[InfiLights]

Hello all ,

Tying to sort out some things i don't understand about Newell yet....
On the dash we have a 3 position switch that is supposed to merge the 2 banks of batteries.
I verified that it does that when the switch is moved from center to the down position. Works.
What does this switch do when it is pushed in the up position though ? ......
Thanks

[bikestuff]

There are other threads that talk about this...but I think the answer is mixed into other thoughts....so here goes...

The merge switch activates a relay in the rear electrical panel. Its purpose is to merge the house and engine batteries. It needs to get power to do its thing. That power can come from either the engine batteries or the house batteries. The switch lets you choose between the two. In one position, the power comes from the house battery, in the other from the engine battery. I am not sure how your switch is wired so trial and error is the way to get it to work.

You may wonder why? In one case, you leave the key on and kill the engine battery....you need to activate the merge using the house voltage.
In another case, you drain the house batteries by leaving TVs on over a long period. In order to start charging the house batteries, you can merge with the engine batteries (hopefully with engine running)...obviously using the engine batter to operate solenoid.

Newell has recommended to me to leave the batteries merged all the time. I cannot bring myself to do that. I usually only merge if it is really, really cold outside and want some extra power to start the engine.

Finally, the merge solenoid is a known failure spot. Newell recommends changing the solenoid on a regular basis (like annually or bi-annually). The thinking is that we need to change the solenoid before it fails.

Hope this helps.
bill

[InfiLights]

There are other threads that talk about this...but I think the answer is mixed into other thoughts....so here goes...

The merge switch activates a relay in the rear electrical panel.  Its purpose is to merge the house and engine batteries.  It needs to get power to do its thing.  That power can come from either the engine batteries or the house batteries.  The switch lets you choose between the two.  In one position, the power comes from the house battery, in the other from the engine battery.  I am not sure how your switch is wired so trial and error is the way to get it to work.

You may wonder why?  In one case, you leave the key on and kill the engine battery....you need to activate the merge using the house voltage.
In another case, you drain the house batteries by leaving TVs on over a long period.  In order to start charging the house batteries, you can merge with the engine batteries (hopefully with engine running)...obviously using the engine batter to operate solenoid.

Newell has recommended to me to leave the batteries merged all the time.  I cannot bring myself to do that.  I usually only merge if it is really, really cold outside and want some extra power to start the engine.

Finally, the merge solenoid is a known failure spot.  Newell recommends changing the solenoid on a regular basis (like annually or bi-annually).  The thinking is that we need to change the solenoid before it fails.

Hope this helps.
bill

Thank you Bill. I understand the logic of the merge and agree with the intended function.

My question is.....why does the switch have 3 toggle positions ?
In the middle position, the power comes from the house - all good.
In the down position it merges the house with the Chassis banks to aid starting and viceversa- solenoid engaged, all good working fine- banks merged.
In the up position .....can't seem to find it does anything ??? Am I missing something ?

This switch is like the Tag switch. in the middle is normal. push it in up position it air up the tag more and pushes it down to increase weight carrying capacity. Flip the switch now in the down position and it lifts the tag to make turning easier.......so , 3 way...

The Merge switch I am talking about is 3 way as well and the up position seems to do nothing....should it be a normal switch instead of the 3 way ?

[RussWhite]

Center is OFF
Down merges using power from either chassis or house to energize the relay. Can't remember which is which and it really doesn't matter. The two positions allow you to get the merge solenoid energizes regardless of which set of batteries happen to be dead.
Up is the opposite use of power source.
Both UP and Down should energize the merge relay if both sets of batteries are normal.

Russ

[Fulltiming]

Marius, as Bill pointed out, the center position is non-merged. The batteries should be merged in either the up position or the down position. If you have a really low voltage on one of your banks of batteries, and that is the bank that the switch is using to power the relay, they would not merge. Newell put in the three position switch to eliminate the potential of not having enough voltage to engage the relay. If the voltage of both banks is enough to engage the relay, it doesn't matter if you put it in the up or the down position BUT if one bank of batteries is really down and you ONLY had a two position (Off-On) merge switch, you might not be able to energize the relay to merge the two banks of batteries.

You should find that under most circumstances the up position merges the batteries just as the down position does. Are you saying that the up position does NOT merge the batteries? If so you either have a bad switch, a bad connection, a short in the wiring (or miss wired), or one of your battery banks is seriously depleted.

[InfiLights]

Marius, as Bill pointed out, the center position is non-merged. The batteries should be merged in either the up position or the down position. If you have a really low voltage on one of your banks of batteries, and that is the bank that the switch is using to power the relay, they would not merge. Newell put in the three position switch to eliminate the potential of not having enough voltage to engage the relay. If the voltage of both banks is enough to engage the relay, it doesn't matter if you put it in the up or the down position BUT if one bank of batteries is really down and you ONLY had a two position (Off-On) merge switch, you might not be able to energize the relay to merge the two banks of batteries.

You should find that under most circumstances the up position merges the batteries just as the down position does. Are you saying that the up position does NOT merge the batteries? If so you either have a bad switch, a bad connection, a short in the wiring (or miss wired), or one of your battery banks is seriously depleted.

Great thanks. Understood. Makes sense and I will dig into it deeper.

I have a newer set of 6 8D batteries in the house bank that were installed by the previous owner but they are regular engine wet cell cranking batteries instead of RV Deep cycle or AGM....bad advice he got, I think.....

The 2 chassis batteries are Interstate 8D and are older and don't hold power very well. Also the EchoCharger is busted so there was charge going to them on shore power, only charging when the engine ran. The previous owner was told not to use the merge switch and kept it in Off position all the time out of fear that it will "cook the batteries".
 
I will select 2 of the best current house batteries to put on the chassis - figure out what to do with the rest of 4 and just ordered a new set of six 8D AGM's for the house bank.

[77newell]

On my 77 coach all the batteries when starting batteries, 2 for starting and one house. I left the merge switch on all the time. The batteries used water but lasted 8 years so I doubt the ever got cooked.

Without knowing how you will use your batteries it is impossible to judge your house batteries. If you rarely or never boondock, then the 6 8D batteries you have are totally loafing. You could in fact remove some of them with no negative effects. Just because the factory put that number doesn't mean that is the right number for the way you intend to use the coach. You could get by with fewer or you may need more, it all depends on how your coach is used. Figure out how you will use the coach, then you can calculate how many of which of type battery will work.

All I'm saying is that the previous owner may have had exactly the batteries he needed for how he used the coach, how you use the coach determines what you need. There is no universal standard for battery capacity applied to all our coaches.