No house charge on shore, yes on generator

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No house charge on shore, yes on generator - 1746 - 06-07-2023

I have an interesting one. My house batteries have a 14 amp draw when plugged in to shore power. Due to this they are slowing drawing down. If I start the generator it immediately starts to recharge the house batteries.

On an other maybe related issue, my rear A/C is not coming on either using intrepid or the bypass switch in the ceiling. Yes I have checked the breaker

I have done a complete coach shut down, by shutting off the house batteries, shutting off the chassis batteries, and unplugging the coach and waiting 20 min.

Thanks in advance for your help or thoughts

JD

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - RobSC - 06-07-2023

When plugged into shore power, what is the voltage on the house batteries? Voltage on house batteries when using generator?

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - 1746 - 06-07-2023

Current plugged into shore is leg 1 122, leg 2 122, House voltage 12.3. - See Photo
If I start the Generator it voltage goes to 13.9 and amp draw goes from -14 to plus 130 or so.

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - CaptainGizmo - 06-07-2023

[UPDATE: SHOOT, by the time I made this long post, you came back with some info. Ooops. Please call Newell asap; I'm not certain what's going on and you need to be walked through their trouble-shooting sequences.]

Hi JD,

A few things:

First, you really should reach out to Newell service on this for numerous reasons; primarily, you're under warranty and anything like this should be fed back to them, even if it is your fault.

My first question is DO YOU HAVE a Progressive EMS box at the post? If not, you should...it's a vital piece of protection BEFORE anything hits your coach. Yes, the Newell has on-board protection, but trust me, it's ALWAYS better to have protection EXTERNAL to the coach, whether electrical, water, etc. Makes a simple AND CHEAP fix should anything to awry

Also, the Progressive will tell you diagnostics AT THE POST (source) prior to anything coming into the coach that can only be read on the Intrepid panels, or Outback panels.

So, WHAT IS YOUR 50A shoreline service voltage reading? If you're drawing down on shoreline, you've either NO voltage coming in, or you're outrunning it. A surprising amount of new Newell owners don't have an understanding of load-balancing the system will do. Some think you can run every appliance when hooked up...nope. IN fact, the system will protect itself, and will even disable certain 220v loads like the dryer, A/Cs, if the dryer vent isn't open.

EDITED: This sounds like one of your Inverter breakers may have been tripped, or an Inverter isn't charging. Also, the load transfer breaker is down in the e-bay and is a big black box with a small breaker on it; check that just cuz. Check your Outbacks Mate3 panels while you're down there.

This is a sequence type of question that a phone call to Newell will solve. I have helped and walked through other new owners with similar problems, but it's in person or on the phone. I'm certainly willing to help if you message me.

Oh, and if you are on Facebook, Newell administers their own NEWELL VIP group there. Grant, Todd, and various other experts watch that group's posts carefully and it can be a good resource.

Forgive me if you know all of this already, but...
This is my video in which I explain the Progressive: https://youtu.be/BHCedA7ce0Q

and I also made a more current "Electrical Sources 101" video: https://youtu.be/nWmRhoW_zCk

Hope this helps.
Steve

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - 1746 - 06-07-2023

Steve

Thank you for your response and your videos. Yes, I have Surge Guard plugged in at the post then the coach plugged into that.

I will call Newell, I am sure they will be very helpful, wont be at the coach until after hours today and I hate to call the emergency line unless it really is an emergency. So tomorrow I will give them a buzz,

I agree, it seems like one of the inverters has shut down.

JD

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - RobSC - 06-07-2023

As Steve noted, I would also power cycle the Inverter(s) via the breaker(s).

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - bikestuff - 06-07-2023

Do you have a separate inverter panel? Can you check and see if it has a setting for “Charger”. On the older Magnum panels, it was pretty easy to turn off the charger and you would not be able to charge batteries from shore power.

Bill

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - 1746 - 06-07-2023

Update - working theory. Thank you for all your helpful replies and thoughts.

The house battery was down to about 12.3 so I remote started the generator (love that) and let it run for about 5 hours, batteries charged like a champ. When I shut it off it appeared that the house batteries were lightly charging off the pole about +5 amp. Hmm thats strange. I arrived back at the coach and began to investigate, the charger was still functioning off the pole.

Opening the Electronics bay I half expected to see one of the inverters off but all lights were on. I went through the events screen and noted a low voltage event. The coach is currently parked at West World in Scottsdale while we prep for our big 70 day trip. I have noted that as demand comes up during the day and the heat rises the voltage on Line 1 drops. I think the inverter went into load shed and protection mode. Its hot and the A/C have been running pretty hard.

So for now that is my theory, when the voltage drops tomorrow it is my plan to start the generator and let it run during peak hours. I don't see a way to fire the Gen with AGS triggered by low incoming voltage so I will monitor while away from the coach.

Once again thank you. I was pretty active on IRV2 in the Newmar forum and I and grateful to have found you all. I will try not to ask too may stupid questions and once I am up on the learning curve will try to help others.

Now, next is to figure out why the rear A/C does not come on and how to reset it. Hopefully the low voltage did not zap it!

Respectfully
JD

PS: Just as I finished this post the charging has stopped, voltage is 121/121 and I have a -14 amp draw on the battery. That theory would seem to be wrong House batteries are back to 12.4 when just and hour ago they were over 13 while taking about 5 amps. I am monitoring remotely as we live about 2 miles away. I wonder if I have a bad battery... Shoooot. More work, monitoring and understanding to do. Or maybe I and just watching the new coach too closely and need to let it do its thing. Former coach was a 21 London Aire #5 of owned coaches, not a total novice but the Newell is a whole different level. Thanks again for all your help.

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - Richard - 06-08-2023

Hmmmmm, my first inclination is to dig into the charge profile settings. That will tell you what it is programmed to do. Then you can go from there to see if that is what is happening. I would be looking for the trigger voltage to initiate recharge, any low incoming voltage cutoff points, and any options to recharge upon power up.

I dont know what charger/inverter you have. My comments are based upon a charger that i once had that would default to a full charge cycle anytime the power was interrupted and restored.

RE: No house charge on shore, yes on generator - 1746 - 06-08-2023

Update #2.

Stumped Newell or a bit but we finally unplugged from the pole, waited about 30 sec and plugged back in. It started charging off the pole. Theory this that sometime when you change power sources, it gets a but confused and the charging map need to be reset.

Stay tuned see what happens today.

JD