconds and not for an extended period - and it got too hot), I decided that it is really just a simple thing to use a jumber across that solenoid. That completes a path from the house battery charger to the chassis battery and it charges when I need it.
Brian K7ZRZ
Campgrounding hosting - Oregon State Parks
1987 30' Holiday Rambler Class A
GL1800 Goldwing - Honda Scooter Mounted
2000 Silver Miata LS Toad
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wolfe10
Texas
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Joined: 10/08/2000
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bingoldsby wrote:I just recently got into trying to solve his situation myself. After burning up the house to chassis battery boost solenoid (turned it on with a jumper wire - not knowing it was only intended to be on for a few seconds and not for an extended period - and it got too hot), I decided that it is really just a simple thing to use a jumper across that solenoid. That completes a path from the house battery charger to the chassis battery and it charges when I need it.
My concern with these hot to hot jumpers is that touching ANY PART OF THE FRAME turns your batteries/cable into an arc welder.
Where you have an intermittent duty solenoid, have you considered replacing it with a constant duty solenoid and on off vs momentary switch?
And indeed the best solution is a trickle charger or (better in my opinion) a Xantrex echo charger.
But, indeed, jumping positive to positive at batteries or at battery combine solenoid will work electrically.
Brett Wolfe
1993 Foretravel 36' U-240
Cat 3116, Allison 3060
Caterpillar RV Engine Owner's Club: www.catrvclub.org
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david_w28
Michigan
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Joined: 08/18/2006
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If I had this problem I would find a spot and mount a small trickle charger just for the chassis battery. They are cheap and they shut off automatically. Route it to plug into the house system so when you have the shore power plugged in you will always have a charged chassis battery. This would be a simple task to complete.
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