Found good coach battery solenoid, converter won't charge coach batteries

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Sent: 4/4/2006

Well, as some of you know, Tom and I rewired my coach battery system, and tried to get away with using a 69 Ford Mustang solenoid, but it fried after about a 100 miles.  The problem was that the Mustang relay wasn't rated for continuous duty, and overheated.  I fixed it today!  Yay!  Autozone was actually helpful!  We went through all of their manuals and found the perfect continuous duty relay, recommended by the manufacturer for battery isolation,etc.  Its a Wells, SS939, and costs about 35 bucks.  Not cheap, but shouldn't fry this time!  So, the coach batteries are back, up and running.

This leads me to my next dilemma:  While my old Phillips Converter does switch automatically from shore power to battery power when I unplug the shore line, it doesn't appear to be charging the coach/starting batteries while plugged into shore power.  Isn't it supposed to send a trickle charge to the batteries when hooked into shore power?  Does it give a constant trickle charge, or does it sense when the battery voltage drops to a certain point, and then charge the batteries?  With the engine off, I get a solid 12+ volts at both batteries, and the voltage doesn't change, at all, whether I'm plugged or unplugged from shore power.

How much is a new converter?  I'm going to trace the wires back to my converter tomorrow, but I know they are more or less hooked up to the batteries, since the new solenoid and coach battery system is working like a charm. 

Kev

[Slantsixness]

Sent: 4/4/2006

Kev,
It should charge the coach battery. Something is amiss.
I have the schematics. and 2 converters.

You may be able to just clean the relay, it might be the only problem with not charging..

Tom

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Sent: 4/5/2006

It seems that my dinosaur Phillips converter is set up like Dave Denison's.  After fiddling with it for hours, cleaning connections and checking wiring diagrams that are on the cover of the converter, it doesn't seem like there is any possible way for it to charge a battery, even a trickle charge:  All outputs are either a solid 12 volts, or 110 AC.  I checked every terminal.

That said, I came up with a relatively simple solution!  About a year ago, a friend of mine gave me a big marine battery charger, new and in the box.  It charges 2 batteries (you can split it to charge more), and senses automatically what the current charge on a battery is.  If the battery is low, it sends it a high charge...if the battery is at full charge, it sends a trickle charge...all automatic and self regulating.  I wired it all in, and it works like a champ!  It has an on/off switch, but the instructions say to can leave it on.  It also has a built in amp-meter, which tells you how much its putting out based on the condition of the batteries.  The only downside?  Its almost as big as the Phillips converter, and hums even louder.  You can still barely hear it when the cover is on the bench and cushions are in place.

Thanks guys!

Kev

[denisondc]

Sent: 4/5/2006

But if the new charger didn't hum, it would probably still be on the SSN or SSBN, right?

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Sent: 4/6/2006

LOL Dave!

With the exception of some rain gear and a Fluke (both of which I was unofficially authorized to take home by my chief when we got in new gear and a new Fluke), I have never taken anything home from the Navy...not even a pen...lol. It certainly DOES sound like one of the motor-generators though...almost like home! (wipes tear from eye).

Its a commercial/consumer charger, made by SeaRanger, and it really does sound like something on a submarine...lmao.  I was on SSNs by the way, not SSBNs, or the new SSGNs.

Kev

[hose-man]

My 73 has a Phillips converter which also does not charge the battery when shore power or genset power is present.    Thanks to this post I researched the owners manual & confirmed this fact, rather than spend hours troubleshooting.    Thank you!!!     My local Interstate Battery store set me up with a permanently mounted charger which I plugged into the AC system of the coach, so when shore power or genset is delivering AC power it is on & maintaining the charge in the coach batteries.   

I also purchased 2 deep cycle batteries for the coach.   There was only one battery.    the battery tray is huge so the two easily fit.

For future reference Interstate Battery stores will sell "refurbished" batteries at a steep discount.   These were described to me as "batteries which are either cosmetic blems, or customer returns which check out as good as new"   I payed $35 each for 800CCA 200min batteries which looked new so for less than the price of one battery at retail, I purchased two.    Everything is running great so far.