Chassis battery not charging while on Shore Power.

[jeepfyxer@gmail.com]

While plugging to shore power the chassie battery dies after 4 days(<10v). To remedy I jump the isolation relay with a small jumper to allow the converter to charge the chassy battery at the same while on shore power. After determining that the aux start button did not work.
My thinking is that the bird controller should cycle the isolation relay connecting the batteries the chassie battery needs a charge from the converter but that seems to not be happening. However it does seem to charge both batteries when the RV is started and we are driving.
I'm thinking the BIRD panel is
Any insight to this would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Jim
jeepfyxer@gmail.com

[16ACE27]

"I'm thinking the BIRD panel is" ....????????

No bird on a 2022 unit, you have a BIM. It may be wired backwards - common issue with Thor and BIMs.

[jeepfyxer@gmail.com]

No o. This 2022 Vegas Gere is a picture of what I have.
I moved the yellow wire from the top battery conn ( Chadsis ) to the bottom connection where it now senses both batteries.
No to happy with Thor right now they seemed to have issues and put in the old crap.

[jeepfyxer@gmail.com]

What I need is a color chart for thw BIRD to make sure all is well with the wiring.
They mounted it before the front nose was I stalled and it is imposible to remove from the location it is in.

[jeepfyxer@gmail.com]

What would be the settings on the BM panel for battery Goal
And Battery Min
I have 3.3 for goal
And 11.7 for min

[OldWEB]

Maybe peruse Ed's book (or ask him directly), a lot will still apply to yours. He discusses the two types of charging systems... I did not look, but maybe the "BM panel" is in there also.
https://www.thorforums.com/forums/f1...nual-4961.html


Good Luck

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by jeepfyxer@gmail.com

No o. This 2022 Vegas Gere is a picture of what I have.
I moved the yellow wire from the top battery conn ( Chadsis ) to the bottom connection where it now senses both batteries.
No to happy with Thor right now they seemed to have issues and put in the old crap.
Attachment 39126

That looks like a battery disconnect latching relay, not a Trombetta isolator relay that would be associated with a BIRD. Hard to tell from that angle though.

[Wiley1]

Here is where I put my ignorance on full display.
I've always believed the two statements below to be true. If I'm wrong, maybe somebody can educate me.

1. Very few coaches are designed to charge the vehicle battery when on shore power.

2. If the vehicle battery is being depleted after only 4 days, there is a significant parasitic draw somewhere in the vehicle. For an 80 ah battery, that's a drain of more than 800 milliamps per hour.

I had the same issue on my 2017 Ford E450. When parked in my driveway on shorepower, the vehicle battery would go dead after about 3 weeks. In my case, the culprit was the B+ wire to the dashboard radio. That wire is supposed to draw very little current to hold the radio settings in memory. The fix was to move that wire to the house battery bank.

I would love to find a simple device that would keep my vehicle battery charged when on shorepower. I've thought about replacing the momentary "Emergency Start" button with an OFF/ON toggle switch, but I'm not certain of the unintended consequences.

[OldWEB]

Originally Posted by Wiley1

Here is where I put my ignorance on full display.
I've always believed the two statements below to be true. If I'm wrong, maybe somebody can educate me.

1. Very few coaches are designed to charge the vehicle battery when on shore power.

2. If the vehicle battery is being depleted after only 4 days, there is a significant parasitic draw somewhere in the vehicle. For an 80 ah battery, that's a drain of more than 800 milliamps per hour.

I had the same issue on my 2017 Ford E450. When parked in my driveway on shorepower, the vehicle battery would go dead after about 3 weeks. In my case, the culprit was the B+ wire to the dashboard radio. That wire is supposed to draw very little current to hold the radio settings in memory. The fix was to move that wire to the house battery bank.

I would love to find a simple device that would keep my vehicle battery charged when on shorepower. I've thought about replacing the momentary "Emergency Start" button with an OFF/ON toggle switch, but I'm not certain of the unintended consequences.

"When on SP" is most likely the easiest... just wire in a trickle charger, if you have AC power, it will charge the battery. There is also the TRIK-L-START, many highly recommend that one.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by Wiley1

Here is where I put my ignorance on full display.
I've always believed the two statements below to be true. If I'm wrong, maybe somebody can educate me.

1. Very few coaches are designed to charge the vehicle battery when on shore power.

2. If the vehicle battery is being depleted after only 4 days, there is a significant parasitic draw somewhere in the vehicle. For an 80 ah battery, that's a drain of more than 800 milliamps per hour.

I had the same issue on my 2017 Ford E450. When parked in my driveway on shorepower, the vehicle battery would go dead after about 3 weeks. In my case, the culprit was the B+ wire to the dashboard radio. That wire is supposed to draw very little current to hold the radio settings in memory. The fix was to move that wire to the house battery bank.

