Ran batteries down - now having issues

[CombatYoga]

I brought our coach home on Monday and parked.
Went out today and the chassis battery was totally dead. Could not
get it going with the batt boost button either.
Put a charger on the chassis battery for a bit and it started up. Ran the generator for a while as well.

I could not get the AC to come on, nor any of the TV's. This makes me think I was having a 110V problem. Perhaps I ran the house batteries down and did not have the power to run these 110V items?

I ordered a 50amp->30amp adapter so that I can plug it in at my house, which I assume will charge the batteries. It's not here yet - hopefully tomorrow.

The front power shade would only come down about 1/3rd of the way and then would stop, and when I turned on the video screen for the rear camera, it said "no signal". All of these items were working on Monday.
Seems like these are related to the depleted batteries too. Is there a way to reset the motors for the power shade so that they will allow it to fully drop down?

Any other thoughts/suggestions appreciated - thanks!

CY

[rkulbok]

The front power shade should not go down all of the way if the engine is running. Have you tried it with the engine off?

What do the 'command center' lights indicate as to the charge for the house batteries?

Is the battery control center turned on? This is needs to be engaged to power the TV's and AC. If there is not enough charge in the house batteries the battery control center may not engage.

Hope the helps.

[wrapperman]

A couple of things you can try, when I put my coach in storage I plug just the battery charger into110 volt receptacle directly, that way I don't have to use those "50 amp to 30 amp to 110 volt" adapters. It keeps both house and chassis batteries charged.
After charging the house batteries then turn on the "coach battery" solenoid switch.
If the ignition key is turned on the front shade will not go down more than 1/3 way.
As for the video screen message maybe the radio got reset and needs to be reprogrammed.
With no 110 volts maybe the transfer switch is not working. This might be your whole issue with no 110 power to the coach then no charge, no power and run down batteries that won't charge.

[ScottBrownstein]

The front shade issue is probably related to your chassis battery going dead and it needs to be reprogrammed. There is a push button switch that hangs down on the drivers side that you can use for re-programming. I am sure that it is confused.

Now, besides that you have run the generator and the engine. When you run the generator you are not getting any 110v in the RV? No plugs, no appliances, no AC?

If that is true you potentially have a problem with the transfer switch but this is totally unrelated to your DC battery problems, which makes me wonder if I am just confused about your narrative.

[CombatYoga]

Originally Posted by wrapperman

A couple of things you can try, when I put my coach in storage I plug just the battery charger into110 volt receptacle directly, that way I don't have to use those "50 amp to 30 amp to 110 volt" adapters. It keeps both house and chassis batteries charged.
After charging the house batteries then turn on the "coach battery" solenoid switch.
If the ignition key is turned on the front shade will not go down more than 1/3 way.
As for the video screen message maybe the radio got reset and needs to be reprogrammed.
With no 110 volts maybe the transfer switch is not working. This might be your whole issue with no 110 power to the coach then no charge, no power and run down batteries that won't charge.

Hey Wrapper - thanks for the response.

When you say "plug the battery charger into 110", what battery charger are you referring to? Is there one on the coach itself in the back bay that has a 110v plug that I can simply plug into a wall outlet?

CY

[RSchleder]

Originally Posted by CombatYoga

I brought our coach home on Monday and parked.
Went out today and the chassis battery was totally dead. Could not
get it going with the batt boost button either.
Put a charger on the chassis battery for a bit and it started up. Ran the generator for a while as well.

I could not get the AC to come on, nor any of the TV's. This makes me think I was having a 110V problem. Perhaps I ran the house batteries down and did not have the power to run these 110V items?

I ordered a 50amp->30amp adapter so that I can plug it in at my house, which I assume will charge the batteries. It's not here yet - hopefully tomorrow.

The front power shade would only come down about 1/3rd of the way and then would stop, and when I turned on the video screen for the rear camera, it said "no signal". All of these items were working on Monday.
Seems like these are related to the depleted batteries too. Is there a way to reset the motors for the power shade so that they will allow it to fully drop down?

Any other thoughts/suggestions appreciated - thanks!

CY

Since you didn't state which HM you own, a couple of questions come to mind.
1) Since you don't have your 50A to 30A adapter, was your coach plugged into 110V when the A/C and thee TV's didn't work?
2) If not plugged into 110V or running the generator, does your HM have an inverter? If not, any 110V appliance WILL NOT work on a converter.
3) The fact that your chassis batteries are dead should have little or no effect on your 110V appliances working if your supplying them with 110V.

Any comments will help us to help you!

[CombatYoga]

Originally Posted by RSchleder

Since you didn't state which HM you own, a couple of questions come to mind.
1) Since you don't have your 50A to 30A adapter, was your coach plugged into 110V when the A/C and thee TV's didn't work?
2) If not plugged into 110V or running the generator, does your HM have an inverter? If not, any 110V appliance WILL NOT work on a converter.
3) The fact that your chassis batteries are dead should have little or no effect on your 110V appliances working if your supplying them with 110V.

