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House Battery Charging Problem

Started by Shayne, May 08, 2004, 02:57:03 AM

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Shayne

May 08, 2004, 02:57:03 AM
I was having trouble getting my house battery to fully charge from the alternator while I was driving.  Even after driving for 2 hours, the house battery would only be at medium.  It would charge from low to medium, but would never fully charge unless I plugged into AC.

I diagnosed the problem to the house battery relay under the hood.  Seems that 25 years had taken it's toll.  While I was reading 13.5 volts on the input side, I was only seeing 11.9-12.2 on the output side.  Enough to keep the house battery from dying, but not enough to give it a good charge.  Bought a new relay and everything is great.

Put a volt meter on both sides of your relay and see if you are getting nearly the same voltage. Your relay might be getting tired too.
Shayne Barr
ACOC #3146

bigray

#1
October 26, 2004, 12:32:09 PM
Shayne,

The wire that goes from the relay to charge the battery. What size is it and where does it connect to. Is it simply conected to the positive lead on the battery?

I don't recall seeing any wires other than the ones that feed from my converter. And naturally the ones to the starter of my generator.

Shayne

#2
October 27, 2004, 12:29:05 AM
I believe it's just connected to the positive lead on the battery.  It's about a 12 Gauge wire.  I thought about uping the wire size when I was having trouble, but everything seems good now that it's fixed.  :)
Shayne Barr
ACOC #3146

bigray

#3
October 27, 2004, 04:47:00 AM
I looked again last night and mine has four wires (two white and two black) coming from the converter area. I saw one under the Clipper a while ago but didn't know what it was for. I guess I'll trace it. My guess is the the wire got disconnected somewhere along the way.

Thanks for the help!

HPotter

#4
November 01, 2004, 08:55:40 AM
Be sure to check that new solenoid  for temperature rise. Some of them are not rated for continuous duty and will get very hot after a few minutes. Starter solenoids are a good example of this.

Harold, #886

bigray

#5
November 23, 2004, 05:19:34 PM
Hi Shayne,

I think I have the same problem that you had regarding the relay/isolator. I went to Auto zone and Oreilly and they had no clue what a continuous charge isolator is. Where did you get yours?

bigray

#6
November 24, 2004, 02:28:24 PM
Nevermind, I found it. Napa had the continuous charge selenoid to replace the original one. Took about 5 minutes to replace.

The original one has a small rectangle gadget on the front. It connects to the middle probe. I guess it some sort of fuse or something. I just reinstalled it on the new the selenoid. Wish me luck!

bigray

#7
December 03, 2004, 04:33:09 AM
The rectangle gaget that I spoke about was a 30A breaker. I got one from a local rv place. Mine was bad! I think she good now!
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