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03-09-2016, 10:31 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,363
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Battery isolator question
This is for a 2016 Forester. The battery isolator has one side connected to the house batteries and the other to the chassis battery. If you press the emergency start switch the isolator opens allowing vehicle to start from house batteries.
Now when you are plugged into shore power does the isolator open and allow the converter to also charge the chassis battery? I am wondering if I should invest in a Trik-L-Start.
2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
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2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
2011 Jeep JK Toad
Habitual RV Modifier
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03-09-2016, 10:39 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
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On most rigs that I have seen the converter does not charge the chassis battery only the coach batteries. With my Winnebago I leave a battery tender on the chassis battery when I have the rig in my shop.
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03-09-2016, 10:51 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
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Not to be a smart ass, but the isolator switch stays in the open position until called upon. My 2016 Forester (MBS) has an isolator switch that closes when the engine runs so chassis and coach batteries charge. It does not close when plugged into shore power, so it does not charge the chassis battery. I installed a push button switch so I could turn on the isolator switch if I needed it to jump my engine. Mine did not have one from the factory.
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2016 Forester 2401WS MBS
Life is short...eat the cookie
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03-10-2016, 02:27 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
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Location: Florida
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Does anyone have a Trik-L-Start? Opinions? It allows a trickle charge to chassis battery from your house batteries via converter.
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2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
2011 Jeep JK Toad
Habitual RV Modifier
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03-10-2016, 08:45 AM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Englewood FL
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Most BCCs are designed to work both ways. If yours doesn't I would try to figure out why not. The trik-l-start appears to lose at least .5 volts, the BCC isolator solenoid will lose you nothing. It is already there and can do the job if correctly hooked up.
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2015 335DS
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03-10-2016, 09:02 AM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Florida
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Gonna do some testing and check some readings today
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2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
2011 Jeep JK Toad
Habitual RV Modifier
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03-10-2016, 10:07 AM
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#7
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Senior Member
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Location: Englewood FL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sgtlm17
Gonna do some testing and check some readings today
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I looked at the manual for the Intellitec BCC. Seems that it would be hard to prevent the converter from charging the chassis battery without going to great lengths as the circuitry that allows the house to be charged by the engine is integral to that function. There are some fuses that might be a problem and I did notice a "removable jumper" on the ignition isolation relay that prevents shutting off the batteries when the alternator is running, which would blow the diodes in the alternator as it would no longer see a load.
Here is what I am looking at.
http://www.intellitec.com/assets/pdf/5301087new3.pdf
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2015 335DS
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03-10-2016, 11:48 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
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I checked the jump connections under the hood. The voltage did not change when I turned on shore power. I have to assume it does not charge the coach battery...although I could be wrong
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2016 Forester 2401WS MBS
Life is short...eat the cookie
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03-10-2016, 03:45 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: South Carolina
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Bob dirt,
I think the poster's 2801 QSF is on a Ford chassis. The BCC operates a little differently from the BCC on a MB. I recall Brian Clemens said MB would not let them connect to their electrical system. On the Ford chassis the BCC connects the coach and chassis 12 volt system when the coach's convertor is charging, when the chassis alternator is charging, and when the battery booster switch is pressed. The BCC will connect the batteries only if there is enough voltage, unless the booster switch is pressed. If the coach batteries are low, it won't connect until the convertor has charged them.
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RamblerGuy
2011 Sunseeker 3100
2016 Ford Edge Toad
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03-10-2016, 03:54 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RamblerGuy
Bob dirt,
I think the poster's 2801 QSF is on a Ford chassis. The BCC operates a little differently from the BCC on a MB. I recall Brian Clemens said MB would not let them connect to their electrical system. On the Ford chassis the BCC connects the coach and chassis 12 volt system when the coach's convertor is charging, when the chassis alternator is charging, and when the battery booster switch is pressed. The BCC will connect the batteries only if there is enough voltage, unless the booster switch is pressed. If the coach batteries are low, it won't connect until the convertor has charged them.
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I did see he had a different chassis, that's why I wrote "on my chassis".
The way to verify charging is with a DC volt meter. The voltage should go up on the coach battery connections when he turns on shore power. If it does not, it does not charge on shore power. I kinda wish mine did.
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2016 Forester 2401WS MBS
Life is short...eat the cookie
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03-10-2016, 04:10 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: South Carolina
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Bob dirt,
It's your motorhome. Wire it to charge when you want it to. Use a switch. Maybe the BCC that's installed can do it like the one in Fords and you can add wires to make it work.
