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Old 01-13-2017, 02:19 PM   #1
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THOR #3206
2015 ACE 29.3 Leveling Jacks / Battery & Inverter Problem

I tried to raise my leveling jacks after they were down for about three weeks. I have videoed what is happening but here's a little backstory. I initially had a problem with the battery/inverter on the RV. The RV started having issues with the inverter control panel beeping with an E01 error prior to my last camping trip. This went away once I drove the RV to the campsite. There was no beeping when I got to the site prior to hooking up shore power. So I thought the batteries just needed charging from the drive over and all was well.

Fast forward to last Monday evening. I got in the RV and tried to get the jacks to raise (I had company during the holidays and never put the jacks up). I got nothing but a solenoid clicking noise from the leveling jacks hydraulic unit in the battery compartment and the inverter had started beeping again. This bothered me because the RV had been hooked up to shore power for three weeks. The batteries should have been fine. After researching/troubleshooting the batteries, I eventually ran across a post here that said to check the 100A Buss fuses on the sidewall near the batteries. Sure enough, both of them had the reset button popped out. I reset them and thought that the batteries would now charge via shore power and then I'd have enough power to retract the jacks.

Fast forward to tonight. I started the RV, turned on the LCI control panel (while still connected to shore power), and pressed ''Retract All Jacks". Again the interior lights started flickering at the same rate as the solenoid clicking noise. The jacks have yet to retract.

When you watch the video, the engine is running, shore power is not connected, the inverter does not error/beep until I turn on the interior lights (but they still come on full bright), the lights do not flicker until I press 'Retract All Jacks' or 'Man' and 'Rear'. The lights look dim in the video but they are really flickering with that solenoid in the hydraulic unit. The camera frame rate had a hard time keeping up with the frequency that the lights were flickering.

Is it insufficient charge on the batteries? Faulty solenoid? Faulty inverter? Wrong sequence powering up and activating the leveling system? Here's the link to the video. Please help.

https://youtu.be/wwCcdLEiKxY

Thanks in advance, Rich

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Old 01-13-2017, 04:12 PM   #2
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THOR #2829
I don't think the jacks or the inverter (unless the inverter also performs the converter/charging role) are your problem...
The jacks aren't getting sufficient voltage.
The inverter is confirming that - E01 is low voltage - and if I read the display right in the video (was hard to see) reporting 10.8 V with lights on - and 11.1 V when you turned them off - both of those equate to 'dead' for a 12V system.
(Seems the batteries slightly recover with no/minimum load - and the lights are enough to drive the voltage down and cause the inverter to post the E01... If lights do that - the jacks don't have a chance...

So either the charger isn't working - or the batteries aren't accepting a charge.

Need to find the converter - and with shore power on - 12v batteries disconnected - read the voltage coming out of it... Should be over 12V. If not - the converter is not properly charging the batteries.

Charge the batteries externally if you can - insure they accept a charge - and then hold voltage...

Let us know what the results are.
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Old 01-13-2017, 04:32 PM   #3
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Do you leave the inverter on while you are plugged in? The inverter too will charge the house batteries, at least on mine, both the converter and the inverter charge. Your voltage while plugged in and charging should be at least 13.3 or so. On mine, if the engine is running voltage will jump to 14+ a little.
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Old 01-13-2017, 04:36 PM   #4
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Thanks Greg. When you say "12v batteries disconnected" for that test of the converter, is switching the batteries to "Store" with the 'use/store' switch sufficient enough for this step or do I need to physically disconnect the cables?
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Old 01-13-2017, 04:40 PM   #5
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Laco, yes, I usually leave the inverter on but it was beeping and I couldn't figure out why (these electrical systems in RVs are ridiculous). So I turned off the power switch at the control panel (seen in the video with voltage readings). When I finally realized those two 100A breakers were tripped, I guess the batteries had depleted so much that they couldn't be charged by the internal charging circuit.
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Old 01-13-2017, 04:45 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by arelbee View Post
Thanks Greg. When you say "12v batteries disconnected", is switching the batteries to "Store" with the 'use/store' switch sufficient enough for this step or do I need to physically disconnect the cables?
'Store' is fine...
You want to be sure you are reading voltage out of the converter - and not from the batteries...
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Old 01-13-2017, 04:50 PM   #7
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Greg, copy. I'll get back to you.
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Old 01-13-2017, 09:43 PM   #8
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OK after reading that Thor put in crappy batteries out of the factory, I had a gut feeling that was the problem. So I went to the store and bought two new batteries and put them in. Voila! All fixed! Thanks for the feedback and down the road I go.
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Old 01-13-2017, 10:00 PM   #9
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i dont think that its 'crappy' batteries, you just had not been charging the batteries
the same will happen to your brand new ones if nothing changes

i believe either your charger is/was not on, which may have happened when the 100a buses tripped - it may not come on automatically when you reset them
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Old 01-13-2017, 11:55 PM   #10
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What is your house battery voltage when parked and plugged into shore power? If its anything less than 13.3, you likely have charging problems.
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Old 01-14-2017, 12:26 PM   #11
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New batteries certainly provided the voltage to run everything - but as others said - best to check your charger output so you don't ruin a new set of batteries... Even the best of them can't hold a charge with a bad converter.

Hopefully all is ok - could be the batteries just wouldn't hold a charge - but to be safe...
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Old 01-17-2017, 12:03 AM   #12
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Thanks for the further replies guys. I'm going to do further troubleshooting and get back with you all. I certainly don't want the new batteries to do the same thing. One note, when I took out the old batteries, one of them was swollen on its sides. Don't know if that means anything but...
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Old 01-17-2017, 12:39 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by arelbee View Post
Thanks for the further replies guys. I'm going to do further troubleshooting and get back with you all. I certainly don't want the new batteries to do the same thing. One note, when I took out the old batteries, one of them was swollen on its sides. Don't know if that means anything but...
Swollen batter is typically from 'overcharging' - a buildup of gasses in the battery. Could be a bad battery that just won't accept a charge - or could be a problem with the charger/converter...
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Old 01-28-2017, 10:08 PM   #14
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OK. I checked the voltage at the two posts on the inverter. 13.1 V
I checked voltage at the converter 13.1 V.
I checked voltage at the battery posts with shore power applied. 13.1 V
I checked voltage without shore power applied. 13.1 V.
If the Two Buss 100A circuit breakers were popped for an extended period of time, wouldn't that interrupt the charging circuit and deplete the batteries, possibly to the point of becoming unrecoverable?
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