fillbert Report post Posted March 11, 2010 Hello All. I'm new to RVing, FMCA and the forum. Here is my problem ... I hope you can help. While connected to shore power, my house batteries are in a state of continual discharge. It's very prevalent at night while using the 12 volt lights in the coach (they get noticably dimmer). They do not recharge overnight. The converter is an Intelepower 9100 and is the stock equipment. The converter output is 13.5 vdc measured at the component and 13.4 vdc measured at the batteries (2 new deep cycle). There is a small plus/minus factor to these measurements. I disconnected the batteries from the converter and it runs the house 12-volt system just fine. As soon as I reconnect to the batteries with shore power being applied, the batteries seem to take over and power the 12-volt system. I was under the impression that the converter would, under these conditions, power the 12-volt system and trickle charge the battery bank. I have also located, cleaned, reinstalled and checked the grounding points at the converter and battery. They measure zero resistance with my meter. Everything points to the converter unless there is another component in the system that isolates the battery when the converter is functioning. I purchased the coach six months ago and have had no problem until roughly three weeks ago. A little long winded, but there it is. Phil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted March 11, 2010 Phil, Welcome to the FMCA Forum. It sounds like you are going about the troubleshooting the right way. One thing I would suggest is to use another (portable) charger to fully charge the batteries -- like overnight and then have them load tested. Most auto parts houses, Sears automotive centers, etc will do it for free. You could also check their SG after fully charging them (SG testers are generally under $6). If the batteries test good, then I would call Intelepower for their recommended test procedures. Brett Wolfe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BillAdams Report post Posted March 11, 2010 After you have been connected to shore power long enough to see the lights dim you should measure the voltage at the batteries. If the converter is supplying power while on shore power you should still be reading 13+ volts here. Is it possible that the converter is undersized and putting out less amps than are necessary to overcome the amps you are using? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fillbert Report post Posted March 11, 2010 Phil,Welcome to the FMCA Forum. It sounds like you are going about the troubleshooting the right way. One thing I would suggest is to use another (portable) charger to fully charge the batteries-- like overnight and then have them load tested. Most auto parts houses, Sears automotive centers, etc will do it for free. You could also check their SG after fully charging them (SG testers are generally under $6). If the batteries test good, then I would call Intelepower for their recommended test procedures. Brett Wolfe Good points. I just assumed...new batteries, no problems here. I'm charging right now and will purchase an SG tester. However, I still don't completely understand the role of the converter/charger. With shore power available, does it take over from the battery completely? Its function then being to solely power the 12 volt system as well as supply a small trickle charge to the batteries? It seems odd that the batteries would be discharging (supplying the 12 volt system) with the converter functioning. Meter readings at the converter and the battery read nearly the same...13.4 volts plus/minus. Phil Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NWJeeper Report post Posted March 11, 2010 Good points. I just assumed...new batteries, no problems here. I'm charging right now and will purchase an SG tester.However, I still don't completely understand the role of the converter/charger. With shore power available, does it take over from the battery completely? Its function then being to solely power the 12 volt system as well as supply a small trickle charge to the batteries? It seems odd that the batteries would be discharging (supplying the 12 volt system) with the converter functioning. Meter readings at the converter and the battery read nearly the same...13.4 volts plus/minus. Phil How the conveter/charger works is as such: If you have a 60 amp charger for instance, if you have no load running (lights, fans, furnace, etc.) then most of the 60 amps is available to charge the batteries. Once charged the charger will taper down the voltage and the amperage to a point where it will keep your batteries up for "storage". Usually this will be around .1 to 3 amps at 13.2 volts. Every 21 hours or so the PDI will up the voltage to 14.4 to "stir" the batteries, a necessary step for good battery health and longer life. Now if you turn on a light that takes 2.5 amps after the batteries are in the storage mode then the converter will automatically up the amperage output to compensate, therefore it will put out for instance 2.6 to 5.5 amps to account for the load and to keep the batteries on the charge side rather than the discharge side. If you then turn on your furnace (which draws in the neighborhood of 7 amps) then the converter will again adjust up to cover that. The charger will only put out max amps for charging if the batteries are really drained. Without a good battery bank monitor like the Trimetric 2025 it's almost impossible to see what is going on with your converter output and your batteries. If the converter is bad then it may not be stepping up the amps when you apply a load and therefore the batteries have to take up the slack. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest BillAdams Report post Posted March 11, 2010 The 9100 series comes in a variety of output choices. Do you know which specific one that you have? The 9130 is a 30 amp 500 watt output while the 9180 is 80 amp 1300 watt and there are several sizes in-between. As mentioned, the batteries should become fully charged when you are not using the RV and, if properly sized, should be able to maintain that full charge as well as handle your 12V power demands. If you have a 12V TV and/or a small inverter to run some things and the 12V lighting all running this could be the area you need to investigate. It could also be possible that the converter is simply not working properly or hooked up correctly to fully utilize its capabilities. If either battery happens to be bad it would make the bank bas as well so to properly test the batteries they would need to be separated, charged and tested individually. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dalltop Report post Posted March 12, 2010 Do you have a solenoid that controls the route of the charging? I had an issue were driving down the road would not charge the coach batteries but on shore power it would. Bad solenoid. It was supposed to engage after the motor started to charge the system. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fillbert Report post Posted March 16, 2010 Well all is right in the land of electrons. My problem with the discharging batteries turned out to be a loose fuse on the converter. Many thanks to all those who chimed in and offered their advice. The learning curve can be steep. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
