Berkshire aux start and charging

[dontech]

I hope someone can help with this.

I have a 2008 390QS. I have replaced all house and chassis batteries, so they are in good shape. When I first bought the coach new, I noticed that when I operated the aux start switch I could hear a relay click, so I assumed it was working correctly. Now I know that it does nothing but click, so I am wondering where to start troubleshooting. I am a ham radio guy, so I have no problem with wires and electricity.

Reading through posts on this forum, I have seen several mentions on how the aux start is supposed to work. I have also read that while driving, the alternator charges the house AND the chassis batteries. I also read that when plugged into shore power, the inverter/charger first charges the house batteries, then the chassis batteries. If these statements are true, then it's not happening on my coach. The house batteries charge just fine, but the chassis batteries die even though I am plugged into 220v shore power all the time.

So I am wondering if these two problems are related. If you have a Berkshire I would appreciate your verification of my assumptions above. And I would especially appreciate some guidance in troubleshooting my problems.

Thanks in advance.
Don
Turlock, CA

[TURBS]

Converter/charger not inverter.

Need to see what brand of converter/charger you have and then maybe we can get you a troubleshooting guide to see if its working.


Turbs

[dontech]

Thanks for the reply. It's a Magnum MM-series (and they call it an inverter/charger by the way).

Don

[OldCoot]

Are you sure you plug it into a 220 outlet?

[dontech]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Are you sure you plug it into a 220 outlet?

Absolutely. The outlet is a clone of a 50-amp plugin you would find in a campground.

Don

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by dontech

Absolutely. The outlet is a clone of a 50-amp plugin you would find in a campground.

Don

Suspect it is not 220v like for a welder but just looks like 220v outlets.

[dontech]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

Suspect it is not 220v like for a welder but just looks like 220v outlets.

Let's move beyond that. The 220v outlet is correct. It is a four-wire NEMA 14-50R.

I think my problem is either incorrect wiring somewhere or a bad relay or fuse. Just trying to understand what to look for.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by dontech

Thanks for the reply. It's a Magnum MM-series (and they call it an inverter/charger by the way).

Don

I stand corrected ! Just looked up magnum energy and found what you're talking about .

I have no idea how this thing works and looks like I have some reading to do.



Turbs

[boowho]

Originally Posted by dontech

I hope someone can help with this.

I have a 2008 390QS. I have replaced all house and chassis batteries, so they are in good shape. When I first bought the coach new, I noticed that when I operated the aux start switch I could hear a relay click, so I assumed it was working correctly. Now I know that it does nothing but click, so I am wondering where to start troubleshooting. I am a ham radio guy, so I have no problem with wires and electricity.

Reading through posts on this forum, I have seen several mentions on how the aux start is supposed to work. I have also read that while driving, the alternator charges the house AND the chassis batteries. I also read that when plugged into shore power, the inverter/charger first charges the house batteries, then the chassis batteries. If these statements are true, then it's not happening on my coach. The house batteries charge just fine, but the chassis batteries die even though I am plugged into 220v shore power all the time.

So I am wondering if these two problems are related. If you have a Berkshire I would appreciate your verification of my assumptions above. And I would especially appreciate some guidance in troubleshooting my problems.

Thanks in advance.
Don
Turlock, CA

I'm no expert and even if I were, I'd suspect that not all coaches are the same.

But, I don't think the chassis bats are charged from shore power. That's the first thing I'd verify. In my old 2000 Dutch Star I had a small solar panel on the roof and it's only purpose was to keep the chassis bats charged.

Certainly the house bats are charged from the Magnum. And a heluva job it does. I was out gassing and overcharging my house bats so bad, I had to buy an "intelligent" control panel for the Magnum to cut the charge rate back.

One more thing.... I was reminded of it by your post. One my '11 Berk the light in the switch for the Aux Start function blinks every 10-15 seconds and it does it all the time. Anyone know why this happens?? Is it supposed to indicate something??

Just my $.02 worth.

Boowho??

[speedmerchant]

Originally Posted by boowho

I'm no expert and even if I were, I'd suspect that not all coaches are the same.

But, I don't think the chassis bats are charged from shore power. That's the first thing I'd verify. In my old 2000 Dutch Star I had a small solar panel on the roof and it's only purpose was to keep the chassis bats charged.

Certainly the house bats are charged from the Magnum. And a heluva job it does. I was out gassing and overcharging my house bats so bad, I had to buy an "intelligent" control panel for the Magnum to cut the charge rate back.

One more thing.... I was reminded of it by your post. One my '11 Berk the light in the switch for the Aux Start function blinks every 10-15 seconds and it does it all the time. Anyone know why this happens?? Is it supposed to indicate something??

Just my $.02 worth.

Boowho??

Not sure but to add, my aux light stays on all the time, albiet slightly dimmer than the other rocker switches when activated but always on nonetheless.

James

[Herk7769]

Motor homes have a battery control center that manages charging of the coach batteries (house AND engine). ANY charging source (on board generator, shore power, or running the engine) will charge all batteries on the coach. The batteries will not go the other direction because of an isolation relay that is exposed and can become corroded or fail internally.

See attached files for some help. (Files are for the Georgetown - but the Berkshire uses a similar system)

[NO3putt]

Ours blinks every so often also, cant't find anything to say if it's normal or not. Asked our RV dealer and he didn't have a clue. Is it normal to blink?

[TaterColo]

Originally Posted by NO3putt

Ours blinks every so often also, cant't find anything to say if it's normal or not. Asked our RV dealer and he didn't have a clue. Is it normal to blink?

Same here. Every so often I see the AUX blink. Everything works so I have not been concerned.

[mjracsj]

X3

[AREA51]

Don,

We have a 2008 360QS, I bought it new in 2011 (a left over). Among the little problems we encountered was a question with the light in the Aux Start Switch. It would not go out when we shut the coach down. However, if the coach was left for a day or so and not on shore power the light would go out. My question to the dealer was why does the light stay on when everything in the coach was shut off. They replaced the switch, batteries, and quite a few other things. It drove them nuts before they finally contacted Forest River. The light stays on until the battery bank voltage drops to 13.3 V. Long story made short there was nothing wrong with that switch it was acting properly but the technicians not I were not aware of how it functioned. As an aside the light on the Air Horn switch only came on when I blew the horn that had to be addressed.
The two attached files are pdf and they from the manufacture of the BI-DIRECTIONAL ISOLATOR RELAY DELAY Diesel-2 made or at least sold by Intellitec.

Good Luck
AREA51

[EJM4]

Originally Posted by mjracsj

X3

X4...