Charging or not Charging that is the Question

[Oldnapapartsguy]

OK, I have a question for the brains out there. I have a Series 4 Isata. It has been plugged in and stored in a warm garage for a couple of weeks. I went to put a slide in and the low power light started blinking. I stopped and restarted and got the same result. After a little while of thinking about it I decided to check the coach batteries and they seem fine. I then disconnected the power for a few minutes. When I plugged it back in the battery voltage went from the steady 13 volts to like 14.3 volts. I operated the slide, watching the battery gauge, and the voltage never went below 14 volts. There was no warning light on the slide either.

Guess my question is does the on board charger only charge a lower voltage once it has reached float? I restarted by unplugging and re-plugging even though the batteries were still well charged.

Feeling kind of dumb.

[milkman55]

The charge is regulated and it keeps the batteries topped off, even the chassis battery. My theory would be that your charge cord somehow became disconnected. When you plugged in and got the 14.x reading, that just shows your batteries are receiving a charge, not that they have a charge of 14.x.

If you operate your slide while plugged in at home, RV park or running your generator, you should not experience that problem again.

[emrichje]

Originally Posted by Oldnapapartsguy

OK, I have a question for the brains out there. I have a Series 4 Isata. It has been plugged in and stored in a warm garage for a couple of weeks. I went to put a slide in and the low power light started blinking. I stopped and restarted and got the same result. After a little while of thinking about it I decided to check the coach batteries and they seem fine. I then disconnected the power for a few minutes. When I plugged it back in the battery voltage went from the steady 13 volts to like 14.3 volts. I operated the slide, watching the battery gauge, and the voltage never went below 14 volts. There was no warning light on the slide either.

Guess my question is does the on board charger only charge a lower voltage once it has reached float? I restarted by unplugging and re-plugging even though the batteries were still well charged.

Feeling kind of dumb.

My trickle charger shuts down when AC goes off and comes on again. I have to check I periodically to make sure it is in the charge or maintenance mode.

[Oldnapapartsguy]

It always showed the blue light on the cord indicating it was powered. The batteries showed 13 volts. Not sure what’s going on.

[mlmay12]

Originally Posted by Oldnapapartsguy

OK, I have a question for the brains out there. I have a Series 4 Isata. It has been plugged in and stored in a warm garage for a couple of weeks. I went to put a slide in and the low power light started blinking. I stopped and restarted and got the same result. After a little while of thinking about it I decided to check the coach batteries and they seem fine. I then disconnected the power for a few minutes. When I plugged it back in the battery voltage went from the steady 13 volts to like 14.3 volts. I operated the slide, watching the battery gauge, and the voltage never went below 14 volts. There was no warning light on the slide either.

Guess my question is does the on board charger only charge a lower voltage once it has reached float? I restarted by unplugging and re-plugging even though the batteries were still well charged.

Feeling kind of dumb.

Your converter was probably in float mode and not putting out much. When you tried to run the slide, it was running almost entirely off your batteries and caused a low voltage warning. When you disconnected the power cable and plugged it back in your converter went into high output and started putting out 14V so your slide had plenty of voltage from the converter. If you let it sit for a while the converter would have topped off the batteries in a short time and you would be back where you started.

I'm guessing if you had just left it plugged in and waited a short time you would have heard the converter fan and it would have increased the voltage anyway because of the draw-down from the first time you tried to run your slide.