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Old 12-16-2017, 02:13 PM   #1
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Generator battery dead and house batteries dead

I have a problem with my generator will start and run for a few seconds and then turn off.

The house batteries will not turn the house light on. After my last trip I turned the chassis batteries main disconnect off inside chassis battery compartment. I went back today and turned on the chassis disconnect and the batteries would not turn the house light on again. sounds like I have battery issue.

Anybody had this problem with their coach?
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Old 12-16-2017, 02:16 PM   #2
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The generator won't start with low batteries. We haven't had that problem, sorry.
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Old 12-16-2017, 02:49 PM   #3
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does generator start of house batteries or engine battery?
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Old 12-16-2017, 02:50 PM   #4
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House
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Old 12-16-2017, 03:01 PM   #5
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I wanted to see if the there might be something left on in the coach so I turned off both set of batteries to see if it was in batteries or house. Turned them back on and the interior lights will not cone on. the generator will not start either. I guess that is why since it starts off house batteries...
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Old 12-16-2017, 03:55 PM   #6
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What is the voltage of your house batteries?
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Old 12-16-2017, 04:31 PM   #7
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they are brand new. does not mean that they don't have a bad cell but I have 4. that would take a lot of draining to kill them.
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Old 12-16-2017, 04:33 PM   #8
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Agreed. One bad battery can pull the others down.
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Old 12-16-2017, 04:34 PM   #9
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by the way this is on a 2013 Berkshire of that changes anything.
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Old 12-16-2017, 04:35 PM   #10
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I thought if I segregated the rest of the home from batteries it would help me diagnose issue. Chassis battery is for engine correct? I would assume it is.
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Old 12-16-2017, 04:39 PM   #11
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Chassis batteries are engine starting. House batteries are for the 12 volt systems in the house part. The two sets of batteries are not connected. Some RVs have a momentary dash switch which would connect all of the batteries temporarily for a boost in order to start the coach.
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Old 12-16-2017, 04:48 PM   #12
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have all the batteries load tested.
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Old 12-16-2017, 05:09 PM   #13
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QG, please check your Personal Messages.
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Old 12-16-2017, 06:33 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quality Guy View Post
I thought if I segregated the rest of the home from batteries it would help me diagnose issue. Chassis battery is for engine correct? I would assume it is.
Contact a mechanic.
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Old 12-16-2017, 07:35 PM   #15
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Easiest way to check all batteries is to disconnect them by removing all of the connections to all of the batteries and then let them sit for 24 hours. Then measure each individual battery voltage with a DVM. Will tell you if one or more is bad. Look for a battery voltage that differs from all others.
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Old 12-16-2017, 09:15 PM   #16
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thanks
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Old 12-17-2017, 03:21 AM   #17
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All Berks have the "emergency" switch on the dash which closes a relay between the house and chassis batteries. It allows you to use the house batteries to help start the engine in case the chassis batteries run low.

There is also a relay that closes when 1: The engine is running and the engine batteries are sufficiently charged. This allows the engine to charge the house batteries. 2: The generator/shore power is on and the house batteries are sufficiently charged. This allows the chassis batteries to be charged. Any of these conditions result in the occasional flash/glow in the emergency switch on the dash panel.

You said in the OP that the Generator ran for a short while but then shut down. Once it's running the batteries are not needed to keep it running. It's a diesel. Un-commanded shut down of the generator may be cause by low oil level/pressure.

After that it behoves you to get a multi meter. Fully charged batteries should be approximately 12.6 Volts. Batteries being charged should read well above 13V. Anything below 12V is seriously discharged.

Yes, the generator starts off the house batteries. I THINK you can use the emergency switch to bring the chassis batteries on to help start the generator.
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Old 12-17-2017, 03:24 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by houstonstroker View Post
Chassis batteries are engine starting. House batteries are for the 12 volt systems in the house part. The two sets of batteries are not connected. Some RVs have a momentary dash switch which would connect all of the batteries temporarily for a boost in order to start the coach.

All Berks have this switch.
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Old 12-17-2017, 06:20 AM   #19
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When starting the generator if the house battery was to low. the generator will start but it is like it has an electronic fuel.pump that has to have voltage fron the battery to run. If I go to the generator and use the manual start it has no light. That means that the batteries do not have enough power to even feed the manual start switch. I may be wrong in that assumption. If I start the engine and after about 30 min. it will charge the batteries and the generator will start and run just fine.
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:43 AM   #20
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"they are brand new. does not mean that they don't have a bad cell but I have 4. that would take a lot of draining to kill them. "
New batteries....Somewhere on this board was a battery problem close to yours, his problem was the new batteries had one wire in the wrong place dragging all the batteries down over night. took 3 shops to figure it out. recheck the battery connections, and good luck.
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