Are my batteries being charged?

[Bobdes]

We have a new 2008 Safari 27FB. I have it connected to 110V. Are the batteries being charged?
There's a Use/Store panel just inside the door... it doesn't seem to work when you are plugged in. When you're not plugged in, you can switch the mode to 'store' and the red Battery Disconnect light (and everything else) goes off. Makes sense, so you don't kill the batteries when not connected.
The manual says if you're plugged into 110V and you turn the use/store to use the batteries are being charged, and if you turn to store they are not. However if I try to use 'use' or 'store' when plugged in, it doesn't seem to do anything... no matter what the Battery Disconnect is on when plugged in.
Sorry if it's confusing... I just want to keep my batteries charged in the cold weather. Thanks.
Bob

[ROBERT CROSS]

It's best to remove them and keep them topped up on a float charger. BatteryMINDer® Plus 12 Volt 1.33 Amp Charger-Maintainer-Conditioner (Desulfator)*::*All*::*Battery Chargers by BatteryMINDers.com


http://batterytender.com/chargers/ba...-at-1-25a.html, use this on the boat battery, and have a 6v for the old Ford.


I use, this on the AS AGM batteries,
Amazon.com: Vector VEC1093 Smart Battery Charger (2/10/20/40/100 Amp): Automotive

Use a voltmeter when plugged in to shore power,(w/switch on), should read at least 13.2v.

[Mexray]

The easiest, full proof way to see if your batteries are receiving a 'charge' is to get a cheap digital VOM (volt ohm meter) and record the voltage at the battery terminals with the AC power off or unhooked..

Then turn on the AC power and adjust the disconnect switch properly so the batteries are hooked up and again record the voltage at the battery terminals - you should see a RISE in the voltage, possibly up to around 14 volts (depending on your battery's state of charge)...

If you don't get a RISE in voltage, check your 12 volt fuse panel for blown fuses, or check your AC breaker panel to see it the circuit powering the Univolt is on and powered up..or fiddle with that battery disconnect switch...

Ray

[garry]

The short answer is yes plugged in and in "use" the batteries are being charged.

Unplugged in the "use " position you are on battery only.

In the "store" position and plugged in you would be running off the converter and not charging the batteries.

In the "store" position and unplugged your batteries are disconnected and you have no 12V power.

The converter provides 12VDC to all 12V stuff "and" charges the battery at the same time to do this it requires the AS to be plugged in.

[Bobdes]

Thanks Garry. My point though is that, when plugged in, the 'use' and 'store' switch does not work. No matter how I switch it, the 'battery disconnect' light stays lit solid (which implies the batteries are disconnected from the system and not being charged) unlike when it's not plugged in, in which case 'store' turns the battery disconnect off.
Sorry, but it's confusing...
Thanks.

[garry]

The only sure fire way to know is to have a meter to measure the battery voltage, the battery should be 13.2 to 13.6 when plugged in and in the use position. If so the converter is charging the batteries.

When changing from use to store and plugged in do the lights dim?

Short of a meter reading you can have the unit plugged in, switch in use position, turn on all the lights then unplug the unit. The lights should dim just a small amount if the battery is fully charged. If they dim quite a bit the battery is probably at less than a full charge.

An option is to go to Wal-Mart auto section and buy a digital battery meter that plugs into your cigarette lighter outlet. ($15).

You should have an outlet in the trailer possibly at the antenna amplifier. Plug it in and it will read out the battery voltage and condition with no leads to hook up.

This will answer the question "Is my battery being charged".

[Dwight]

I think you have the BD0 model from Intellitec, Intellitec Specialty Vehicle Electronics. I would give them a call and see if they can answer your question.

[RossFam05BH]

I was fed up with not knowing whether our batteries would discharge when connected to shore power. In a previous thread I described the fix my son came up with to tell us what state ( either use or store) the control panel was set at. Here is a description of our solution.


Hey All,

After reading the posts in this thread, I finally figured out why the batteries in our trailer never charged when connected to shore power. It is because the red LED when lit does not indicate the position of the solenoid when the trailer is connected to shore power. Therefore, I asked my 12 year-old son Alex to develop a electronic solution to this problem. He came up with the idea to use a CMOS 4013 flip-flop IC to control the lighting of new LEDS to indicate whether the battery disconnect solenoid is in the use (charging batteries) or store (not charging batteries) position. We drilled two holes in the face plate for surface mount LEDS and one for the toggle switch shown. In the pictures in this post, the trailer is connected to shore power. The blue LED indicates that the batteries are charging and the green LED shows that the batteries are disconnected.
Attachment 79827Attachment 79828
So that the LEDS do not drain the batteries when off shore power, Alex included a DPDT toggle switch to cut power to the blue/green LEDS only. The toggle switch in the off position does not cut 12 volt power to the IC, thereby allowing the flip-flop to remember the solenoid's state.
Attachment 79829
In hopes that this will be useful to other Air Forum-ers, Alex has also included a photograph of the circuit board (attached with screws to the circuit board of the panel), and a circuit diagram. The brightness of the blue/green LEDS is easily adjusted by changing the resistance in series with the LEDS.
Attachment 79830Attachment 79838

Bye,

Paul and Alex

[Dwight]

Paul,
Would your son mind building a board or showing a parts list....I have the same setup and have had similiar problems.
Dwight

[Mexray]

It seems life was so much simpler before AS elected to use a solenoid and a remote mounted actuator switch panel...

I've used switches similar to the one showed below, mounted close to the battery cables and accessible from near the fuse panel...no guess work - ON to connect, and OFF to switch the batteries 'off line'...

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

[RossFam05BH]

Originally Posted by Dwight

Paul,
Would your son mind building a board or showing a parts list....I have the same setup and have had similiar problems.
Dwight

Hey Dwight,

For some reason the attachments do not show as pictures in this post. Just click on the attachments to see the pictures. The last attachment, 79838, shows the schematic for the circuit. The circuit is simple with a couple of resistors, capacitors, and diodes to control output from the 4013. On my end the attachments show as pictures with a single click. If that is not true on your computer, there is another thread, located here, where we first posted the pictures.

Bye

Paul and Alex

[Mexray]

Here's the Intellitec actual page describing the battery disconnect operating principal, and a wiring diagram...The special Latching relay uses no current after it is switched either on or off...http://www.intellitec.com/pdfs/BATTE...300066.000.pdf

Not having this system in our older AS, it's unclear to me when the LED indicator light is 'ON' - to show battery unhooked, or connected??? In any event, that small LED alone, would take months and months to affect the battery charge...

I notice that there are two fuses on the latching relay - perhaps one or both are blown to cause the problem in this forum thread...

[Bobdes]

Follow Up:
I purchased one of the battery voltage monitors that plugs into the 'cigarette' 12V plug. When not plugged in, it reads 12V with no lights on. With all lights on, 11.7V. I then plugged the camper in, and it reads 13.7V. So, I assume it's charging the batteries, correct??

[garry]

correct