Sf49erfan Report post Posted September 6, 2017 Hello all! I am looking for some guidance on an issue I am having with our 2006 Monaco Executive. This is long, so bear with me. In January, when we were driving our coach from Houston to Spokane, we forgot to unplug from one of the campgrounds when we left. By the time we discovered this, we only had wires at the end of the cord (it was a 50 amp plug). We stopped at Camping World and my husband put on a new 50 amp plug. I used the coach for a while. We had a warm day and when I went to put the ac on, the inverter tripped or something. I reset it and tried again, tripped a fuse and the inverter. When I went to reset the inverter, I noticed an electrical smell. I had no power. I had an electrician come out to trouble shoot and he checked out the pieced together plug and found that two of the three wires were not in place. So he fixed my plug, checked my inverter and everything seemed to be ok. After a couple of days, my refrigerator wasn't working right, the aqua hot quit working and I noticed that the lights were really dim. The electrician came out and checked the inverter. The inverter was getting the right juice in, but was only putting out approx 9v, so it wasn't working. Probably what the electric smell was that I noticed. So i ordered a new inverter, had it installed and everything was good. I have recently started having problems with the refrigerator again and we are again having problems with the rv not wanting to start. I am not sure if the two are connected or not. We had no issues with any of this before we messed up the plug. We can jump start the rv but then the next time we try and start it, it won't start. I thought we might have a short/lose connection on one of the batteries. The last time we jump started it, it appeared there was a short as we melted two parts on the battery. We replaced those and jump started the rv. Today it wouldn't start again. It has only been 9 days.This is getting very frustrating. I am not sure what direction to go in to trouble shoot. Two of our 6 batteries ( I am assuming the starter batteries) were just replaced in December. Tracey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted September 6, 2017 Tracey. What kind of Batteries, AGM or Acid? If Acid are you checking the water level each month? In the heat of summer you will have evaporation. Check all your batteries with a volt meter, also look for any loose ground wires and same with terminals. Your inverter also has a ground wire, a fuse and an internal CB. Start batteries are charged by the engine alternator. Next time you have starter problems, use the override button on dash and it will allow the house batteries (assuming they are charged)to start the engine! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sf49erfan Report post Posted September 6, 2017 @Manholt We used the battery boost button and it didn't help. We thought the "short" on the battery was the problem, but evidently not. I am pretty sure the batteries are AGM. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted September 6, 2017 Tracey, from your description, it would appear that there is a new problem. As Carl said the chassis (start) battery/batteries is a different means of charging, the alternator on the engine should be charging these batteries. The fact that the start batteries were replaced in December does seem to indicate that there may be an alternator problem, although it does not rule out that there may be something wrong with the batteries their self. Hoping that the inverter/converter is now keeping the house batteries charged, I would now start to troubleshoot the chassis batteries and charging system. I noticed in your post that there was a possible short that caused you to replace the batteries, that same short may have also caused an alternator failure. I personally would have a qualified technician to look at the charging system for the coach. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted September 6, 2017 When you are on shore power or generator, use a volt meter to verify that your batteries are being charged by either means...if not or they are being drawn down, I suspect a bad battery. Do you have a residential fridge? You don't indicate how many batteries are for house or how old they are. You mentioned that 2 of the 3 wires where not in place...50A = 4 wire plug. Ground, neutral, 2 hot (L1 and L2). If your husband got a 3 wire plug, then your trying to run a 50A coach on 30A! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sf49erfan Report post Posted September 6, 2017 @Manholt- I must say, I didn't pay that close attention. It probably was a four wire. I was kinda freaked out about the whole thing. @kaypsmith I don't believe the batteries are being kept charged. I am a little confused as to what powers what. The fridge is a Norco. Does that get power from the same batteries that start the engine? Tracey Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kaypsmith Report post Posted September 6, 2017 2 hours ago, Sf49erfan said: I don't believe the batteries are being kept charged. I am a little confused as to what powers what. The fridge is a Norco. Does that get power from the same batteries that start the engine? Normally not, usually from the house batteries, but sometimes things are miswired and sometimes they have been changed on purpose. If you remove only the ground wire from the house batteries and the fridge remains running, then it is running on the chassis battery, this will be unusual but not the first time that I have found it to be the case. Also you state that you don't believe that the chassis batteries are being kept charged, some units are equipped to charge the chassis battery while on shore power and some are not. Some are set to maintain the chassis batteries only after the house battery bank reaches 13.3 volts, and of course none of us would know how yours is set up without proper documentation. A battery maintainer can be added to the chassis battery very easily, and will certainly will not hurt anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
alflorida Report post Posted September 7, 2017 (edited) This is a problem where it is best to have someone with volt meter and some experience to do some hands on troubleshooting. It seems like there are a number of things going on which makes troubleshooting via the forum difficult. Editing, correcting some misinformation/terminology in my original reply. If you have a voltmeter you would want start with measuring the voltage at the house batteries and the chassis batteries to see if they are fully charged. I am assuming your inverter is also used to charge and keep your house batteries charged. So you will want to check the voltage with the RV plugged into shore power that the charging circuit is providing the proper voltage to charge the batteries and supplying the 12VDC power to the 12V things like the Norcold refrigerator control circuit board, the 12V lights, etc. Then you want to unplug from shore power and see what the battery voltage is. It will also be helpful to know, as you do your testing, if the inverter/charger is used to keep the chassis (engine) batteries charged while the RV is not being driven. Edited September 7, 2017 by alflorida Errors in my original reply Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
