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Old 08-26-2020, 08:15 PM   #1
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Sunseeker house batteries don’t charge?

When we had a 2010 Georgetown, the house batteries would recharge
from the V-10 engine alternator when it was running.

Do the house batteries NOT get recharged from the Ford E450 alternator under a Sunseeker motorhome?

My Sunseeker command centre has a battery display, and it was not improving a reading of 12.3 volts when the Ford was running.
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Old 08-27-2020, 06:44 AM   #2
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Electric

Mine charge. Maybe an isolator or something amiss in the Battery Control Center(re).
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Old 08-27-2020, 06:50 AM   #3
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Thanks Duck.

I’m still investigating my way around this unit. After 10 years I knew my Georgetown inside out. I know where the BCC was in the Georgetown.......where might they hide it on the Sunseeker?
What brand or model number identifier should I look for?
I guess it moves around from where it might be depending on the floor plan.

(Still on the 2nd last day of 3 weeks travelling and everything checks out OK.....except this little puzzler).
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Old 08-27-2020, 06:53 AM   #4
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From what I have read here, there are timed cycles, voltage checks, and/or delays built into the battery isolator logic. It’s possible that if you make a quick check of the voltage to see if charging is taking place, the charge connection may not be be active at that time. However, the charge From the alternator to the house batteries may be cycling on and off.

My E450 alternator does charge the house batteries. In the case of the newest Sunseekers using 12 volt refrigerators, it would seem that the alternator powering the house would be a must in order to travel with the refrigerator powered on.

Do a search on BIM logic. TwoPro did some research and a good write up. Here is an excerpt from a thread:

“Here is the logic on the BIM 160.

for MH engine to charge coach:
12v on IGN terminal.
Chassis battery must be above 13.3v.
Coach battery must be below 12.6v.
There is about a 20 second delay
After 1 hour the BIM stops the charging and goes through this same voltage comparison above to see if further charging is necessary.

For Coach Charger to charge chassis battery:
Chassis battery must be above 13.3v
Coach battery must be below 12.6v.
After 1 hour the BIM stops the charging and goes through this same voltage comparison above to see if further charging is necessary.”
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Old 08-27-2020, 06:54 AM   #5
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1st Step

Mine is on the left side of the 1st step. The isolators are under the hood and in the battery box.
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Old 08-27-2020, 07:03 AM   #6
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BehindBars and Duckogram are becoming my “go to” team. Thanks guys.

Only today and tomorrow and we’ll be home....3,000+ miles this trip.

We’ll be setting of on a short trip today to visit friends. I’ll monitor the voltage display from the Command Center along the way and see what happens.
It didn’t do anything idling the V-10 last night for at least 5 minutes.

Our friends offered 115volt access tonight, and that has worked to charge when last connected. If I get a chance, I’ll see if the genny does it’s job charging.

Stand by.

“Canuck out”
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Old 08-27-2020, 10:27 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by kenandterry View Post
Thanks Duck.

I’m still investigating my way around this unit. After 10 years I knew my Georgetown inside out. I know where the BCC was in the Georgetown.......where might they hide it on the Sunseeker?
What brand or model number identifier should I look for?
I guess it moves around from where it might be depending on the floor plan.

(Still on the 2nd last day of 3 weeks travelling and everything checks out OK.....except this little puzzler).
I've often had to resort to following battery wires to find various parts in the circuit. The good news is that battery wires are large and stand out from all the others
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Old 08-27-2020, 01:21 PM   #8
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I had trouble with our 2011 Sunseeker 3100 not charging the coach batteries while driving. I could hear relay click when it was energized by the battery control center would engage, but it would not make contact. I replaced it and the chassis alternator charges the batteries just fine now.

If your relay is bad, be careful selecting the replacement. It must be rated for continuous duty and 200 amps. Some relays (aka, solenoids) are for starting service only. The system can connect the coach batteries to the chassis battery to start the engine. It has to be rated for that 200 amp current.

Mine went bad when we were on a trip and the only one I could find was for a travel trailer, and it was rated for 30 amps. That was okay for charging the coach batteries and I knew to not use it to boost the chassis battery. I changed it when I got home.
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Old 08-27-2020, 02:15 PM   #9
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Or you could be like dumb old me and not have added water to the batteries. Discovered mine were shot this morning, also discovered that I need to check water level in batteries. With all the maintenance free stuff, I totally didn't think about actually needing to check batteries for water and add as necessary. Lesson learned.
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Old 08-27-2020, 04:58 PM   #10
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Or you could be like dumb old me and not have added water to the batteries. Discovered mine were shot this morning, also discovered that I need to check water level in batteries. With all the maintenance free stuff, I totally didn't think about actually needing to check batteries for water and add as necessary. Lesson learned.
AGM’s for you.
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Old 08-28-2020, 08:15 PM   #11
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According to the Command Center battery voltage display, no voltage improvements were seen while driving home all day. At the same time, a digital voltage display of the Ford cab battery showed voltages near 14V while engine running, obviously from the alternator.

