POUTRAVEL Report post Posted September 21, 2019 We have a 40 foot, 2005 Santiam with 350hp C7 engine. A few weeks ago the Alt Chg warning light & alarm came on. A diesel mechanic changed the alternator unfortunately the alarm did not go off. The mechanic checked the connection and said everything was working correctly. A few days later we tried starting the engine and the chassis batteries were completely dead. We replaced the batteries. We finally called the manufacturer of the alternator and found out that the wrong one was installed. We had the correct one shipped to us, it was installed by a different mechanic, this time an RV mechanic -Alt Chg warning still on. He found additional issues with the relay & solenoid. We replaced both -Alt Chg warning still on. The bus starts right up and according to the gauges the batteries are charging. We don't know what else to do. Any help with this issue is greatly appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dickandlois Report post Posted September 22, 2019 17 hours ago, POUTRAVEL said: We have a 40 foot, 2005 Santiam with 350hp C7 engine. A few weeks ago the Alt Chg warning light & alarm came on. A diesel mechanic changed the alternator unfortunately the alarm did not go off. The mechanic checked the connection and said everything was working correctly. A few days later we tried starting the engine and the chassis batteries were completely dead. We replaced the batteries. We finally called the manufacturer of the alternator and found out that the wrong one was installed. We had the correct one shipped to us, it was installed by a different mechanic, this time an RV mechanic -Alt Chg warning still on. He found additional issues with the relay & solenoid. We replaced both -Alt Chg warning still on. The bus starts right up and according to the gauges the batteries are charging. We don't know what else to do. Any help with this issue is greatly appreciated. If with all the alternator work and the chassis batteries are still not charging, what is the condition of the coach / house batteries, Are they charging off the alternator? With no information on how your battery system is setup to charge, there might be a battery isolator system used on you coach.They look like the ones pictured in this link. https://www.google.com/search?q=battery+isolator&rlz=1C1VFKB_enUS711US716&oq=battery+i&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0l5.34885j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 That could be causing issues. Page 22 in this link covers some information on the alternator, listed in a portion of the original owners manual. http://beaveramb.org/Data/PDF Manuals/2005 Beaver Santiam/Section09.pdf Another option might be to contact the Beaver owners at this link for some information. https://beaveramb.org/ Rich. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
richard5933 Report post Posted September 22, 2019 Did you measure voltage at the chassis batteries to confirm that they are in fact charging when the engine is running? If so, then perhaps the signal wire to the warning system is loose and not getting a proper voltage reading. On my coach, which is much older than yours, the warning system gets it's voltage reading from the regulator. If one of the connections on that circuit came loose or became corroded the warning system would fire even though the system was charging. If you discover that your system is not charging the chassis batteries properly, then perhaps your regulator is not doing its job. Don't remember reading about that being changed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
