Charging problem January 29, 2012, 02:13:27 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128151I have a 2001 26.5 IB with 85w solar panel, 1200w inverter (which I hardly use)& new lifeline batteries. Batteries charge fine off the engine (13.8-14.1)and the solar power but not from shore power or the generator. I noticed that I get no reading from the 100a fuse located in the battery compartment. Any suggestions?
Re: Charging problem Reply #1 – January 29, 2012, 06:40:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128158"I have a 2001 26.5 IB with 85w solar panel, 1200w inverter (which I hardly use)& new lifeline batteries. Batteries charge fine off the engine (13.8-14.1) and the solar power but not from shore power or the generator." Seems as if the evidence is pointing to your old converter. You could try to have it repaired, but this might be a good time to replace it with a three-stage Inteli-Power unit (see LD Companion article on converters).Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Charging problem Reply #2 – January 29, 2012, 08:19:00 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128162Is the inverter supposed to charge the batteries (some do)? If it doesn't then odds on you have the old 6300 series converter. It charges the batteries very slowly.
Re: Charging problem Reply #3 – February 02, 2012, 07:41:18 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128300Thank you. I installed the inteli unit yesterday. I tested it with the cover off and it worked great. Charging 14.3 using the generator and then shore power. But I noticed a wire that seemed to be left over. It is a large black wire similar to the positive battery cable. This wire touched the positive lug on the dc board and I got a large spark. After that even though everything works on generator & shore power there is no power to the coach from the batteries or when running the engine. I hope I just blew a fuse somewhere but checked all the breakers and reset them. I hope I did not damage the dc board. What do you think?
Re: Charging problem Reply #4 – February 02, 2012, 10:02:48 pm Yahoo Message Number: 128304Don, the first place to look is the master 12V breaker. The location varies from coach to coach--check your owner's manual. For example, in my 2003 midbath, the breaker is a small, inconspicuous module located on the left inside the recess left open when you pull out the short drawer under the fridge--in other words, you'd never guess it was there. I recently had a similar incident to what you described, while replacing a bad automatic transfer switch on my converter. A DC circuit board slipped, and ZAP! all 12V power went dead. (I had shut off all 120VAC power, of course, but didn't think to shut off 12VDC because I wasn't working on that system.) I finished the job by the light of my trusty $10 CREE zooming headlamp (another Meritline bargain), and then pulled out the drawer and reset the breaker. All was well. :-)Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/