Electrical Problem

morningglory · 10-22-2021, 05:20 AM

I'll bet some of you smart folks can tell me exactly what unit has failed... the correct name for it and where it is located.

I'm not real clear on how all the switching works to allow the house to work on DC while the engine is running and on DC from the house batteries and on AC when plugged into shore power and from the generator, but

Everything works when the engine is running. Everything works when plugged into shore power. Everything works when the generator is on.

This problem has progressed. When I turn off the engine, everything in the house goes dead - then sometimes it will switch over to the batteries and run for awhile. I can tell by the radio - it goes dead, then resets to 12:00 and runs for awhile. Initially it would stay on for hours. Now it is usually only a couple of minutes before the whole house goes dead. I can't even start the generator without having the engine running.

So which component in the system has failed?

Thanks in advance for your help!

2015 Thor Axis 24.1

Scubawise · 10-22-2021, 07:19 AM

House batteries or bim not charging batteries. See posts on bim

**EA37TS** · 10-22-2021, 11:42 AM

How old are your batteries? It sounds like the house battery might be your problem. If things run for a little while then die it sounds like the batteries aren’t holding a charge.

Jimbo56 · 10-22-2021, 12:00 PM

I grew with others. Sounds like batteries are not maintaining a charge for very long. Cooler temps usually expose this problem. And if your house batteries are bad, you can bet your chassis battery ain’t far behind.

pneumatics · 10-22-2021, 12:13 PM

House batteries first place to start. Also check and clean the battery connections and tighten, a loose electrical at the battery post can cause the same issue.
The house batteries provide 12VDC to start the genset. It sounds like the chassis battery and the alternator is providing power past the BIM to the house when the engine is running.

**16ACE27** · 10-22-2021, 01:02 PM

House batteries are shot. BIM is working as designed otherwise nothing would work with the engine running either and you couldn't start the generator using the engine running.

lwmcguire · 10-22-2021, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morningglory

I'll bet some of you smart folks can tell me exactly what unit has failed... the correct name for it and where it is located.

I'm not real clear on how all the switching works to allow the house to work on DC while the engine is running and on DC from the house batteries and on AC when plugged into shore power and from the generator, but

Everything works when the engine is running. Everything works when plugged into shore power. Everything works when the generator is on.

This problem has progressed. When I turn off the engine, everything in the house goes dead - then sometimes it will switch over to the batteries and run for awhile. I can tell by the radio - it goes dead, then resets to 12:00 and runs for awhile. Initially it would stay on for hours. Now it is usually only a couple of minutes before the whole house goes dead. I can't even start the generator without having the engine running.

So which component in the system has failed?

Thanks in advance for your help!

2015 Thor Axis 24.1

Get your VOM out and verify what is going on

pneumatics · 10-22-2021, 03:23 PM

This group can troubleshoot from a picture of the batteries and some voltmeter readings.....

morningglory · 10-24-2021, 07:35 AM

I may have solved the problem. I was pretty sure the batteries were fine - replaced them last spring and they worked fine - until they didn't!

It was very odd because turning off the engine would result in the radio (and all the house power) going dead for a few moments... resetting the radio each time... and then restart on battery power, which would last anywhere from seconds to a half hour - though by the end it was not coming on at all.

I checked the house batteries and the voltmeter read 12.6 for both of them. Just before I closed it up, I thought to check that funky little cut-off switch located over on the left side of the under-step battery compartment... the one that when it blows is is like a little yellow flag pops out and you reset it by pushing the "flag" back in. I found that the flag was not all the way in - and not all the way out. It was like it had blown half-way. In any case, when I popped it and reset it, all seems to be back to normal. I'll check it again tomorrow, but as of this afternoon it seems like there was something odd happening in what should be a switch that is either on or off.

Thanks for all the advice... and if problems persist, I'll be back!

morningglory · 10-27-2021, 06:39 PM

Don't know why everything acted so erratic with that switch in a partially-blown condition... sure would have though it would be on or off... but so far, everything is back to normal by popping and reseting it a few times...

MLP · 10-27-2021, 11:55 PM

Glad that things are better. Do find time to invest in a battery load tester. A low cost one good enough for once in a while can be purchased at Harbor Freight or Amazon. Make sure your batteries are fully charged and load test once a year. You will have to disconnect one terminal while testing the battery.

Chateau_Nomad · 10-28-2021, 01:04 AM

If your batteries aren't the sealed maintenance free type, I suggest getting a $12 battery hydrometer from an auto parts store. Pop the caps off the batteries and test the electrolyte levels. This will give you a very accurate gauge of the health of your batteries. There's YouTube videos explaining how to do this correctly.

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