Intermittent Alternator charging of house batteries

[Sagecoachdriver]

I have trace my fluctuating house battery charging down to the solenoid in the step well. Has anyone else had a problem with it? Drive for hours with little or no charging. Volts are there at the solenoid, but only one half. Then later, both sides have the hgher volts.

[VinceU]

Originally Posted by Sagecoachdriver

I have trace my fluctuating house battery charging down to the solenoid in the step well. Has anyone else had a problem with it? Drive for hours with little or no charging. Volts are there at the solenoid, but only one half. Then later, both sides have the hgher volts.

The solenoid seems ok cause it closes and holds sometimes. Somewhere nearby is a PCB which controls the solenoid on and off coil.Usually operates when 1st set of batteries reach a charge level, than cuts in 2nd batterie(s).

[Sagecoachdriver]

Originally Posted by VinceU

The solenoid seems ok cause it closes and holds sometimes. Somewhere nearby is a PCB which controls the solenoid on and off coil.Usually operates when 1st set of batteries reach a charge level, than cuts in 2nd batterie(s).

I traced the wires coming off the solenoid to a Isolation Battery Manager board. You are probably correct about the solenoid being fine then. Only 1 bank of 2 group 27 batteries.

[Sagecoachdriver]

Everything is probably fine. Read in Precision Circuits manual
Overview:
Battery Isolation Manager Operation
The Battery Isolation Manager (BIM) monitors the Battery Voltage of both the Chassis and Coach Batteries over long periods of time. If it senses a charging voltage, it connects the two batteries together. If the charging system is drastically overburdened, the batteries will be isolated, however, if the BIM sees a long term charging of both batteries it will allow the batteries to remain connected and allow the charging system to do its job. Once the batteries have reached a Float Charge state for one hour, the BIM will isolate the batteries to prevent overcharging, and will only reconnect the batteries for charging if one of the Battery drops to approximately 80% charge, and the other is being charged. If the batteries are not being charged, BIM isolates the two batteries to prevent an electrical draw in one system from depleting the other battery. The long term monitoring of the batteries prevents the annoying Relay clicking that exists in simpler Isolation Modules today.
Prevents:
c. Overcharging of Coach Battery during long drives by shutting down every hour and only turning back on when Coach Battery needs charging.

Sounds like it's just the way it's designed.

[Sagecoachdriver]

I found that when I start the engine, it take a while before the system allows the alternator to charge the house batteries. It does only charge for 1 hour. I will need to test if shutting off the engine for 2+ minutes will reset the system and after a while charge the house batteries again.
So what can be done to get the house batteries charged up by the alternator or keep them charged up while traveling. I get to the camp ground and find my house batteries down 4-8 amps.
I know one solution is solar panels on the roof that will charge the house batteries any time there is daylight traveling or not. But how does the Battery Isolation Manager handle it?