coach battery/generator

[phoenix]

Our coach battery charges fine from the generator;  should it charge from the engine alternator?  Should it charge from shore power?

Also, the generator turns over and starts with the engine running;  should it do so off of the coach battery?  How about off of shore power?

[handyman]

Elvira the house battery should charge off the gen the engine or shore power there is also a way to put a jumper on your isolator where you can charge the motor battery or start the engine if the main battery goes dead.    yes it's working right to start off the house battery if your on shore power it will still start off the house battery then your inverter will recharge the house battery  

[phoenix]

Jim, what's the isolator?  I'm an electrical idiot

[handyman]

It isolates you engine battery from your house battery so they both charge but it wont allow the engine battery to be used for the house so you can always get started it' right in the middle of the front hood right in front of your electronic moduals close to the brake lines that come down from the master

[phoenix]

OK, I found the isolator (I think).  So is it a kind of one-way valve?  Can it go bad?  The charge indicator light on the control center does not go on when the engine is running.
And what's the deal with the control center:  the charge light shines steadily when the generator is running indicating the coach battery is charging, but blinks slowly (actually kind of fades in and out) when shore power is plugged in indicating "excessive charge current".   Does that mean the transformer is delivering too many amps?  Or that the battery is charged to capacity and overcharging?  There was a switch on the line from the coach battery to (I presume) the control center that was intermittently failing and so I cut it out and spliced the line.
And lastly, where exactly should the power to start the generator be coming from?  Are there schematics or manuals available that are readible by a layman?  Thanks for all your help.

[handyman]

It sounds like it's working correctly the gen starts off the house battrey only, when you get a chance install another switch on your battery it's there so you can disconnect your batterys so they wont drain I have one on both batterys or you can put a blade switch on the battery post it's self if you have a radio with didgeltal read out over time they can run down a battery