Electrical problem on side of road

[bowtie1122]

Hey all, 2018 Keystone Fuzion fz378
Pulled off on the side of the road to get some sleep, unplugged 12v power from from truck so I didn't kill my truck batteries, since refrigerator is running off 12v power+propane. 3am comes around, and the dinging on the refrigerator wakes me up saying power is low. So I went outside, plug the truck back into the trailer to supply trailer batteries enough power to start up the onan on board generator. Fire up the generator, unplug power from truck, and everything powers up.. temporarily. 3 different items power on at once, and after going up in elevation, the generator was running a bit rich and seemed to have stalled out since the engine was cold too. Check generator message comes on on the in command screen, with under frequency fault message too. I clear the messages, go back out and fire the generator back up. Now the generator won't supply power at all, and plugging the truck into the camper via trailer plug doesn't charge the 12v system, and I have no trailer brakes. I've checked fuses and breakers at the fuse box, tried disconnecting trailer batteries.. I'm not sure what's wrong. Is there a breaker on the inverter? I'm on the side of the road and now I can't suck my slide in and go with this problem. Hopefully someone can help me out. Thank you.

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

First thing is make sure your battery has any voltage. Then follow the positive battery to wherever the first connection is. Is there a circuit breaker there?

If you have a “giggy box” you have to open it up and look for the battery lead.

[cougar23]

If battery went dead you would have to turn off all 12 volt items until battery took a partial charge before turning back on. Multiple items turning on at once with a very weak battery will not work.

[jasin1]

my battery charger on my boat won’t charge the batteries if the voltage is too low.. have to use another charger for a bit to bring them up to a voltage that the charger will recognize…not sure if rv chargers do the same

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by jasin1

my battery charger on my boat won’t charge the batteries if the voltage is too low.. have to use another charger for a bit to bring them up to a voltage that the charger will recognize…not sure if rv chargers do the same

As far as I know, RV converters don’t have the ability to recognize a dead battery and not charge, they just produce 12VDC and up the amperage based on voltage feedback. I have a charger at home that will recondition a battery before charging if it needs it.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

As far as I know, RV converters don’t have the ability to recognize a dead battery and not charge, they just produce 12VDC and up the amperage based on voltage feedback. I have a charger at home that will recondition a battery before charging if it needs it.

Off on a rabbit trail a bit but I have a Noco Genius5 charger with a battery repair function. I have two batteries on my truck and have not seen any guidance on how to use the repair function. Do you disconnect one battery and use it and then same for the other or will it work across both batteries if connected? Just curious.

[chuckster57]

The cen tech one at work will do a set of motorhome batteries (four 6V ) hooked up at each end of the set.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Off on a rabbit trail a bit but I have a Noco Genius5 charger with a battery repair function. I have two batteries on my truck and have not seen any guidance on how to use the repair function. Do you disconnect one battery and use it and then same for the other or will it work across both batteries if connected? Just curious.

I'd give NOCO a call on Monday and ask that question. IMO, for what that might be worth, I would say no, you can not "desulfate" a single battery when it's connected in series or parallel with another battery. Why? Because the NOCO charger "compares the voltage out of the battery to determine the voltage required to "desulfate or recondition" the bad battery. If there are two batteries in the system, then the NOCO will be reading the combined voltage out of both batteries, not the specific isolated battery that needs to be reconditioned. So, in theory you would be "desulfating a bad battery that needs servicing based on the combined voltage of that battery and a potentially good battery. What would happen, in theory, is you would "under condition the bad battery and at the same time, overcondition a battery that is good and needs no such desulfation".....

For me, If I had batteries that needed care, I'd want to provide that care based on the battery's specific need, not based on the "averaged need of multiple batteries"....

