Dead Step

[pheasant16]

Greetings all
Bought a 1997 class C in pristine condition last year. Have been slowly tinkering bringing it into great shape. Just brought it back home from winter storage a couple weeks ago. Electric step worked fine. Wife went out yesterday and step wouldn't come down. I plugged shoreline in when we got home, but didn't turn the disconnect switch on. Turned it on today, and step immediately started working. So I understand; the batteries were not charging even with shoreline plugged in (switch was off). Correct? The disconnect has to be turned on to charge the batteries?
Seems pretty straight forward, but want to be sure I'm doing it right.
Thank you.
Mark

 

[Kirk]

The disconnect has to be turned on to charge the batteries?

That just depends on how the isolator and the converter are connected. Some manufacturers install the isolator so that it completely isolates the battery while others bypass the isolator with the charging lead. Yours appears to be the second. It is also quite possible that a previous owner has changed the way it was connected from the factory. It clearly seems that yours does charge the battery and you can easily confirm that with your volt/ohm meter.

 

[pheasant16]

Found the following:
So what is a disconnect for? The disconnect should be turned off when you store your camper so your batteries discharge more slowly. Mind you, they’ll still discharge spontaneously over the course of several weeks, but with the switch off it’ll take longer. Using your disconnect switch in this way ensures longer life for your batteries. So if a little is good, how about turning it off every time you leave your RV? Doing that when you are plugged into shore power also disconnects your batteries from the charging circuit of your power, meaning that even if the rig is plugged into shore power, your batteries will not charge.

 

[Kirk]

Found the following:

So where did you find that statement? Was it written for your RV or somewhere else? As an electrical technician with many years of RV experience and experience maintaining them, what I wrote above still applies. Unless you are the person who bought that RV new, it is also very possible that the wiring has been changed.

A question for you, since you now know that your shore power doesn't charge the batteries, what happened? How did the battery get stronger?

 

[Rene T]

Welcome to the forum.
Hopefully we’ll get this sorted out soon.

 

[pheasant16]

LOL! Sounds like campers are just like remodeling an old house. Never know what the wall, carpet, picture, etc. is hiding. RV battery disconnect switches: how, when and why
Here's where I found the above.
All I know about the coach is I bought it last year, fixed the water heater board and has been bug free until this.
After I turned the disconnect on(shore power still attached) the step came out (screen door was open) the CO detector started beeping and flashing orange. Had been green while on shore line and disconnect off.
A couple minutes later the fan from the area of electrical panel came on. Dunno but figured it must be a fan cooling the charger like the old style ones we used at car dealership year ago. After about 10 minutes the beeping quit, and the CO light was solid green again.
I'm good with plumbing and mechanical stuff, but 'lecticity scares the crap out of me, and want to be dang sure I am doing it right.
I'm number 3 owner, the last one sold after 1 season as family hated camping. (He put new brakes, tires, and had coach professionally cleaned). First owner passed the year before that and estate got rid of it.
So no way to refer to anything previously done.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

The disconnect has to be turned on to charge the batteries?

That's the way my itasca works. When on shore power, and the disconnect ("salesman switch") is off, the house will be powered from the converter only. The batteries will neither receive or provide current. In a perfect world that would be OK except sometimes there are still some loads connected to the battery the engineers, or lawyers, decided were more important than the owner's choice. So there are what's called "parasitic" loads that can still bring your house batteries down even with the disconnect turned off. If you trust that you will never have interrupted shore power, and that your converter will be kind to your batteries you can just leave the disconnect on when plugged in. I trust neither, so I leave my RV unplugged and the batteries charged by maintainer when the RV is idle between uses.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Kirk]

If you plan to do your own electrical work, I suggest that you first buy a volt/ohm meter similar to this one and study the instructions to learn the basics of using it. You should also take the time to read The 12V Side of Life, parts 1 and 2. That will give you needed information to work with the majority of the RV electrical systems. You should probably watch Understanding 120V in Your RV or some other video.

The fan that you heard very likely is in the 120V to 12V converter as they are quite common and tend to get noisy when aged. The CO detector light was flashing to warn of low voltage and stopped when the converter had charged things back to probably around 11V. RV electrical systems are mostly pretty basic but you do need some knowledge and use care as they can also cause a fire or some other disaster. Most of the appliances will be powered by 12V, such as the furnace, water heater & refrigerator controls, lights and pretty much everything except the microwave, TV, and air conditioner as well as that very important 120V/12V converter.

