Winter Storage MBS chassis battery

[ipolyihh]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

My question then would be; if that is the case, then does the BCC control current allow flow of current in both directions, as needed without the engine (alternator) entering this equation.

only the alternator will charge the coach batteries, never the engine battery
( unless you try to connect them with jump start cables )

on the 2006 5-cyl Sprinter Vista Mini I traded last Oct for the 24S. a less sophisticated system only charged the coach batteries with engine running, when my engine battery once ran down ( my mistake ) I had to use jump start cables from the coach batteries to get started.

On this 2014 Solera, running the propane generator will recharge the engine battery if you are away from shore power.

by the way, those batteries all lasted for the 8 year, 74000 mile run I had out of that vehicle, nor did it ever use any oil between it's yearly services

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by Total Loss

I have a Battery Tender lead attached to the chassis battery.
Will this also charge the coach batteries if the battery switch is in the "off" position?
Seems to be conflicting answers to this.
I have the advantage of also plugging in the coach as I store it on the side of my house but the trickle charger to the chassis is easy.

Great question,,, I hope someone has the answer !!!
I have looked @ the house batteries in our Sunseeker,,,
I do not see a way to check fluid level !!!
Could they be Maintenance Free Batteries ???

[MarsMan]

Originally Posted by Wolverine 1945

Great question,,, I hope someone has the answer !!!
I have looked @ the house batteries in our Sunseeker,,,
I do not see a way to check fluid level !!!
Could they be Maintenance Free Batteries ???

They could be. Some people look for individual caps when determining if maintenance free. My batteries have a rectangular block of plastic perhaps 3x 5 inches and it covers 3 cells.

[dukeboone]

I performed a couple of investigative tests today. I am plugged into shore power and made a mental note of the read out on my Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C remote which was indicating a 1A draw. I turned on the headlights and the read out changed to 7A. This appears to indicate that the chassis is receiving current from the shore power.

Subsequently I connected my multi-meter to the "jump" leads under the hood while I was connected to shore power and the voltage read out was 13.19v. I then disconnected the shore power and repeated the test and the voltage read out was 12.8v.

My conclusion is that it does seem true that the shore power connection will indeed provide current to the chassis battery. So it appears that leaving the MH plugged into shore power will maintain both the coach batteries and the chassis battery. Therefore it seems this just leaves the argument as to whether it is better to disconnect battery leads and let the batteries sit over winter, or rather leave it all plugged in to maintain the batteries and periodically check water levels.

I do intend to check water levels and periodically exercise the generator and in my case the MH is stored in a garage that is heated to 45°F read by a thermostat at eye level by a gas furnace that is 7'8' above the height of the MH, so arguably the ambient temperature is likely closer to 50°F in the garage. This is required because the garage has a fire suppression system (water lines) that need to be conditioned so they don't freeze in cold weather.

[MarsMan]

Originally Posted by dukeboone

I performed a couple of investigative tests today. I am plugged into shore power and made a mental note of the read out on my Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C remote which was indicating a 1A draw. I turned on the headlights and the read out changed to 7A. This appears to indicate that the chassis is receiving current from the shore power.

Subsequently I connected my multi-meter to the "jump" leads under the hood while I was connected to shore power and the voltage read out was 13.19v. I then disconnected the shore power and repeated the test and the voltage read out was 12.8v.

My conclusion is that it does seem true that the shore power connection will indeed provide current to the chassis battery. So it appears that leaving the MH plugged into shore power will maintain both the coach batteries and the chassis battery. Therefore it seems this just leaves the argument as to whether it is better to disconnect battery leads and let the batteries sit over winter, or rather leave it all plugged in to maintain the batteries and periodically check water levels.

I do intend to check water levels and periodically exercise the generator and in my case the MH is stored in a garage that is heated to 45°F read by a thermostat at eye level by a gas furnace that is 7'8' above the height of the MH, so arguably the ambient temperature is likely closer to 50°F in the garage. This is required because the garage has a fire suppression system (water lines) that need to be conditioned so they don't freeze in cold weather.

Excellent intel Duke. I will try the same tests. So, I now wonder why the juice will flow thru to the chassis when the converter/Charge was on, and why it wont draw from the coach when not connected to shore power and you leave happen to accidentally leave the headlights on? I do not have the boost button on mine , do you? If so, did you leave it on boost?

[dukeboone]

Originally Posted by MarsMan

Excellent intel Duke. I will try the same tests. So, I now wonder why the juice will flow thru to the chassis when the converter/Charge was on, and why it wont draw from the coach when not connected to shore power and you leave happen to accidentally leave the headlights on? I do not have the boost button on mine , do you? If so, did you leave it on boost?

Can't say I know what a boost button is as this is my first MH. I suspect it's a function that would allow one to "jump" their chassis with their coach batteries if needed. That being the case I do believe these are common on other types (brands) of chassis and I recall having read something about how this is not available on the MBS chassis because of some requirements from the chassis manufacturer.

[Total Loss]

Originally Posted by MarsMan

Please let us know what you find

Checked it- did not seem to be charging.
Connected trickle charger to the chassis battery- charging.
Checked the house batteries with the switch both on and off- no apparent charging.

[Still Kickin]

Originally Posted by Total Loss

Checked it- did not seem to be charging.
Connected trickle charger to the chassis battery- charging.
Checked the house batteries with the switch both on and off- no apparent charging.

I will try the same test, but use the charge feature on a charger I have and let you know if I see any voltage spike into the chassis bat from applying the high charge votage into the house bats.