Now, when it comes to charging known good batteries in parallel or series circuits, every battery is "treated as equal and treated as good" so there's no differences between the batteries. They all are equal and they all receive the same charge. That's significantly different when reconditioning batteries that may not have the same level of damage to their plates.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I'd give NOCO a call on Monday and ask that question. IMO, for what that might be worth, I would say no, you can not "desulfate" a single battery when it's connected in series or parallel with another battery. Why? Because the NOCO charger "compares the voltage out of the battery to determine the voltage required to "desulfate or recondition" the bad battery. If there are two batteries in the system, then the NOCO will be reading the combined voltage out of both batteries, not the specific isolated battery that needs to be reconditioned. So, in theory you would be "desulfating a bad battery that needs servicing based on the combined voltage of that battery and a potentially good battery. What would happen, in theory, is you would "under condition the bad battery and at the same time, overcondition a battery that is good and needs no such desulfation".....

For me, If I had batteries that needed care, I'd want to provide that care based on the battery's specific need, not based on the "averaged need of multiple batteries"....

Now, when it comes to charging known good batteries in parallel or series circuits, every battery is "treated as equal and treated as good" so there's no differences between the batteries. They all are equal and they all receive the same charge. That's significantly different when reconditioning batteries that may not have the same level of damage to their plates.

This was kind of a theoretical question more than something that needs doing. My batteries are four years old and still hold a charge well but I do let the truck sit, sometimes weeks on end and need to keep the batteries charged. Given the lack of 1st world comprehension skills in the Noco manual (pamphlet), doubt their phone support would be of help. Thanks

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I'd give NOCO a call on Monday and ask that question. IMO, for what that might be worth, I would say no, you can not "desulfate" a single battery when it's connected in series or parallel with another battery. Why? Because the NOCO charger "compares the voltage out of the battery to determine the voltage required to "desulfate or recondition" the bad battery. If there are two batteries in the system, then the NOCO will be reading the combined voltage out of both batteries, not the specific isolated battery that needs to be reconditioned. So, in theory you would be "desulfating a bad battery that needs servicing based on the combined voltage of that battery and a potentially good battery. What would happen, in theory, is you would "under condition the bad battery and at the same time, overcondition a battery that is good and needs no such desulfation".....

For me, If I had batteries that needed care, I'd want to provide that care based on the battery's specific need, not based on the "averaged need of multiple batteries"....

Now, when it comes to charging known good batteries in parallel or series circuits, every battery is "treated as equal and treated as good" so there's no differences between the batteries. They all are equal and they all receive the same charge. That's significantly different when reconditioning batteries that may not have the same level of damage to their plates.

Might explain why it took several hours for the one at work. Single battery makes more sense.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

Might explain why it took several hours for the one at work. Single battery makes more sense.

My Genius 10 doesn't have a 6 volt repair selection, only a 6 volt charge or a 6 volt force charge program. All the "repair programs" are for 12 volt batteries. When I tried to recondition a pair of GC-2's, it was still running 12 hours later and I gave up because I didn't want to leave the batteries on that type of desulfation program without being there to monitor things.

Here's my experience with my NOCO Genius 10.

It takes my NOCO "genius 10" in the boat about 4 hours to desulfate a GP27 FLA battery. It takes about 3 hours and 45 minutes to desulfate a GP24 FLA battery. I tried to recondition the GC2 6 volt batteries in our trailer with that charger and after being connected all day, I disconnected the batteries when I closed up the pole barn for the night (over 12 hours after starting the desulfation program). I never tried again, Sam's had a sale and I just bought two new batteries.

I couldn't tell you whether that repair time was because of a problem with the batteries (they were working good but were almost 8 years old), whether it was them being in series to get 12 volts or the heavy duty type of battery with multiple thicker plates. At any rate, I do know it took "forever and a day" and the desulfation was still running with no signs of being close to finished.