 

[pheasant16]

Thanks guys. Have a buddy that's service manager for an RV dealer here, and have learned through many years of experience that if you are unsure of what you are doing; an expert will get it done in 1/10th the time, and probably less expensively in the long run with better results. My Heavenly Father also appreciates me calling on Him less when I just whip out the credit card.
Will drive over and visit with buddy today. Canceled the 8am appointment with him, so need to let him insult me for taking food out of his mouth. LOL
Will read the book Kirk as like to understand what's happening even if I have someone else fix the trouble.
Thanks again

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

if you are unsure of what you are doing; an expert will get it done in 1/10th the time, and probably less expensively in the long run with better results

Provided you can find an expert. Most/many self proclaimed pro's know less about what to do than you do. So I save a step and do everything myself even though it means climbing the learning curve.

Bought a 1997 class C in pristine condition last year

If it's a winnebago you can get the engineering drawings for it. You don't have to wonder and guess then, you can see how it was built.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[pheasant16]

Kirk
You said converters fans tend to get noisy as they age. Just wondering if I might find something newer that would maybe be quieter, and maybe recharge the battery quicker and act as a battery tender. What I've read about convertors is they can take multiple days to recharge when more than 1 battery in the coach set. The fan is an annoyance, but if easily fixed I wouldn't be opposed to spending money on something not yet broken.
Thanks
Mark

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

If you have the original converter in a 1997 you're definitely due. With a modern converter you will get what is the shortest practical recharge time without undue stress to the batteries. It will also safely maintain them in storage (power loss and damaging surges notwithstanding). Of all the ones I've reviewed the Progressive Dynamics models with the optional pendant is the one I would pick.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Kirk]

Just wondering if I might find something newer that would maybe be quieter, and maybe recharge the battery quicker and act as a battery tender.

The place to start is by looking at the converter that you have now to see what brand & model it is. With that information we can give you better information. If you don't know what you have now pictures of it would help. If we assume that you still have the original converter, and quite likely you do, then it will be pretty easy to upgrade after more than 25 years.

While you are about it, do you have the typical 30A power cord found in most class C units? Does your RV have a built in 120V generator?

 

[pheasant16]

The place to start is by looking at the converter that you have now to see what brand & model it is. With that information we can give you better information. If you don't know what you have now pictures of it would help. If we assume that you still have the original converter, and quite likely you do, then it will be pretty easy to upgrade after more than 25 years.

While you are about it, do you have the typical 30A power cord found in most class C units? Does your RV have a built in 120V generator?
View attachment 165158

Yes it has 30A cord. Here's a picture of the converter and generator. The generator has 180 total hours.
It must have finally got the batteries topped off, only thing now is a little humming. No fan noise when I took picture, but that bugger is annoying when running. I'm thinking something newer would maybe give me better maintenance of the batteries with less effort. Didn't know how fast this converter charges, but never pulled the caps to be sure it wasn't boiling. With what I read previously if it can take days to recharge couldn't have been charging very fast. That would be good to know how much the current one puts out.

 

[pheasant16]

Just read the label, 0.5amp. DOH!!! Homer here

 

[Kirk]

You have a Magnatec 6345 converter which was a very common OEM converter back in the day. Yours is a 45A model. There are several brands of possible replacements but I would look into a 6345RU Converter Replacement 6345RU Converter. They are designed as a replacement for the 6300 Series Power Centers.

 

[pheasant16]

Kirk
Was reading what the link provided, I couldn't find where it gave a charger output rate, but if I added some optional temp assure gizmo it would adjust output based on battery temp.(still nuthin in black and white). Will most likely have to find a dealer to get that info. Without that; sounds like spending money for the sake of spending money. Am thinking as long as current one is only noisy, will just buy a battery charger/tender that I can move between vehicles if I want to charge it faster than installed one does.

 

[pheasant16]

Thanks for your input. If unit does crap out, have the replacement model to ask for.

 

[Kirk]

I couldn't find where it gave a charger output rate,

Specifications:
Amps: 45 Amps | Dimensions: 3.65″H x 10″W x 7.5″D | Listed: ETL Listed | Replacement: Lower Section Unit for B-W Manufacturer and MagneTek™ 6345 | Series: RU Series | Special Feature: 11-position 100 ADC fuse block, including blown fuse indicator

 

[pheasant16]

OK. I'm missing something. Both units are 45amp. The old one states charging rate 0.5amp. Like I said previously, know squat about electronics. Am I to assume the new one is capable of charging at 45 amps and regulated by temperature and computer? Guess in my previous life it wasn't documented, it wasn't true. No black and white, no way. Old habits die hard.