Last night, I ran the generator for 1 1/2 hours, and the Command Center battery voltage display ran well into the high 13V range while the genny ran.

At home, plugged into the 120V house outlet, and the Command Center battery voltage display is once again in the high 13V range.

This weekend, I’ll try checking BCC and whatever else is not playing well.
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Old 08-29-2020, 03:11 PM   #12
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Pictures included.....help please

I’m including pics from the entry stairwell, and under the engine hood.

I see no bad fuses or breakers tripped. For some reason I do see someone MacGyvered the RED and ORANGE wires together, whereas they should be on posts J11 (BIM Ignition) and J12 (Ignition In) of the printed circuit board. I don’t have a schematic.

Can someone tell me where to meter under what conditions from these photos so that I might get to charge house batteries when driving from the E450 alternator.
Like I said, they get charged from the generator or when connected to utility power. (Presently reading 13..8V)
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Old 08-29-2020, 04:46 PM   #13
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Nice Pics

The red and orange do not appear to be connected, just isolated. Gotta ask; Were your house batts charging off of your alternator before?
I would check voltage at the isolator relay connectors with the engine running and everything else disconnected to determine if any alternator juice is making it to the isolator. If yes, then the relay may be kaput. If no, time to move upstream.
I’m also thinking that ScottBrownstein may have better input. Might want to ping him...
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Old 08-29-2020, 08:44 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by Duckogram View Post
The red and orange do not appear to be connected, just isolated. Gotta ask; Were your house batts charging off of your alternator before?
I would check voltage at the isolator relay connectors with the engine running and everything else disconnected to determine if any alternator juice is making it to the isolator. If yes, then the relay may be kaput. If no, time to move upstream.
I’m also thinking that ScottBrownstein may have better input. Might want to ping him...
Reminder.....this Sunseeker was a previous rental unit. I’m not sure if it ever worked or not. All I know is that on this trip, it doesn’t charge house batteries while driving.
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Old 08-29-2020, 10:39 PM   #15
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I would check the voltage on the two main terminals of the battery isolation relay. One should be the chassis battery; the other should be the house batteries. If not, that is the problem.
If the batteries are properly connected to the isolation relay, the emergency start switch (assuming you have one - my Solera MBS doesn’t) should close the relay. With the emergency start switch held on, the relay should close and the voltages on the two main terminals of the isolation relay should become identical. If you don’t have an emergency start switch, jumping from either battery terminal to the small (coil) terminal on the isolation relay should do the same thing. I would first disconnect any wires currently on the coil terminal.
In an earlier thread, the chassis battery voltage was not present on its terminal on the isolation relay. That was a Mercedes Sprinter, as I remember, and Brian Clemens identified a circuit breaker under the driver’s seat in that connection (again, as I remember).

Edit: here is a link to the thread:

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ml#post2372418

Good Luck - Jim
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Old 08-30-2020, 08:26 AM   #16
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Jim, thats a great link. Thanks
Ken, Just had to ask.
If it was me, I would check for a breaker under the seat even though its not a MBS, FR might still have put one there. Of course I am assuming you have a booster switch on your seat base as well.
I would also seriously consider attaching the red and orange wires back where they belong if for no other reason than to discover why they were disconnected.
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Old 08-31-2020, 02:06 PM   #17
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Interesting potentially related post new today:
https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ml#post2403613
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Old 08-31-2020, 02:34 PM   #18
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Interesting potentially related post new today:
https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ml#post2403613
I was just in my doorstep trough a couple of months ago for another reason and did not see any fuses there. Ken and I have the same series models. Coachpeople builds are very different from FR builds.
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Old 08-31-2020, 06:29 PM   #19
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I was just in my doorstep trough a couple of months ago for another reason and did not see any fuses there. Ken and I have the same series models. Coachpeople builds are very different from FR builds.
I saw that post earlier today too. However, like the Duck says, our entry trough is flat.....no wires or fuses there. I would like to know if the Sunseeker has a similar simple fuse located somewhere else that does the same job.
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Old 08-31-2020, 06:37 PM   #20
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As I mentioned above, if you have full chassis battery voltage at the chassis battery terminal of the isolation relay, no need to try to find the fuse, circuit breaker, or other device between the chassis battery and the relay.

On the MBS the (quite high current) breaker is under the seat because the chassis battery is under the driver floor. Under the driver seat is close to the battery. If I were looking for something similar on a Ford chassis, I would start looking in the vicinity of the Ford chassis battery.

Good luck - Jim
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