Wanderlodge Gurus - The Member Funded Wanderlodge Forum

We recently purchased one of the early (1982) PT40's. Three weeks ago
everything started just fine. It has been connected to 50 amp service since
then. Last weekend we went out to start it and everything on the 12 volt
circuit
seems to be dead.

Testing the batteries all of them, house and generator, appear to be dead.

First of all, I am surprised that the generator battery seems to be on the
same circuit as the house (chassis) batteries. Is that accurate?

The 'bird seems to have more or less the original converter-chargers. There
are a pair of them, one labeled TU-550-2 and the other one labeled TU-750-2.
According to the owners one (the TU-750-2?) was replaced years ago. The
other one appears to be the original one.

The 750-2 unit was warm. The 550-2 unit didn't seem to have any temperature
at all and I suspect that it has failed.

Would the failure of one of these units cause both batteries to drain?

Is there a fuse of circuit breaker somewhere that might have tripped that
would shut down the chargers?

If one of these units has died, what is the consensus for replacement? Is
there something more modern?

Thanks in advance!

--PirateJohn--
Directeur Sportif, Team Confuzed_ http://www.TeamConfuzed.com_
(http://www.teamconfuzed.com/)
FAQ: Jacksonville Beach from the viewpoint of the 50cc/100ccc IBA rider -_
http://buccaneerpublishing.com/FAQ_Jacks...iders.pdf_
(http://buccaneerpublishing.com/FAQ_Jacks...riders.pdf)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello, Pirate John.

It's hard to say how your battery banks are configured. More than
likely they have been modified, but I can address your questions
about the chargers.

The chargers you have are old technology and they WILL boil your
batteries to death if left on constantly. Those units do not have
the ability to sense voltage and apply reduced amperage as your
batteries approach 13.5 volts.

Additionally, the chargers you have are very poor at converting
constant voltage to run your DC appliances, and can cause early
demise of 12 volt pumps and lighting ballast.

It's an easy chore to replace them with so called "Smart Chargers."

These newer charger/converters have 3 stage charging ability, some
of them programable, and will only tickle a charged bank at .2 Amps,
allowing you to leave them on constantly without over charging the
bank.

You can purchaes units that are capable of monitoring one bank, or
up to three, perhaps even more, independently.

This is a much reccomended upgrade!

Side Note: Install a quality surge surpressor between your new
chargers and the AC system of your bus. This will protect the
chargers in the event of faulty voltage input. It will also make it
very easy to switch them off and on. The surpressor I have has led
indicators to make you aware if the shore power is grounded as
well. I think it cost about thirty dollars.

Good luck.

James
78FC33SB "Old School"
Tunica, MS



--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, TeamConfuzed@... wrote:
>
> We recently purchased one of the early (1982) PT40's. Three
weeks ago
> everything started just fine. It has been connected to 50 amp
service since
> then. Last weekend we went out to start it and everything on the
12 volt circuit
> seems to be dead.
>
> Testing the batteries all of them, house and generator, appear to
be dead.
>
> First of all, I am surprised that the generator battery seems to
be on the
> same circuit as the house (chassis) batteries. Is that accurate?
>
> The 'bird seems to have more or less the original converter-
chargers. There
> are a pair of them, one labeled TU-550-2 and the other one
labeled TU-750-2.
> According to the owners one (the TU-750-2?) was replaced years
ago. The
> other one appears to be the original one.
>
> The 750-2 unit was warm. The 550-2 unit didn't seem to have any
temperature
> at all and I suspect that it has failed.
>
> Would the failure of one of these units cause both batteries to
drain?
>
> Is there a fuse of circuit breaker somewhere that might have
tripped that
> would shut down the chargers?
>
> If one of these units has died, what is the consensus for
replacement? Is
> there something more modern?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> --PirateJohn--
> Directeur Sportif, Team Confuzed_ http://www.TeamConfuzed.com_
> (http://www.teamconfuzed.com/)
> FAQ: Jacksonville Beach from the viewpoint of the 50cc/100ccc
IBA rider -_
>
http://buccaneerpublishing.com/FAQ_Jacks...BA_riders.
pdf_
>
(http://buccaneerpublishing.com/FAQ_Jacks...IBA_riders
.pdf)
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Not sure what year your coach is, but on my 1986 38'PT, the solenoid that
connects both banks together is just behind the air step, underneath, against
the front wall of the curb side front wheel well. crawl underneath the area
of the air step, and have a helper flip the aux batt switch a couple times and
"see" if you can hear the solenoid flipping.

I changed mine after I burned it up trying to fix my genset batt charging
issues (it wasn't the solenoid, but I toasted it screwing around trying to
remedy the charging issues).

Kevin McKeown
Yorba Linda, CA
1986 38 PT


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In wanderlodge@yahoogroups.com, TeamConfuzed@... wrote:
>
> We recently purchased one of the early (1982) PT40's.


I just wanted to thank all of the good folks who wrote to me or
called me offering suggestions as to the problem(s) with the ol'
beast.

Last night I put an extra battery charger on the generator battery
and not only did that start charging up but the interior lights came
on, etc., etc. So it appears that both sets of batteries are,
indeed, wired together and that they were all dead.

The obvious conclusion is that the factory battery chargers are dead
as well so we'll be looking into replacing them.

I am wondering if whatever solenoid or relay that temporarily
connects the two battery sets when you push the dash switch has
stuck. Does anyone know offhand where this is located and what sort
of device (solenoid or relay?) that I should be lookin' for?

Thanks!

--PirateJohn--
http://www.PirateJohn.com

Hi John:

The "tie" solenoid is located under the entry step and is near the pump
motor for the HWH jacks. There are two actually. They look like the old
Ford or Chevy starter solenoids. There should be a battery idolater or a
diode that separates the gen set battery from the Coach batteries. The
diode is usually located under the drivers front area but has been located
in the rear, curb side in the area where the chargers are located and
allows the gen set battery to be charged from the chargers or alt, but not
discharge.

Good luck,

Safe travels,

Ralph and Charolette Fullenwider
Ralph's RV Solutions, Duncan, Oklahoma
http://home.swbell.net/rlf47/index.htm

At 12:38 PM 6/8/2006 +0000, you wrote:
>--- In wanderlodge@yahoogroups.com, TeamConfuzed@... wrote:
> >
> > We recently purchased one of the early (1982) PT40's.
>
>
>I just wanted to thank all of the good folks who wrote to me or
>called me offering suggestions as to the problem(s) with the ol'
>beast.
>
>Last night I put an extra battery charger on the generator battery
>and not only did that start charging up but the interior lights came
>on, etc., etc. So it appears that both sets of batteries are,
>indeed, wired together and that they were all dead.
>
>The obvious conclusion is that the factory battery chargers are dead
>as well so we'll be looking into replacing them.
>
>I am wondering if whatever solenoid or relay that temporarily
>connects the two battery sets when you push the dash switch has
>stuck. Does anyone know offhand where this is located and what sort
>of device (solenoid or relay?) that I should be lookin' for?
>
>Thanks!
>
> --PirateJohn--
>http://www.PirateJohn.com
>
>
>