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RamblerGuy
2011 Sunseeker 3100
2016 Ford Edge Toad
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03-10-2016, 04:17 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Florida
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Yup finished testing. When engine running house batteries charge. Engine off plugged Into to shore power only house batteries charge. I will probably do something to keep chassis battery up. Battery tender, Trik-L-Start, etc.
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2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
2011 Jeep JK Toad
Habitual RV Modifier
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03-10-2016, 04:41 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: South Carolina
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sgtlm17
Yup finished testing. When engine running house batteries charge. Engine off plugged Into to shore power only house batteries charge. I will probably do something to keep chassis battery up. Battery tender, Trik-L-Start, etc.
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Do you have a Ford or Chevy chassis? I can't tell from the photo in your tag. If you have a MB chassis, ignore my comment below.
How long did you wait to read the voltage at the chassis battery after the plugging in the shore line? Our 2011 Sunseeker has an Intellitec BCC, which does not connect the coach batteries to the chassis battery until the coach system is above 13.1 volts for more than 2.5 minutes. I think FR changed suppliers, so yours may work differently, but the concept should be the same. If the coach batteries are low, it may take a while for the system to rise above 13.1 volts. If you don't have documents on your BCC, look on line for it to find out the voltages and timing for yours.
By the way
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RamblerGuy
2011 Sunseeker 3100
2016 Ford Edge Toad
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03-10-2016, 04:48 PM
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#14
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Posts: 306
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RamblerGuy
Bob dirt,
It's your motorhome. Wire it to charge when you want it to. Use a switch. Maybe the BCC that's installed can do it like the one in Fords and you can add wires to make it work.
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good idea...I could swap out my momentary switch I installed to a toggle switch and just be careful not to leave it on when not needed.
I'll also look into Trik-L-Start like sgtlm17 mentioned.
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2016 Forester 2401WS MBS
Life is short...eat the cookie
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03-10-2016, 04:54 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Florida
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Hmm very good info Rambler I will take another look at it
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2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
2011 Jeep JK Toad
Habitual RV Modifier
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03-10-2016, 05:10 PM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 639
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Not sure either
Quote:
Originally Posted by bob dirt
I checked the jump connections under the hood. The voltage did not change when I turned on shore power. I have to assume it does not charge the coach battery...although I could be wrong
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I measured the chassis battery voltage the other day at the jump start connections too - and got 13.8 volts with shore power plugged in. As a result, I assumed that the BCC relay was closed and the converter was also charging the chassis battery. Probably not a good assumption I guess.
I'm going to call Precision Circuits again tomorrow and see if I can get a better technical description of how the BCC works. Need to talk to them anyway about the fuse size for hooking up the boost/emergency start function. I assume 5 amps is more than adequate, but I'm going to verify.
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03-10-2016, 08:21 PM
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#17
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,363
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As to the question before my 2801 is on a 2016 Ford E450
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2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
2011 Jeep JK Toad
Habitual RV Modifier
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03-10-2016, 08:36 PM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Englewood FL
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You know, that is interesting. I am building a data logger for my Trimetric that records all the parameters and writes them to an SD card for subsequent analysis and evaluation. Surprisingly, I watched the banks stay connected for quite a while after I shut down my generator (converter) or my engine (alternator.) On my older 1997 Bounder, the BCC would keeps the banks connected for a while, but the newer versions seem to keep things connected much longer.
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2015 335DS
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03-10-2016, 08:37 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Englewood FL
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RamblerGuy
Bob dirt,
I think the poster's 2801 QSF is on a Ford chassis. The BCC operates a little differently from the BCC on a MB. I recall Brian Clemens said MB would not let them connect to their electrical system. On the Ford chassis the BCC connects the coach and chassis 12 volt system when the coach's convertor is charging, when the chassis alternator is charging, and when the battery booster switch is pressed. The BCC will connect the batteries only if there is enough voltage, unless the booster switch is pressed. If the coach batteries are low, it won't connect until the convertor has charged them.
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Seems that I read somewhere that was a misunderstanding.
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03-12-2016, 02:12 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 1,363
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Anyone get a definitive answer on this. I'm going to try to get to coach and do more testing later today
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2016 Forester GTS 2801QSF
2011 Jeep JK Toad
Habitual RV Modifier
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