'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo
He had a large saltwater boat, berthed in Valdez, that he routinely used in the often treacherous waters along Alaska's coast. His boat had an onboard charger/maintainer for each battery bank, for plugging into shore power. (An appropriate use of the term.)
He also had an onboard genset and carried a small Honda generator in case all else failed.
In the fall, he would pull the batteries from the boat (as well as his RV) and take them into his heated shop. There, he would hook the batteries up to the $1,000 multi-bank charger/maintainer he had, with a separate circuit for each battery.
I'm not saying you should invest in that kind of a setup, but TreeSeeker is right. You should have at least two charger/maintainers, one for the coach battery and the second for the SLI (engine) battery. (And, pull the batteries over the winter and store/charge/maintain them in a heated garage or shop.
1970 Explorer Class A on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with 318 cu. in. (split year)
1972 Executive Class A on a Dodge M375 chassis with 413 cu. in.
1973 Explorer Class A on a Dodge RM350 (R4) chassis with 318 engine & tranny from 1970 Explorer Class A
eyeteeth wrote:
I don't remember what Leeann mentioned. Its by Progressive Dynamics. They're here in Michigan... support the home team. The batteries are not paired. I 'think' the coach will supply a little voltage to charge the House when running, but definitely NOT the other way. I only say that, because once or twice when traveling long distances the house battery has seemed to have a little more oomph at our destination than it would otherwise... but we're talking HOURS here, so it can't be anything more than a drip... not even a trickle.
I don't remember what Leeann mentioned. Its by Progressive Dynamics. They're here in Michigan... support the home team. The batteries are not paired. I 'think' the coach will supply a little voltage to charge the House when running, but definitely NOT the other way. I only say that, because once or twice when traveling long distances the house battery has seemed to have a little more oomph at our destination than it would otherwise... but we're talking HOURS here, so it can't be anything more than a drip... not even a trickle.
Batteries will recover part of their charge when sitting idle after a period of use, due to internal chemistry. On the other hand, depending on how your motorhome is wired, the Progressive Dynamics unit may be able to sense a running engine and use the engine circuits to trickle charge the coach battery.
I am going to get to all this, in detail, as I continue my treatise on motorhome electrical systems.
Leeann wrote:
Yep, Progressive Dynamics with Charge Wizard. My husband set up a selectable battery switch panel so we can charge 1, 2 or all 3 batteries at a time. Or use any or any combo of them to start either the engine or the generator.
Yep, Progressive Dynamics with Charge Wizard. My husband set up a selectable battery switch panel so we can charge 1, 2 or all 3 batteries at a time. Or use any or any combo of them to start either the engine or the generator.
I'd be interested in seeing and studying his wiring diagram.
argh. Its like it's shorting out, but there's no smells, and all the breakers look good. But then, it comes back on...
If you have a Progressive Dynamics converter with a Charge Wizard, you already have a great setup for your house battery. Just check the water levels and the voltage. First you need to turn the converter off for at least an hour to eliminate the "surface charge." The surface charge is an artificially higher voltage than the battery will have after sitting for awhile. Oh, and make sure there are no drains on it like lights, smoke alarms, etc.
For the engine I recommend this:
NOCO Genius
This puts out 3.5amps until the battery is charged, then goes into an automatic mode where it monitors the voltage and just switches on when needed. If you are so inclined, you can get auxiliary parts that allow you to permanently mount this charger/maintainer so that it comes on whenever you are connected to shore power or are running the generator (if you have one).
Don't forget to check the water levels in both batteries. With low water levels you can get good voltage readings but there is no real power.