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Old 11-11-2019, 11:23 PM   #4
javelin
Senior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: 2013 ACE 30.1
State: Alberta
Posts: 1,410
THOR #2631
Hi, yes, your new and charged chassis (truck) battery can be used to boost the house batteries with proper jumper cables connected in parallel (+ to + and - to -) to get enough voltage to operate the use/store house latch relay. I would personally remove the chassis battery from the engine bay first though (a PIA) or even attempt a temporary boost from your Toad. This is just like boosting a discharged car battery but you are placing a single good battery in parallel with (I assume) two 12vdc discharged house batteries which are already connected to each other in parallel. If you have two 6vdc house batteries they will be wired in series (to make 12vdc).......so be careful to connect the new battery across the 12vdc connection points only and in correct polarity. Also 12vdc batteries can cause serious damage if you are not careful with jumper cables and where you connect them. If you are not comfortable doing this get a mobile tech to assist.

Note that in most coaches you could try operating the “emergency start” switch by the driver seat somewhere, which basically connects the two battery strings (coach and chassis) together via a different relay, without using any jumper cables. But, there is one problem though; this “other” emergency interconnect relay usually gets its power to operate from good house batteries also. Since yours are discharged, the emergency start method will also likely not work. So manual connection or a stand alone car battery charger are required. If you knew your coach well and could identify the emergency interconnect relay you could manually bypass its main terminals to simulate the emergency contact closure......but this might be too dangerous if you are not careful and depending on your experience. I am attaching a basic typical schematic showing the connections of a 12vdc battery system for reference only.....it may not be what you actually have.


Assuming all else in your battery charge system is functioning correctly, once the new battery is correctly connected you should be able to operate your use/store switch and hear the latching relay operate. Plug in shore power and your converter (coach battery charger) should start charging your discharged house batteries (plus the temporarily connected chassis battery). A voltmeter across the three parallel batteries should measure the charging voltage (approx 13vdc or higher depending on how badly discharged the house batteries are and other coach DC loads that may be on. Once the old house batteries begin charging you should be able to disconnect the chassis battery and reconnect it for the engine function.


Regarding the last question, after you fix your current porblem, if you find that plugging into shore power only charges your house batteries and not the chassis battery at the same time (and it is designed to be like that), then it is wise to use a battery tender as a minimum on the chassis battery. Again your voltmeter will show you if both battery strings will charge off shore power/coach converter. Take measurements across both strings when charging. If both strings charge on shore power then you should not need the tender.
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