Big Country - Batteries not charging while towing?

[navyAZ1]

We are having an issue with the batteries not charging while we are towing. I have had my truck checked out by a Chevrolet dealer and they stated that there is no problem on the truck. Fuses are good and their meter shows power being supplied to the plug in the bed of the truck. I have checked the wire connections in the junction box at the pin box, and all seems to be okay there. Could there be an issue with the Inverter that supplies power to the residential refrig? When we are hooked up to shore power all is well, but after a 5 or 6 hour day of towing when we arrive at our destination the Inverter for the frig is beeping and when I attempt to use the Level-up system it stops giving an error message of "low voltage". Once we hook up to shore power within just short amount of time all is okay, so I don't feel it has anything to do with the power converter? On occasion while traveling I have gone into the coach at a rest area and will see that the green light is off on the Magnum remote switch, and the frig is off. Any suggestions as to what I need to check to troubleshoot this issue?

Thanks,
Ron Parrish

 

[boatto5er]

Ron, how many batteries do you have on the RV and how old are they?


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[boatto5er]

ATF: Big Country - Batteries not charging while towing?

I have two Group 27 batteries wired in parallel and have run my fridge for 8 hours not hooked up to the truck and then for 10 hours towing and had over 11 volts output showing (my inverter shoes how many volts are coming from the batteries). I think you only have one battery dedicated to the inverter, but not real sure about that. Dan Meyer knows more about the factory setup (I wired mine).


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[danemayer]

Ron,

The charge from the truck while towing helps, but your batteries should have enough power to keep the refrigerator running all day. I'd guess you either have batteries not holding a full charge, or something drawing too much power.

Take the batteries to an auto parts store or service center and have them load tested. If they're ok, your next step would be to get a reading on how much current is being drawn from the batteries when hooked up to tow.

 

[jbeletti]

Wondering if the mini-breaker is tripped on the bus bar?


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[navyAZ1]

To answer all the questions, we have two batteries, don't think they are wired in parallel, age of batteries is almost 3 years old, tested both batteries and they showed 13.5 amps. Randy has a load tester so I'm going to get that and run a test since we are so close to him and Santha right now. I have gotten around this for a while by hooking up to shore power before I run the level up, but today that didn't help and the Inverter kept beeping anytime I attempted to use the level up, and the level up would throw a message of "Low Voltage". I've sort of come to the conclusion I have bad batteries, I'll let y'all know after I get them tested.

 

[Bob.jr]

I had a very similar problem just a month ago. Turned out to be defective batteries. Installed 2 new batteries and problem solved. 😉

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[navyAZ1]

It was the batteries, had them checked and one was bad so I replaced both. However, I learned a very valuable lesson! I have always "assumed" that when you purchase new batteries that they have been filled with the proper level of fluids? NEVER assume this, shortly after replacing the batteries we began to have the same "low voltage" issue. A friend who is a retired RV Tech told me to check the fluid levels in the batteries, I said "but their new they should be full", HA!!!!! I use the filler system where you place a tube in the distilled water jug and use a squeeze bulb to pump the fluids into the batteries. Well, it took 1/2 gallon of distilled water to top off both batteries, unbelievable huh? Since filling the batteries all is well and the 12 volt system is working well. So, always have the fluid levels checked on new batteries prior to installing them!!!!!