So, I would guess that a motorhome with 4 or 6 GC-2's on a single 5 amp or 10 amp "desulfation program" would probably take days, maybe weeks to finish the cycle.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

This was kind of a theoretical question more than something that needs doing. My batteries are four years old and still hold a charge well but I do let the truck sit, sometimes weeks on end and need to keep the batteries charged. Given the lack of 1st world comprehension skills in the Noco manual (pamphlet), doubt their phone support would be of help. Thanks

Your comment motivated me to dig out my NOCO Owner's Manual and see exactly what it says. I found this caution in the instructions on using the "Repair mode"

"CAUTION. USE THIS MODE WITH CARE. THIS MODE IS FOR 12-VOLT LEAD-ACID BATTERIES ONLY. THIS MODE COULD RESULT IN HIGH CHARGING VOLTAGE AND MAY CAUSE SOME WATER LOSS IN WET (FLOODED) CELL BATTERIES. BE ADVISED, SOME BATTERIES AND ELECTRONICS MAY BE SENSITIVE TO HIGH CHARGING VOLTAGES. TO MINIMIZE RISKS TO ELECTRONICS, DISCONNECT THE BATTERY BEFORE USING THIS MODE"

So, thinking about it, even if you could use the repair mode on two batteries, you run the risk of damaging the truck's computer, the radio, alternator, voltage regulator and other systems if you "zap them with the repair cycle voltage" while the battery is installed and connected to the truck.....

My "take" would be to remove one truck battery (leave the other one connected so the truck clock, radio presets and transmission shift memory don't get erased. When that one battery is "repaired", then reinstall it and remove the second battery to "repair".... That way, there's always power on the truck memory circuits and you don't risk burning up anything expensive in the truck that might be "voltage sensitive".....

[fchampneys]

If someone hasn't already mentioned it, the generator also has circuit breakers that commonly trip when the generator is having problems. Make sure you have checked the circuit breakers on the gen and reset (if necessary) after you have the generator running.

[NebraskaRoofer]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Off on a rabbit trail a bit but I have a Noco Genius5 charger with a battery repair function. I have two batteries on my truck and have not seen any guidance on how to use the repair function. Do you disconnect one battery and use it and then same for the other or will it work across both batteries if connected? Just curious.

Originally Posted by chuckster57

The cen tech one at work will do a set of motorhome batteries (four 6V ) hooked up at each end of the set.

Originally Posted by JRTJH

I'd give NOCO a call on Monday and ask that question. IMO, for what that might be worth, I would say no, you can not "desulfate" a single battery when it's connected in series or parallel with another battery. Why? Because the NOCO charger "compares the voltage out of the battery to determine the voltage required to "desulfate or recondition" the bad battery. If there are two batteries in the system, then the NOCO will be reading the combined voltage out of both batteries, not the specific isolated battery that needs to be reconditioned. So, in theory you would be "desulfating a bad battery that needs servicing based on the combined voltage of that battery and a potentially good battery. What would happen, in theory, is you would "under condition the bad battery and at the same time, overcondition a battery that is good and needs no such desulfation".....

For me, If I had batteries that needed care, I'd want to provide that care based on the battery's specific need, not based on the "averaged need of multiple batteries"....

Now, when it comes to charging known good batteries in parallel or series circuits, every battery is "treated as equal and treated as good" so there's no differences between the batteries. They all are equal and they all receive the same charge. That's significantly different when reconditioning batteries that may not have the same level of damage to their plates.

I realize I am completely new to this forum (Not to Rving) but did you guys really hi-jack a thread from someone stuck on the side of the road?
I'm just asking because it certainly reads that way, but that's not the case , right? If I'm mistaken, please accept my apology.

[JShort880]

Originally Posted by fchampneys

If someone hasn't already mentioned it, the generator also has circuit breakers that commonly trip when the generator is having problems. Make sure you have checked the circuit breakers on the gen and reset (if necessary) after you have the generator running.

Helped a neighbor who thought his rig was destroyed by finding these. Very much might be the problem!

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by NebraskaRoofer

I realize I am completely new to this forum (Not to Rving) but did you guys really hi-jack a thread from someone stuck on the side of the road?
I'm just asking because it certainly reads that way, but that's not the case , right? If I'm mistaken, please accept my apology.

If you look, the OP asked the question and then never responded. Lots of threads may “detour” a bit from time to time for several different reasons. IMO it’s not hijacking if the OP posts once and then doesn’t reply anymore.

[wiredgeorge]

The OP hasn't logged on since the initial post... he logged off about 20 minutes after the post and never came back.