Beeping Coach Battery Disconnect Switch

[chin_k]

I got the version with rubber cover when I replaced mine. They are like $4 each from eBay....

https://www.amazon.com/Gloaso-Automatic ... 759&sr=8-1

The Trail Wagon people mounted them under the carriage. If you look near the battery compartment under the coach toward the front of the rig, you will see a white plastic cover with wires going to the battery compartment, and with another set of wires going up into the pillar where the LVD is located above the floor. If you remove the two screws on the cover, you will see the 15 A and the 50A breakers. I was glad that I was wearing eye protection when I work under the rig, since the cover was filled with sand and debris and some of it would have got into my eyes when I removed the cover.

[lhalbert]

So, it gets more confusing...and frustrating. Wiring is not my specialty...

The new RV batteries do charge from the 50w solar trickle charger (meaning the green battery “on” light stays lit). But then the batteries deplete overnight just from sitting in our driveway, and the red disconnect light (and beeping if we try to turn on the batteries) lights up. The only parasitic draws I can see are the TV connected red light and, perhaps, the carbon monoxide monitor.

When I tried charging from plugging in to the house, I was fine, as long as the LVD monitor did not trip and or prevent charging. So then I am unable to charge from the house...because the LVD prevents the batteries from being connected.

The one time I had the batteries charged to 12.18, I turned on the furnace with fan - and tripped the LVD. And was unable to get the batteries to charge from shore power charging.

1. Is there any manual override to allow charging from shore power, if the LVD is causing a disconnect?
2. Any ideas of what else is depleting the batteries overnight?

I can take the batteries to the local store and get them charged there, or spend $ on a battery charger. But I hate to spend the $ on something that might still leave us in the same position...

When I had my truck camper - and lived 800 miles north of my present home - I had a friend who helped me with these things. If we take it to a repair shop, that takes months for an appointment. I wish someone here lived near the Lowcountry of SC...

Lee-Ann

[chin_k]

You can by-pass the LVD by connecting the Vin with the Vout on the LVD with a thick jumper cable, but the fact that you were able to drain the battery overnight and other issues, indicates a short somewhere. How many watt is the TV? You may want to attached an ammeter to the LVD by getting everything to pass thru the ammeter to the Vin terminal of the LVD to see what is draining the batteries.

Maybe by connecting the ammeter to the Vin and Vout of the LVD, it will let you 1, charge the batteries since the ammeter is essentially a jumper cable. 2, monitor the current draw of each of the components in your rig after it is done charging. You need to make sure the probes to the ammeter is thick enough to handle 50 amp of current, as well as the ammeter. Many digital multimeter only deal with 5 or 10 A, so you may need a dedicated digital ammeter. I have a DROK DC ammeter (rated up to 100 A) that I can use if I am in your case, but you will need to find your resources.

The hardest part of the task is to see if there is any short on the circuit, and test the LVD to see if it is defective. It is not that complicated if you are observant and careful.

[lhalbert]

Well...I am hoping it is my ignorance that is causing the issues. I watched a couple of videos about hooking batteries in parallel, and realized I may have done it wrong. I had hooked both the positive and ground cables to the same battery (with the jumpers going correctly pos to pos and neg to neg terminals). I just switched them to the positive cable to one battery and the ground to the negative on the other, and the jumpers as before. Presently plugged into my house, hoping I am charging.

And...we unplugged the TV, so no drain from that, and pulled the old VCR. Hoping we are moving in the right direction.

Green light is on - we’ll see for how long. I’ll check the battery voltage tomorrow to see how charged up the batteries are. More complicated than this and I am a bit lost.

Lee-Ann

[lhalbert]

On further research I think you may be onto something with the resettable breakers. We had the batteries fully charged at the automotive store - all good. And I was finally able to get under the coach yesterday and remove the white cover.

The photos show what a rusted, corroded mess the breakers are. The photo with my thumb in it shows the breaker box intact. When I tried to unscrew the breaker, you can see that I caused a tiny crack in the breaker box (the photo with no finger in it. I am hoping the local automotive store might have these. If not, Amazon it it. The challenge will be removing the boxes.

Still working on this. I will keep you posted - and continue to seek help from you folks as neeed. This is all much appreciated.

[lhalbert]

Regarding the auto-reset breakers, according to the schematic Clay posted, one is 50A and the other is 15A. How can you tell which is which? Both sets of wires are red, although one appears to be a thicker bundle. Is the heavier pair the larger amperage? Alternatively, can you safely use the 50A size for the 15A? No...I am not an electrician .

Thank you.

[SMan]

Heavier gauge wire would be the 50A.

[Scott]

Good job on you for getting in there and figuring this out! Your breakers look ghastly, and need to be replaced. There are a bunch of options, all of which are better than those.

I posted a few years ago about this type of breaker. The wire going from my house battery to the load center was routed right next to the left exhaust manifold. The loom and part of the insulation were melted through, and the thermal breaker was rusted stuck in the closed position. A truly horrible scenario.

Other than being cheaply manufactured, they self-reset. I don't like that feature because if there's a short or something wrong enough to trip the breaker, then you want it to stay open until you find the problem.

What you said about the way you wired your batteries is correct. The second way is better because it allows for an even load on the two batteries. The first way would have worked fine, but it's not ideal.

I've used these for various things. Although they're not outstanding, they work fine. Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/STETION-Circuit- ... 49&sr=8-14

[chin_k]

I think the reason they make them resettable is because it was such a pain to get to them. We need to talk to the Trail Wagon folks and see how they do things the way they did. Almost everything is very logically for the technology they have back then, but these breakers are like Easter Eggs

[chin_k]

...

I've used these for various things. Although they're not outstanding, they work fine. Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/STETION-Circuit- ... 49&sr=8-14

That's the exact one I replaced mine with.