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New owner, new problems! Coach battery


Jay.s

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Hi recently purchased a 90 Itasca Spirit...coach battery is 6 years old.today was tested weak at the battery store..  For some reason it was a 24ms marine battery which is a marine starting battery. So upon talking with battery guy, I bought a 27dc battery. Switched them out and noticed right away that convertor started clicking every 20 s3conds. It clicks and the lights I turned on stay bright and clicks and the lights dim. I'm almost positive I hooked the battery back up the right way, I have a small solar panel and there's 4 wires in the battery compartment, two small black and reds that come into the battery compartment together, I'm assuming from the solar panel, and then a big cable which is positive and another cable that I'm was assuming was ground coming from the back end of battery compartment..... so when I hook the older 24ms battery back up it doesn't click the invertor like the new battery, the lights turn on very dim but the meter where u can check water levels etc,..  doesn't work and also the auxiliary cig lighter in coach doesn't work. That stuff doesn't work on either battery, but lights work on both, also i notice one cable on the ground battery heats up pretty hot as does the convertor seems to warm up pretty quick with that new battery... I appreciate any help so much, as I was so excited I thought I could wire my TV and electronics in today and plan a trip... thanks to anyone who can help...

20170807_171039.jpg

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I'm trying to upload more pics but for some reason giving me a error file 200 message

Is it possible I hooked the wires up wrong? I thought I was paying attention...

Also I must say the small black wire that comes into the battery compartment with the big black wire has a red piece of tape around it and I have been ground that wire.

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A battery connected backwards will do that. I would say the red tape probably means +

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You need to break down your problem in smaller parts. Its not clear which electrical connection is backward.

You have several things coming into the battery to provide power. The solar, the convertor charger,  the isolated input from the alternator. At least. Then you have several things going out, depending upon your luck, the manufacturer and the previous owner these split at the battery or later on.

Your best bet is to take a lot of before pictures at every connection that is visible. Buy some labels, stick them around the connectors. Buy either wire covers or electrical tape. Now disconnect, take pictures, cover each loose wire until you need it again later. disconnect some more.

When the battery is completely disconnected (no shore power, no solar, no truck power), start by wiring the house connections back in. One by one. Connect, verify appliance or light has power and then disconnect it again. Remember your before pictures and labels will be the only guides. Wiring is ad hoc. Black/white/red mean nothing.

When you have verified the house wiring. Get a multimeter. At each of the power sources, identify which is positive and which is negative by finding +12Volts (voltage will vary slightly, the sign of the voltage is important).

Now connect only one source at a time to the battery. Does anything heat up, click, etc? You likely have a bad wire and/or grounding fault somewhere, or that source is causing the problem internally. The convertor/charger is essentially one large step down transformer and some relays, conditioning circuits. They can fail.

You can charge/maintain the battery or one fewer power source while you repair. Not the end of the world but left alone connected wrong you may burn perhaps literally more than just that power source and the battery. 30AH is a lot of stored energy.

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Thank you both

3 hours ago, neubie said:

You need to break down your problem in smaller parts. Its not clear which electrical connection is backward.

You have several things coming into the battery to provide power. The solar, the convertor charger,  the isolated input from the alternator. At least. Then you have several things going out, depending upon your luck, the manufacturer and the previous owner these split at the battery or later on.

Your best bet is to take a lot of before pictures at every connection that is visible. Buy some labels, stick them around the connectors. Buy either wire covers or electrical tape. Now disconnect, take pictures, cover each loose wire until you need it again later. disconnect some more.

When the battery is completely disconnected (no shore power, no solar, no truck power), start by wiring the house connections back in. One by one. Connect, verify appliance or light has power and then disconnect it again. Remember your before pictures and labels will be the only guides. Wiring is ad hoc. Black/white/red mean nothing.

When you have verified the house wiring. Get a multimeter. At each of the power sources, identify which is positive and which is negative by finding +12Volts (voltage will vary slightly, the sign of the voltage is important).

Now connect only one source at a time to the battery. Does anything heat up, click, etc? You likely have a bad wire and/or grounding fault somewhere, or that source is causing the problem internally. The convertor/charger is essentially one large step down transformer and some relays, conditioning circuits. They can fail.