I would love to find a simple device that would keep my vehicle battery charged when on shorepower. I've thought about replacing the momentary "Emergency Start" button with an OFF/ON toggle switch, but I'm not certain of the unintended consequences.

All Thor Industries full size coaches 27 ft and larger; 2016 and later have BIRD or BIM for emergency start and charging the chassis battery when the Power Center's charger is receiving power (SP or Gen) and the use/store (master power) battery isolation latching relay is in the use/on position.

My coach is parked by a 50 amp power pedestal when home and all three batteries are always charged using the PPS charger's 13.2 volt floating charge cycle.

[riskmgr]

Originally Posted by Wiley1

Here is where I put my ignorance on full display.
I've always believed the two statements below to be true. If I'm wrong, maybe somebody can educate me.

1. Very few coaches are designed to charge the vehicle battery when on shore power.

2. If the vehicle battery is being depleted after only 4 days, there is a significant parasitic draw somewhere in the vehicle. For an 80 ah battery, that's a drain of more than 800 milliamps per hour.

I had the same issue on my 2017 Ford E450. When parked in my driveway on shorepower, the vehicle battery would go dead after about 3 weeks. In my case, the culprit was the B+ wire to the dashboard radio. That wire is supposed to draw very little current to hold the radio settings in memory. The fix was to move that wire to the house battery bank.

I would love to find a simple device that would keep my vehicle battery charged when on shorepower. I've thought about replacing the momentary "Emergency Start" button with an OFF/ON toggle switch, but I'm not certain of the unintended consequences.

I charge my chassis every 2 weeks when temp is 80+ and every 3 weeks when temp is below 80. My RV doesn’t charge chassis on shore power.

[devnul@timmade.com]

I had the same problem with my 2018 Thor 26HE. I had it at home and hooked to shore power and found the chassis battery dead after being at home for 2 months. On my "status" panel it said the battery was at full strength. Disconnected from shore power and battery was dead. I put a new one in last year and so I figured just recharge it. No dice, battery voltage was at 1.16 volts and wouldn't take a charge. I reread the manual and the chassis battery should have recharged connected to shore.
To make a long story short, I replaced the battery and found that after a few days the voltage had dropped big time... WTF?
What I finally found was that I needed to turn on chassis battery switch, which in my case is right next to the RV door. When you turn it on the switch lights up. If you connect to shore power it also lights up so I assumed all was good. NOPE! After you connect to shore power, read your manual for the steps, you will need to turn on the chassis battery or else it won't charge. None of this was in the manuals. I contacted Thor and they will update their manuals.
I also installed a digital volt meter to the chassis battery and mounted it next to the chassis battery switch. If the switch is not turned on, while on shore power, it will read 12.5 or lower. If it is on it will read 13.65, showing that is charging/charged.
Hope this helps.
Tim

[Roaming John]

I have a 2020 Delano 24RW with the leveling system from Thor. After a lot of trouble it was finally determined that it maintained its zero reference from the chassis battery. Oh that was bad from the start and lost its charge after three days due to an internal fault. To maintain the leveler system's zero reference I had a trickle charger permanently installed and located behind the driver's seat. I plug it in to the outlet in the dinette whenever I am plugged into shore power. The leveler system works fine now and I have never had a low battery when I wanted to start the engine. It is easy and eliminates the hassle of exposed extension cords outside the unit and having to balance a trickle charger under the hood temporarily every time I want to use it.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by devnul@timmade.com

I had the same problem with my 2018 Thor 26HE. I had it at home and hooked to shore power and found the chassis battery dead after being at home for 2 months. On my "status" panel it said the battery was at full strength. Disconnected from shore power and battery was dead. I put a new one in last year and so I figured just recharge it. No dice, battery voltage was at 1.16 volts and wouldn't take a charge. I reread the manual and the chassis battery should have recharged connected to shore.
To make a long story short, I replaced the battery and found that after a few days the voltage had dropped big time... WTF?
What I finally found was that I needed to turn on chassis battery switch, which in my case is right next to the RV door. When you turn it on the switch lights up. If you connect to shore power it also lights up so I assumed all was good. NOPE! After you connect to shore power, read your manual for the steps, you will need to turn on the chassis battery or else it won't charge. None of this was in the manuals. I contacted Thor and they will update their manuals.
I also installed a digital volt meter to the chassis battery and mounted it next to the chassis battery switch. If the switch is not turned on, while on shore power, it will read 12.5 or lower. If it is on it will read 13.65, showing that is charging/charged.
Hope this helps.
Tim

I think you meant house battery disconnect. There is not normally a chassis battery disconnect on your coach but neither the house nor the chassis battery will charge when connected to SP with the house disconnect open. And yeah, the "indicator" light is a confusing design and many people are fooled by it.