shore power and generator not charging

[Dick Skeers]

we left our mh stored for 3 days plugged into 30 amp power. unfortunately, the plug became unplugged and when we returned yesterday at about 5 pm the panel was reading about 9.5 volts. i re-plugged in and didn't pay much attention to the panel but everything seemed normal. when i got up this am, we were down to 10 volts and ac outlets were not working. the far right breaker labeled "20 amp gfci recepts" was tripped and would not reset. i unplugged from shore power and replugged. i think i heard the transfer switch function, but still no 110 inside the coach. turned on the engine and had 110 inside. started the generator, no 110. ran the engine for approximately 30 minutes and got up to 11.5 volts, 13 amps, and appears to be gradually vacillating downward to 11.4 volts and 11.4 amps with 1 amp incoming solar., ???

i have a mobile tech who will be here in a while, but i am leary because he said my charger was not working before he had all of the facts. can you help with the diagnosis?

i this warrantable? even though shore power appears to be not functioning, i am reticent to hit the road "hoping" to find a forrest river dealer who will have time to work on our mh.

if this issue is already dealt with, would somebody pls redirect me?
thank you,
from the swamp, Wa DC

[Dick Skeers]

previous post is for a 2019 30FW.
does anybody know where to find an electrical plan for this motorhome?

[houstonstroker]

Do you have power at the pole? GFCI outlets will not reset without power.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by Dick Skeers

i this warrantable? even though shore power appears to be not functioning, i am reticent to hit the road "hoping" to find a forrest river dealer who will have time to work on our mh.

if this issue is already dealt with, would somebody pls redirect me?
thank you,
from the swamp, Wa DC

we're not even sure that anything is broken.

It is helpful if you have a full understanding of what you are dealing with. On the Isata 5, just about the entire coach is inverted. So you can have 110V power just off of batteries. or you can have 110V power off of pass through shore or gen power. So it is helpful when troubleshooting to understand what you actually have when you have it. (like 110V power yes or no).

as stated a GFI will not reset without power. so that is normal and by itself does not indicate anything is not working (other than no shore power).

1. i think i heard the transfer switch function, but still no 110 inside the coach.
So, "plugged IN" you have no 110V? Are you sure that you have 110V power at the pole? Is the blue light on where the plug connects to the coach? Are you sure the power pole breaker is not tripped? If the AC's are set to both run...then you might plug in, but trip the breaker because you ONLY have 30 amp service and both AC's are trying to turn on at the same time. You need to make sure one of them or both are off.

2. turned on the engine and had 110 inside
This, doesn't make much sense. If you mean, chassis engine...then maybe the alternator was firing up the batteries and you were getting 110V off of the inverter.

3. Started the gen, no 110V.
Was this with the chassis engine running or now off? The gen has a delay, so it may take a minute or so to fire up. Also, if there was a surge it could have tripped the gen breaker/switch. So it could be running and yet not passing any power through.

4.ran the engine for approximately 30 minutes and got up to 11.5 volts, 13 amps, and appears to be gradually vacillating downward to 11.4 volts and 11.4 amps with 1 amp incoming solar., ???
So it sounds like the alternator is charging the house batteries. have you tried resetting the inverter? can you confirm the inverter settings? is the inverter set to ON or OFF? Do you have Magnum or Xantrex?

[formerFR]

I don't think any 'mobile tech' is going to find anything other than your depleted House batteries, since the Power Cord came unplugged, leaving your Inverter to handle the 120v fridge and any other 120v items over whatever the 'time' was that it was unplugged.
At some point, the Inverter should cut out automatically when the batteries fall too low, which probably happened, though there are still some 12v items that continue to draw on the batteries, continually taking it lower.
Once you plug back into 120v power, your Charger should then take over recharging the low batteries, BUT some Chargers don't have the capability to recharge once the battery levels are at such a low point.
The ALTERNATOR, though, pushes volts into the batteries while the engine is running, eventually bringing them back up toward a more 'chargeable' level by the Charger, itself, when it then can take over charging. The same with solar, as these both go directly to the batteries, not thru a battery Charger or other system.