You can charge/maintain the battery or one fewer power source while you repair. Not the end of the world but left alone connected wrong you may burn perhaps literally more than just that power source and the battery. 30AH is a lot of stored energy.

 

3 hours ago, Maineah said:

A battery connected backwards will do that. I would say the red tape probably means +

Thank you both very much for your responses.luckily I have a mechanic nearby who had a voltage reader and was able to pinpoint the correct wiring, I had it backwards. the big wire went on the negative. everything including a invertor that previously didn't work with the old battery is now working. I really hope I didn't do any permanent damage to the convertor as it was heating up and giving off a smell when I had it hooked up wrong... so hopefully everything is well. I have just one more problem there was some sort of a funky looking fuse of some sort in the shore battery compartment that had a wire coming off each end. one end of this fuse separated. when we voltage metered it broken it read zero when we closed it manually it read 12 volts so I electrical taped it up, I wish I could send a picture as I have one although it still is not permitting me to upload it here, if someone can let me know why I can't upload photos are if I can email u a picture it would be so appreciated.

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Here's a pic guess I can't post over 3mb.please help me identify what this is. like I said I have it taped back up for now instead of sottering it.. when this is not pressed in it gives off no voltage on meter but when I press it in and hold it it gives a reading of voltage.

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probably is a disconnection switch of some kind that has degraded over time. This sort of thing prevents the battery from being killed due to some small light or appliance being left on. Havent seen this shape before, others here might be more informed.

A step down transformer being fed reverse voltage would certainly cause problems, heat being only one of them. I would personally test it by itself if it got incorrect voltage for any period of time. Transformers have the theoretical potential of failing spectacularly.

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1 hour ago, neubie said:

probably is a disconnection switch of some kind that has degraded over time. This sort of thing prevents the battery from being killed due to some small light or appliance being left on. Haven't seen this shape before, others here might be more informed.

A step down transformer being fed reverse voltage would certainly cause problems, heat being only one of them. I would personally test it by itself if it got incorrect voltage for any period of time. Transformers have the theoretical potential of failing spectacularly.

Do u think it would be wise then to untape it and leave it be for the moment? my mechanic has the voltage reader for now.

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UNTAPE IT ASAP!!!!

That is NOT a switch or fuse... Its what left of a destroyed auto reset circuit breaker (CB)

You need a new one, they are cheap and easy to install. This what a new one looks like. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-30-amp-Automotive-12v-In-Line-Circuit-Breaker-Auto-reset-cycling-/201926226637?hash=item2f03bdb2cd:g:eZcAAOSww5hZG2Lz&vxp=mtr

Any auto parts store will have one. Get a 20 or 30 amp one

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10 minutes ago, WME said:

UNTAPE IT ASAP!!!!

That is NOT a switch or fuse... Its what left of a destroyed auto reset circuit breaker (CB)

You need a new one, they are cheap and easy to install. This what a new one looks like. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Metal-30-amp-Automotive-12v-In-Line-Circuit-Breaker-Auto-reset-cycling-/201926226637?hash=item2f03bdb2cd:g:eZcAAOSww5hZG2Lz&vxp=mtr

Any auto parts store will have one. Get a 20 or 30 amp one

Wow thank you I actually untaped it right before I seen your response.I had it taped a few hours do u think it could of done any damage?

Edited by Jay.s
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Its a safety device to prevent shorting. You would have plenty of visible evidence if something had indeed gone wrong while it was taped.

Buy a multimeter off amazon or harbor freight and dont just tape or connect what you arent absolutely sure about. Trace and label your wiring while its working. It will save a lot of headaches later on.

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27 minutes ago, neubie said:

Its a safety device to prevent shorting. You would have plenty of visible evidence if something had indeed gone wrong while it was taped.

Buy a multimeter off amazon or harbor freight and dont just tape or connect what you arent absolutely sure about. Trace and label your wiring while its working. It will save a lot of headaches later on.

 

11 minutes ago, Derek up North said:

Yes, buy a multimeter now and have your mechanic show you the basics. A handy skill to have for the future. :)

085259.pdf

90 095714.pdf

90 095715.pdf

Thank you both greatly.

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