Energenius Kaput?

[89_370LE]

My Energenius seems to have gone kaput. It used to hum when operating but last time out it didn't do the job. We were hooked into 30A shore power running the house lights, fans, etc. On Day 3, bright and early, discovered the 12v stuff didn't work & near new coach batteries were totally dead.

Put the charger on them for a few hours and brought them back up near 12v, but they didn't fully charge — the batteries eyes never turned green.

Back home, the guy at the camper repair place said to just keep it always on a battery charger when parked with power but that strikes me as a cobbled together nuisance of drop cords.

I had the generator serviced at Onan prior to the trip and wonder if that could have had anything to do with the Energenius failing. Fact is, I don't even know how to test it to determine exactly what may be ailing it.

Is there anybody who rebuilds/repairs Energenius? Any schematics around?

What is a suitable replacement model? Judging from reading the O. Manual it handles most all aspects of power management: transforming, inverting, charging, switching from shore to generator, etc. Right?

I appreciate you help. Thanks.

Alan

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by 89_370LE

My Energenius seems to have gone kaput. It used to hum when operating but last time out it didn't do the job. We were hooked into 30A shore power running the house lights, fans, etc. On Day 3, bright and early, discovered the 12v stuff didn't work & near new coach batteries were totally dead.

Put the charger on them for a few hours and brought them back up near 12v, but they didn't fully charge — the batteries eyes never turned green.

Back home, the guy at the camper repair place said to just keep it always on a battery charger when parked with power but that strikes me as a cobbled together nuisance of drop cords.

I had the generator serviced at Onan prior to the trip and wonder if that could have had anything to do with the Energenius failing. Fact is, I don't even know how to test it to determine exactly what may be ailing it.

Is there anybody who rebuilds/repairs Energenius? Any schematics around?

What is a suitable replacement model? Judging from reading the O. Manual it handles most all aspects of power management: transforming, inverting, charging, switching from shore to generator, etc. Right?

I appreciate you help. Thanks.

Alan

Alan, it could be something as simple as a broken wire going to the batteries from your onboard charger. Check the wires, and fuses, hopefully it is something simple like that.

[Howard Lefkowitz]

This company went out of business over 10 years ago. When mine died I could not find any parts. Further, they would never provide anyone, including airstream, with a schematic. The main problem with these is a relay which had burned contacts. As far as I know no-one will work on them. I dumped mine and kept the AC/DC panel with fuses and circuit breakers. I installed a new three phase electronic charger with no more noise.

[markdoane]

The company might be out of business, but they may have sold the name to http://www.sens-usa.com/selector.htm.

[89_370LE]

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Howard, your insight is helpful — did you install the AC/DC panel subsequent to dumping your Energenius, or are you referring to the "panel" or breakout harnesses(?) coming off the back of the Energenius? Can you tell me more about the three phase charger? How you config`d it into the system?
Even specific instructions if you can provide that type direction. I expect one would have to leave all this stuff under the dinette seat where its at for obvious reasons. I should maybe post this on the General Forum too. Thanks all, I appreciate the help.

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by Howard Lefkowitz

I installed a new three phase electronic charger with no more noise.

Howard,

Did you perhaps mean three 'stage' charger, as in bulk/absorption/float?

[89_370LE]

Don, I got in touch with the SENS folks and spoke with a helpful CS advisor who confirmed they were no way related to the old Univolt manufacturer but went on to advise that someone like a Cummins generator svc center may be a helpful source of either tech advice or board level service because of their familiarity with battery charging technology. Sounds like it makes sense, and I'd like to believe it, but if it was that easy to fix someone long before me would probably have figured it out.

[Nick Danger]

Hey, 89 370LE
I also have an 89 370 LE. I also have the original installation instructions for the Energenius 3200 and 3200G devices. It includes a wiring diagram. I also have some Energenius documentation from my Airstream owners manual.

I'll be happy to make you a copy and mail to you if you want to give me your address. You can email me at swright227@earthlink.net.

Long days and pleasant nights..........

[89_370LE]

Hi Nick!

How excellent and thoughtful to offer the Energenius info and diagrams. Yes, please, I'd really appreciate having a copy of that stuff — and I will gladly pay you for the cost of copying them, so I'll have as complete a set of documentation as possible. In fact, if you have any other of the original docs let me know, I may like having a copy of them too. I suspect all mine were either recklessly misplaced or absconded by an Airstream (or other) repair shop somewhere along the way long before we came into possession of this unit. We've only owned this unit for about 18 months, it has low miles and, for the most part, is in really great shape with very few issues.

Nonetheless, we are doing the ordinary wear and tear maintenance/repair along with the preventative stuff as needed. Having docs is a great help because we don't have an Airstream shop within a reasonable distance and I've found that very few RV techs know anything about these units.

One thing I'm curious about: the Schlage entry key that was purported to fit our dead-bolt lock doesn't turn the cylinder (bolt works fine with the inside dash switch) which means the only security we have when we walk away is the door lock — do you know anything about those locks and how they're keyed? Was there a Master List of lock/key codes that I can have some keys cut? I thought it would be as simple as having Carl Jarl re-key it, but when he got to it, discovered that he couldn't remove the cylinder from the exterior and (luckily) didn't want to hack into the body panel from the inside. Airstream central seems essentially worthless when it comes to anything with the Classic MHs and probably trailers too.

I've concluded that either the Energenius units are quite reliable and don't conk out or no one is comfortable sharing their repair experience.

Thanks for your response.

Best,

Alan

[thenewkid64]

Originally Posted by 89_370LE

Hi Nick!

One thing I'm curious about: the Schlage entry key that was purported to fit our dead-bolt lock doesn't turn the cylinder (bolt works fine with the inside dash switch) which means the only security we have when we walk away is the door lock — do you know anything about those locks and how they're keyed? Was there a Master List of lock/key codes that I can have some keys cut? I thought it would be as simple as having Carl Jarl re-key it, but when he got to it, discovered that he couldn't remove the cylinder from the exterior and (luckily) didn't want to hack into the body panel from the inside.

Have you tried Airstream Tech Support?

Hot line phone is
1-877-596-6505

this is a voice mail system and they request you leave the following information on the first call
1. Name
2. day time phone number
3. trailer or motorhome
4. model year
5. last 6 digits of serial number
6. description of problem or information you require.

They will call back with in 24 hours with information