[MarsMan]

getting more confusing.. LoL

[MNtraveler]

(Deleted by self)

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by MarsMan

They could be. Some people look for individual caps when determining if maintenance free. My batteries have a rectangular block of plastic perhaps 3x 5 inches and it covers 3 cells.

Is that like the back half of the batteries,,, I will have to look again,,,
I did not see a way to open !!!
Thanks for your reply !!!

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by dukeboone

I performed a couple of investigative tests today. I am plugged into shore power and made a mental note of the read out on my Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C remote which was indicating a 1A draw. I turned on the headlights and the read out changed to 7A. This appears to indicate that the chassis is receiving current from the shore power.

Subsequently I connected my multi-meter to the "jump" leads under the hood while I was connected to shore power and the voltage read out was 13.19v. I then disconnected the shore power and repeated the test and the voltage read out was 12.8v.

My conclusion is that it does seem true that the shore power connection will indeed provide current to the chassis battery. So it appears that leaving the MH plugged into shore power will maintain both the coach batteries and the chassis battery. Therefore it seems this just leaves the argument as to whether it is better to disconnect battery leads and let the batteries sit over winter, or rather leave it all plugged in to maintain the batteries and periodically check water levels.

I do intend to check water levels and periodically exercise the generator and in my case the MH is stored in a garage that is heated to 45°F read by a thermostat at eye level by a gas furnace that is 7'8' above the height of the MH, so arguably the ambient temperature is likely closer to 50°F in the garage. This is required because the garage has a fire suppression system (water lines) that need to be conditioned so they don't freeze in cold weather.

Great info - thanks. Obviously the circuit minder is quite smart (it has likely gotten smarter over the years) if it allows shore power to the chassis battery but will not allow the coach when offline to drain the chassis battery leaving us potentially stranded (if that happened, the coach batteries would have been drained too leaving the generator as the last hope).

As far as storage, you have nothing to worry about. Ours will be left outside without shore power in temps that will range from +10-25 to -20-30. Our dealer assures us if we visit it and run the generator for two hours once per month everything will be fine. That is what they do on their lot, and they must have at least $10-20M of inventory.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

Great info - thanks. Obviously the circuit minder is quite smart (it has likely gotten smarter over the years) if it allows shore power to the chassis battery but will not allow the coach when offline to drain the chassis battery leaving us potentially stranded (if that happened, the coach batteries would have been drained too leaving the generator as the last hope).

As far as storage, you have nothing to worry about. Ours will be left outside without shore power in temps that will range from +10-25 to -20-30. Our dealer assures us if we visit it and run the generator for two hours once per month everything will be fine. That is what they do on their lot, and they must have at least $10-20M of inventory.

That maybe a very good idea,,, but Ill bet most dealers do not do that !!!

[ipolyihh]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

As far as storage, you have nothing to worry about. Ours will be left outside without shore power in temps that will range from +10-25 to -20-30. Our dealer assures us if we visit it and run the generator for two hours once per month everything will be fine. That is what they do on their lot, and they must have at least $10-20M of inventory.

the Sprinter Diesel & alternator will do a better & quicker job, just remember to depress the throttle ( "gas" pedal ) lightly to maintain approx. 1000 RPM

the 3-5 minutes it takes to do this uses an almost imperceptible amount of fuel over the 3 to 5 times this needs to be done over the winter months

I've done with both my previous 5-cyl & last winter with my current 6-cyl 24S, never seen the need to disconnect any battery

I do wait a few seconds at the switch "on" position before going to "start" to allow oil to get pumped throughout the engine. This will also heat the DEF & fuel tanks and keep all systems in good shape.

[MNtraveler]

Thanks! (Oh, we have to run the generator anyway to keep it up, but perhaps not as long if the chassis charges up. I'll use the house battery charge indicator to test the chassis charging ability the first time around.)

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by Wolverine 1945

Is that like the back half of the batteries,,, I will have to look again,,,
I did not see a way to open !!!
Thanks for your reply !!!

On ours the cap is under the holding strap - very hard to get at! The caps are tight and you may need a flat screwdriver to GENTLY pry the cap open. Beware of splashing just from removing the caps. You may want to wear gloves or be ready to rinse off quickly. Ours splashed immediately.

[Wolverine 1945]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

On ours the cap is under the holding strap - very hard to get at! The caps are tight and you may need a flat screwdriver to GENTLY pry the cap open. Beware of splashing just from removing the caps. You may want to wear gloves or be ready to rinse off quickly. Ours splashed immediately.

Thanks for the advice,,, I have not looked again yet,,, but I will as soon as I have time !!! The batteries sure looked like Maintenance free batteries ???
I did not know any one even made Batteries now a days that were not Maintenance Free ???
Thanks Again !!!

[Still Kickin]

Follow up on my test. Put the charger on the coach batteries (all are reading 12.7v)tested chassis bat (also 12.7v) selected charger to start voltage output and took reading on chassis bat. Voltage was reading sporadic, fluctuating up and down. So, test inconclusive, but voltage was passing through the BMC.

[MarsMan]

Originally Posted by Still Kickin

Follow up on my test. Put the charger on the coach batteries (all are reading 12.7v)tested chassis bat (also 12.7v) selected charger to start voltage output and took reading on chassis bat. Voltage was reading sporadic, fluctuating up and down. So, test inconclusive, but voltage was passing through the BMC.

Hey SK

Interesting. I am going to try this on mine later this pm. I plan to leave the headlights on for 30 min or so and see what happens when the chassis battery is definitely in a partially discharged state

[Still Kickin]

Sounds good. I will follow up with a test during winter where I store it. Always leave a float charge on the coach bats. This year, I will test the chassis bat during the winter, to see if it loses voltage, or maintains full charge through the BMC.