I have an 05 Fleetwood Gas motorhome (workhorse) We are on the road, limited tools, dry camping for 30 days. Two new Interstate 6v batteries that I am having trouble charging with the WFCO 65amp charger. The most this will goto is 13.3 volts, regardless of battery discharge, the batteries are simply not charging well with the house charger. I am able to charge the batteries by running the motor (14.4 volts). A simple volt meter could help me look for voltage drops, but I without one. My question is; does the alternator and house charger go through the same isolator? Most likely this is a failing charger, but I am open to comments. A volt meter could help isolate this, if there is voltage drop from the charger; however if the alternator and house charger go through the same isolator then it is most likely the charger failing.
It is very common for 55+ amp WFCOs to never go into Bulk-Boost mode (14.4v) unless mounted very near 4+ batteries with heavy cable.
I recommend you just replace the WFCO with a 55a IOTA or 70 amp Progressive Dynamics.
Recommendations may vary depending on how many batteries, length of charging connection, and wire size.
Otherwise the WFCO needs to see less than 13.2 volts at the converter panel. OTOH if you somehow used to see 14.4 volts maybe the WFCO has just gone bad. But I would still change brands.
Try turning on ALL the lights and 12 volt fans, while disconnected from shore power. While you are staring at the apparent brightness of the lamps, have someone else plug in shore power. The lights should gain appreciably in brightness. Next unplug the shore power and start the engine. If the engine alternator really brightens things up as compared to the WFCO then this should serve as a clue. This is a flawed method of testing, but it is light-years better than doing nothing.
smkettner wrote: It is very common for 55+ amp WFCOs to never go into Bulk-Boost mode (14.4v) unless mounted very near 4+ batteries with heavy cable.
I recommend you just replace the WFCO with a 55a IOTA or 70 amp Progressive Dynamics.
Recommendations may vary depending on how many batteries, length of charging connection, and wire size.
Otherwise the WFCO needs to see less than 13.2 volts at the converter panel. OTOH if you somehow used to see 14.4 volts maybe the WFCO has just gone bad. But I would still change brands.
X2
WFCO sucks! I had the same situation and I changed to the 70 amp Progressive Dynamics unit. Now my batterys are charging right up to 14.4 Volts then dropping down to 13.7 for a bit then if little drain they settle at 13.3. Excellent converter in my opinion. I wouldn't have anything but a Progressive Dynamics converter after using it. I know of several others that have had the same "WFCO" problems. All have since went to Progressive Dynamics with the built in monitor for the charge circuit and have not had any further problems.... Your batterys will love you for it....
Oh, and there is no isolater as you are thinking. The batterys are controled by the (BCC) Battery Control Center and the switching is done by relays controlled by solid state sensing in the BCC. The converter in Fleetwoods is connected to the batterys through the BCC!
All I needed to change the converter was a phillips screw driver and an allen wrench that fit the two 12V cable connectors. Just be sure to use the battery disconnect switches over the door to disconnect the batterys before starting on the job. Watch your polarity very carefully, you are messing with a lot of available amperage!!
* This post was
edited 06/11/12 03:16pm by tomousecap *
Bob
2007 Fleetwood Bounder - Full Paint 35E
Workhorse 6 Speed 496 Cubic Inch V8 - W22
Ford fans - RPM is a poor substitute for Cubic Inches!
2013 Chev Volt - Towing on a Master Tow Dolly
Gracie = Adopted longhair Amazon Chihuahua
to answer the original question
No the converter charge does Not connect to the isolator
it is connected directly to the batteries
charge mode is a matter of amperage draw vs converter voltage sense
you arrive at camp after driving and connect the shore cord , the batteries don't draw very many amps and the WFCO stays at a safe voltage
however if you are dry camping no external shore power watch TV all night and the WFCO won't go to a higher voltage in the morning while the generator is running then you have a problem
of course you must run the generator for several hours to see the voltage come up at the batteries an amp meter in the house battery line is a much better indicator of what is really happening
you said no multi meter so how to know that WFCO is only at 13.3 v
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He is probably using the provided control panel digital voltmeter in Fleetwoods. It is fairly accurate but you can only look at the chassis or coach batterys directly from the BCC.
I replaced the fleetwood gauges with digital ones, it seems accurate. I had a Progressive Dynamics in my 04 trailer; I forgot about that brand. This is my second WFCO in this rig, I agree it seems fishy. I have an 80 amp PD9280 on order, should solve the problem.
Thank you for the advice. Although I am not sure I concur with the charger only going to the house batteries... Another topic for another day.
surfride wrote: I replaced the fleetwood gauges with digital ones, it seems accurate. I had a Progressive Dynamics in my 04 trailer; I forgot about that brand. This is my second WFCO in this rig, I agree it seems fishy. I have an 80 amp PD9280 on order, should solve the problem.
Thank you for the advice. Although I am not sure I concur with the charger only going to the house batteries... Another topic for another day.
Thanks for the advice,
The charger (converter) charges the house batteries via direct connection through the BCC and it charges the chassis battery via the aux-start/charge solenoid within the BCC.
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Your batterys will love you for it.... 