Any comments will help us to help you!

Thanks RSchleder. Let me see if can answer some of your questions.
What does HM stand for?
My year/model is a 2015 Georgetown 270S.

1) No - the coach was not plugged into 110v when I was attempting to get the AC and TV's to work; the coach motor and generator were both running.
2) My coach does not have an inverter. I would not expect to get 110v anywhere unless the generator was running (which it was).
3) OK - what you are saying makes sense; so now I'm mystified as to why I'm not getting 110v power in the coach when the generator is running.

[CombatYoga]

Originally Posted by CombatYoga

Hey Wrapper - thanks for the response.

When you say "plug the battery charger into 110", what battery charger are you referring to? Is there one on the coach itself in the back bay that has a 110v plug that I can simply plug into a wall outlet?

CY

OK - so I went and checked the bay back where the 50 amp cord is and I see a Progressive Dynamics Converter/Charger. Reading up, it looks like this is what you are referring to.
I've attached a picture - I'm 99% sure that plug is for that converter, and I think you are suggesting unplugging it from the outlet in the coach and plugging it into an outlet from my house to charge the batteries, correct?

[cjd10]

There are two breakers on the generator itself. If they are tripped the generator will run but you will have no AC power inside the MH

[ScottBrownstein]

[QUOTE...so now I'm mystified as to why I'm not getting 110v power in the coach when the generator is running.[/QUOTE]

As are we. Either your transfer switch is stuck or the breakers are turned off. You should get 110 v with the genny running totally independent of your battery problems. You should also have all of your internal lights working, your pressure pump, your stairs, all of the 12 v stuff since your converter should be supplying 12v anyway.

[ScottBrownstein]

Originally Posted by CombatYoga

OK - so I went and checked the bay back where the 50 amp cord is and I see a Progressive Dynamics Converter/Charger. Reading up, it looks like this is what you are referring to.
I've attached a picture - I'm 99% sure that plug is for that converter, and I think you are suggesting unplugging it from the outlet in the coach and plugging it into an outlet from my house to charge the batteries, correct?

Yep...you can do that as well. It won't fix your 110 problems but it should charge your battery.

[Dennis Budreau]

The generator should have a 30 amp breaker or so that if tripped will keep you from getting AC.

[Harkerr]

I would pull the batteries and have them load tested to check condition and go from there.

[CombatYoga]

Boom! The breakers on the generator were in the off position. That will resolve the 110v problem I'm sure. Thanks a ton!

I have plugged the converter into a wall outlet in my garage with an extension cord so my house batteries will charge up.

I found the reset button for the front power shade, but I'm not sure how to use it. I've pushed it and messed with the shade, now it comes down even shorter than before. Anyone use this reset the shade and can share directions?

CY

[ScottBrownstein]

I think these are the instructions that I used.

[badge2283]

Great job, everyone. The group got the problem resolved, and made a happy camper. Good reason to join the forum.

[CombatYoga]

Agreed! These forums are 10x more valuable than the service tech that did the walkthrough with me on the coach!

Thanks for your help everyone - feeling much better. Appreciate the help.

CY

[camaraderie]

CY... given that the batts were fully discharged & probably damaged somewhat, suggest that when you charge directly to the converter from household current, you take a minute to check AT THE BATTERY TERMINALS with a voltmeter that you are getting over 14V since the batteries are depleted...give it a couple of minutes before you check. After an overnight charge, your next reading should be around 13.2V with the charger on.
After you've charged...unplug for 24 hours with the battery switch set to off...then check voltage again. Should be 12.6 if like new. 12.4 shows loss of capacity. 12.2 indicates you should think about replacing those batteries especially if you do any boondocking.

Of course...before doing any charging...check and fill the distilled water in each cell so you don't do further damage.

[dan-nickie]

To possibly head off some future grief , we should ask you where you are planning on plugging in when you get your 50 to 30 amp adapter?

Did you have a 30 Amp Installed specifically wired for an RV? Or an existing 3 prong plug in the house that is possibly for a clothes dryer?

[CombatYoga]

The coach is virtually brand new. Even with cheap Chinese batteries they should be good for a bit longer. Good advice on testing them - I will do that.

We will be using this RV for almost all dry camping. We race off-road (enduros and hare scrambles primarily). No hookups - all boondocking/dry camping.

I just needed an excuse to replace these crappy batteries with AGM's. I boated for many years and the AGM's are absolutely worth the price. Would like to at least get 1 season out of these stock batteries though!

Right now my converter/charger is plugged into a 110v outlet in my garage. I did have an electrician install 30 amp service at the house, and once I step down the 50 amp plug to a 30 amp with an adapter, I'll use that.

Thanks for the ongoing advice everyone!

CY