DougKey Report post Posted February 20, 2013 I frequently park my diesel motorhome in the back yard, for an extended period of time, and plug it into 30 amp power. This keeps my house batteries topped off but does nothing for the chassis/starter battery. I have heard that echo chargers (also called Automatic Charging Relays (ACR) will charge the Chassis battery. Per the literature, the ACR is connected to the inverter output that charges the house batteries and sends a charge to the Chassis battery. Does anyone have experience with these systems? One concern I have is that my chassis battery is about 15 feet away from the house battery bank and inverter and I wonder if there will be too much a voltage drop over that distance. Doug Key F72824 dougkey1944@gmail.com Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
desertdeals69 Report post Posted February 20, 2013 I assume that you have a inverter/charger with a 3 stage charger. I just have a switch wire between the 2 big posts on the jump solenoid and when its on both battery banks are charged. I've been doing it that way for some 30 years, without a problem. This is the way both banks are charged when you are running down the highway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnFreyja Report post Posted February 20, 2013 My Echo Charger gave up so I replaced it with a Magnum Battery Combiner from a Marine store. I think the echo charger charges the alternate battery at about 15 amps and the Magnum charges a little higher but neither of them charge at the full rate of the primary charger. John 05 Country Coach Inspire Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wolfe10 Report post Posted February 20, 2013 No need to run wires the 15' between battery banks. Locate your battery boost solenoid. One large lug will be to the house battery, the other to the chassis battery. Install the Echo Charger between them. Said another way, use the boost solenoid as if you were connecting directly to the positive terminals of the battery banks (because electrically, that IS what you are doing). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
five Report post Posted February 21, 2013 I have a freind that has the same problem. He bought a float charger at Harbor Freight and puts it on the truck batteries whenever the MH sits for a while. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MichaelS Report post Posted March 5, 2013 Some charger/inverters have a secondary low amperage output for engine batteries, like my Victron for example. However I do not use it but have a Blue Seas combiner. This does 2 things, charges the engine batteries when the chassis batteries are being charged, and as it is set for reverse operation as well it uses the alternator charge to the engine battery to charge the chassis battery when traveling. Michael Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DougKey Report post Posted March 15, 2013 I finally solved the problem. The Echo Charger had failed. It and the battery boost solenoid, where in the back of the coach just above the start batteries (where they were subject to road moisture). At the recommendation of a former Country Coach tech, I installed a Blue Sea Systems Automatic Charging Relay (model SI-ACR) with thermal breakers. The system is rated for protection against immersion up to 1 meter for 30 minutes - I think this will adequately protect the system from road moisture. So far all is going well. A big thanks to all of you who responded. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
