Battery charger electrical advice and help needed - please.

[Rob Robinson]

Shane I bought my two IOTA 55amp plus two smart chargers for under $500.
With tax I think I paid around $380

On 05/09/06, sfedeli3 <sfedeli3@...> wrote:
>
> Hi John & Adria,
>
> I don't think that our coaches are designed to be parked for 2-3
> weeks at-a-time without being plugged in. Mine has about an 8 amp
> drain from what can only be called "ghost circuits". I installed a
> battery disconnect so that I can leave the coach plugged in and use
> the old chargers to keep the 12V circuits on while in storage. Over
> the winter, I completely de-energize the bus and disconnect the
> batteries after fully charging them.
>
> Prior to getting a smart charger, I used to put the old chargers on
> an outdoor "christmas light" style timer that would turn them on for
> 2 hours a day. This was enough to top off the batteries without
> causing them to gas. IF you are getting rid of the coach, that is
> the cheapest solution to your problem and won't cook the new
> batteries. Othewise, get an IOTA or Xantrex smart charger that has a
> sensor to know when the batteries are charged and turns off
> automatically. They run around $400 for a 50 amp model.
>
> Shane Fedeli
> 85PT40
> Hershey, PA
>
> --- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com,
> "Adria Haynes"
> <mrbeebody@...> wrote:
> >
> > Gang. Please know going into this thing that I'm well aware that
> > I'm wordy - but I do so in an effort to be thorough. So please,
> grab
> > a soda and get comfy.
> >
> > I lurk here often and post very little. We are in our 3rd summer
> > with our 80 BB 35FC and it has been bitter sweet. The payments
> are
> > bitter for 12 months a year, and the bus is sweet when we use it
> for
> > about 12 days a year.
> >
> > Anyways, it's getting harder to justify and we have toyed with the
> > idea of selling it after this past Labor Day weekend, but it gave
> us
> > a little "gotcha" when it came time to go home. I don't know if
> it
> > was "quitting before we could fire it" or what, but I could use
> some
> > help on the problem if/before we put it on the market.
> >
> > The problem: I think my battery chargers are hosed.
> >
> > When we bought the bus, the Trojan batteries had been killed by
> the
> > PO leaving the fridge set to electrical. We dealt with them not
> > holding a charge until last summer when I bought 4 new batteries.
> > Even then, it seemed that even though I'd make sure I had
> > everythign off - something drained them. I got tired of them
> being
> > drained when I'd go out for the monthly "start up and run for
> awile"
> > so I decided to just leave the bus plugged in to my garage. That
> > was fine until my new batteries blew up. I replaced those
> batteries
> > with 4 new ones in June and all seemed well through our trip in
> > July. I was told that my 1980 chargers wouldn't trickle charge,
> but
> > were steady pumpers that over charged the batteries. Lesson
> learned.
> >
> > When we got home from the July trip, I plugged the bus into the
> > house again. It took me about 3 weeks to remember, but I unplugged
> > the chargers too. On this past Friday I went out to fire the old
> > girl up and she was dead. I plugged in the chargers and Saturday
> > morning it fired right up. After work on saturday, I went to
> start
> > it again and it cranked very slowly, then on the last possible
> > revolution - she took off and purred like I knew she would and I
> > took the bus to the campground where my family already was waiting
> > for me with other family members. I plugged into 30 amp shore
> power
> > with the chargers on until Monday afternoon. When I went to start
> > it to leave, it wouldn't even click. I think I had an anurism.
> >
> > I found that with the chargers plugged in, the volts meter would
> > wiggle at 12 until I tried to start it, then it would shake from
> pin
> > to pin. It was wierd and I couldn't make any sense of it, but
> that
> > isn't saying much either. About all I have ever learned about
> > electricity is that it hurts when I touch it.
> >
> > I unplugged the charger and removed the 2 batteries that start the
> > bus and put each one on an external 6V charger. They both took 4
> > amps for over 2 hours with no improvement. When I removed the
> other
> > 2 RV batteries so that I could take all 4 in for testing, the
> ground
> > posts on those two had some deformation and melting, which I knew
> > was bad.
> >
> > I got ANOTHER 4 new batteries, hooked up the 2 that I needed to
> make
> > it run and it fired right up. We got it home and I un hooked
> those
> > parallel batteries from one another, the RV ones never did get
> > hooked up, and the chargers are also unplugged for now.
> >
> > It seemed to me and everybody else that the charger that was
> > supposed to be charging the batteries was the very thing that was
> > screwing everything up. It's the only thing that makes sense to
> me,
> > but like I said - I don't know much about these things and my pool
> > of experience is growing, but still VERY shallow.
> >
> > Thank you for your time and patience with me thus far. Now that
> you
> > have that little bit of history, my questions are as follows:
> >
> > Does this make sense to anybody else or am I on something that the
> > chargers are hosed?
> >
> > Is there a way to check the charging unit that is hard wired into
> > the bus without unhooking it all?
> >
> > If it only makes sense to replace this unit, what are my "best
> > value" options?
> >
> > Does anybody have a used one that's still good that they'd sell?
> >
> > Thank you very much for your help,
> >
> > John, Adria, Blase, Kaleigh, Jade, and Gage.
> >
>
>
>



--
Rob, Sue & Merlin Robinson
94 WLWB


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