The Generator, like Shore Power, is not going to be any different of a power source, since both are funneled thru the ATS(automatic transfer switch)... the Main Electrical Panel knows no different which power supply it is receiving.

As for the GFCI outlet, no, it will not reset without power, though the power can come from either the ATS, OR from the Inverter, when there is no other 120v power. If the circuit breaker for the GFCI tripped, then there was more amps being used than the circuit was designed to handle, not that the GFCI itself tripped, unless you have a GFCI BREAKER, which trips for either reason.


You made a comment that everything 'seemed' o.k. once you returned and replugged into 30amp shore power, but that all was OFF when you woke up in the a.m...
Now, nothing seems to correct the issue other than cranking the vehicle's engine?
Very strange. I believe something is amiss, here.

If the Inverter is actually ON and working, when you have no other power, then all of your outlets should be live and working, at least as long as you have enough battery levels, usually more than 11, at a bare minimum.
If you have Shore power or Generator power, then the Inverter simply serves as a 'pass thru' device, so that all your circuit Breakers that are wired to the inverter continue to receive power, unless your inverter is in error and not allowing the power to pass thru. A stuck relay could be a possible culprit.

If you are plugged into shore power, or on Generator, and still not receiving power to the Air Conditioners, then you may have a ATS(auto transfer switch) issue. Which also would mean you would have little 'recharging' of your House batteries.

[bclemens]

let's not forget...11.4V is still a depleted battery

You really need to get those batteries back up over 12.3-12.4 volts before you try turning the inverter back on or really trying anything.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Dick Skeers

previous post is for a 2019 30FW.
does anybody know where to find an electrical plan for this motorhome?

Just turning on the engine would not give you 120 volts inside except for anything on the inverter.

The inverter changes 12 volts DC into 120 volts AC.

there is no electrical diagram for your unit.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by cavie

there is no electrical diagram for your unit.

There actually is an electrical diagram for his coach and I think I have posted it. But I don't see how that would help here which is why I did not address it.

It was working before, which leads me to believe this is just a case of VERY depleted batteries. There are many more simple questions we need answers to before we start looking at schematics.

[katkt]

Originally Posted by houstonstroker

Do you have power at the pole? GFCI outlets will not reset without power.

This would be a great place to start.

I was wondering how it got unplugged?

[Dick Skeers]

mia culpa, mia culpa,
when the techs got here and listened to the whole story they crawled under the slide and found the inverter circuit breaker tripped, reset it, problem solved. evidently, low voltage had caused that. so, we closed up and left. when i tried to notify the website via my smartphone, it wouldn't let me on and my computer was inaccessibly stored on the shelves that get covered when the slide is retracted. sorry,

i was very impressed by these techs. is there any place on this website to post good techs? such a place would be terrific for us wandering around the planet in places where we have no familiarity.

thank you all again

[formerFR]

I guess you threw all of us other 'techs' with this original statement you made:

" turned on the engine and had 110 inside "

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by cavie

Just turning on the engine would not give you 120 volts inside except for anything on the inverter.

The inverter changes 12 volts DC into 120 volts AC.

there is no electrical diagram for your unit.

cavie, Dynamax and their GM, Brian Clemens, differ from most RV manufacturers and their GMs
They do have wiring diagrams for their motorhomes and Brian is a hands-on type of manager.

[Dick Skeers]

again, i truly appreciate all of the input

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by Dick Skeers

again, i truly appreciate all of the input

Glad it was a simple fix....those are our favorite.

[caseymyers]

Agree with BC, simple problems are the best to have. I had a dead coach one time just after we took delivery of this I 5. Turned out to be a loose chassis battery cable. The simplest things we sometimes forget to check. I spent hours trouble shooting and a battery tech installing some additional batts for me went right to the problem, wiggled the battery cable and viola we had electricity. A good trouble shooter, he was eliminating the simple things first.

[Chuck_S]

Battery is likely toast at this voltage. But sometimes ya get lucky

-- Chuck