Quote:
Originally Posted by Islandsmith
Update to my original post. The day I first posted we were getting packed up for a few days in Eastern Washington. I figured that since the fridge was working on shore power I'd be OK to be a few hours without power and risk spoiling any food. An hour into the drive we stopped for gas and I noticed the control panel for the Xantrex was back live and showing that while the engine was running I had 13.7V incoming. I don't know when it turned back on.
Once we got to our destination (Sun Lakes) and were plugged into 50A shore power everything worked just fine.
Coming home same thing, everything was just fine. However, once we stopped the engine and got in line for the ferry the voltage drop on the Xantrex control panel could be observed changing pretty quickly over the hour we were waiting. When the fridge kicked on the voltage drop caused the alarm to ring and display an Error 01 code - low voltage.
I'm going to pull the batteries because it seems like one of them might be bad. Doesn't seem like the voltage should be dropping that quickly.
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I would use a battery tester or check the specific gravity of each cell (if you have flooded batteries) before just replacing them but..... I would also verify that your BIM is working properly.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I had an issue with the BIM160 that was giving me Inverter and house battery charging issues.
Once in a blue moon, I would see the house batteries go above 13.7V while the engine was running but often the batteries would drop below 12.6V and the BIM would not kick in as it should.
Not only would I get a low voltage alarm on the Inverter but I could not even get the slide out after driving several hours unless I was plugged into shore power or the generator was running because the house batteries were drained.
In my case Thor had the BIM160 wired incorrectly per my earlier post and it was not properly charging the house batteries when driving and it was causing my batteries to drain.
I found an easy way to test the BIM160 to make sure it is wired and working properly.
Test 1 - Shore Power ON / Engine Not Running
- With the shore power on and house batteries charged, turn the headlights on to start draining the chassis battery (without engine running).
- If you aren't measuring chassis battery voltage inside the coach, use a voltmeter directly on the chassis battery.
- After the chassis battery voltage drops below 12.6V for a few minutes, you should hear the BIM relay engage and the chassis battery voltage should go over 13V indicating it is charging from shore power.
Test 2 - Shore Power Off / Engine Running
- With the chassis battery charged, start draining the house batteries by having the Inverter on and powering the fridge (and TV's if powered by the Inverter).
- Monitor the house batteries via the Inverter panel.
- Start the engine and verify the chassis battery voltage indicate a full charge.
- When the house batteries drop below 12.6V for a few minutes, the BIM relay should engage and the house battery voltage should be over 13V indicating they are charging.
Repeat these two tests several times. The BIM should behave this way like clockwork if it is working and wired properly. If it is working like this, then it could be your batteries need replaced.
Once I fixed the BIM wiring issue I have not had an issue with my house batteries staying charged properly when driving and not draining too quickly when using the Inverter.
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