Quote:
Originally Posted by jimbo12
It seems that how chassis and coach batteries charge is dependent on the type of class c. My2017 24F has a battery isolation manager - BIM160.
https://precisioncircuitsinc.com/pro...ion-manager-2/
It states - The Battery Isolation Manager goes between the Chassis and Coach Batteries to maintain both batteries when either one is charging.
I guess there is a subtle difference between charging and maintaining. |
I have done some troubleshooting and research on the BIM160/BIM225 Battery Isolation Manager for my 2020 Magnitude SV34 and learned several things:
- It is an intelligent monitoring system. The microprocessor looks for certain conditions to determine the appropriate operation mode.
- It does keep the house batteries and chassis batteries isolated so the coach cannot drain the engine starting (chassis batteries).
- It provides the ability for an Emergency Start Switch so the house batteries can provide a boost to the chassis battery if it becomes drained and cannot start the engine on its own.
- When the engine is not running and the coach is on shore power, it will enable the internal relay to connect the house batteries and their charger to the chassis battery IF the chassis battery voltage drops below 12.6V and the house batteries already have a sufficient charge in order to charge the chassis battery when the engine is not running.
- When the engine is running and the coach is not on shore power, it will enable the internal relay to connect the chassis battery and alternator to the house batteries IF the house battery voltage drops below 12.6V and the chassis battery already have a sufficient charge in order to charge the house batteries when not on shore power.
- According to the manufacturer of the BIM160/225, it does not matter if the chassis battery is connected to the BATT-A post or the BATT-B post on the BIM160/225. I found this not to be the case.... at least on my coach. I was having issues with the engine alternator keeping the house batteries charged when driving with the Inverter on for the fridge. I found that other motorhome manufacturers using the BIM160/225 all wired the chassis batter to the BATT-A post on the BIM while Thor wired the house batteries to the BATT-A post and they connected the chassis battery to the BATT-B post. After I swapped the cables on the BATT-A and BATT-B posts, the BIM started working as I expected. It would engage the relay when the house batteries dropped below 12.6V while driving and I can now hear the relay engage when I am on shore power and the chassis battery drops below 12.6V, which I never heard it engage before when I was on shore power and the chassis battery was below 12.6V.
I installed the Trik-L-Start on my last motorhome (a 2018 Outlaw 29H Class C) so the house batteries could maintain the chassis battery since it did not have a Battery Isolation Manager and it did a good job keeping thew chassis battery maintained. Now that I see how the BIM160 works on my Super C, I might have installed one on my old Class C if I had known about it then..... but the Trik-L-Start was easy to install and is less expensive.
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