[hypoxia]

The Battery Merge was not working.  I ordered a replacement TE Connectivity LEV200A4NAF , the installation is relatively simple.  It tripped the resettable fuse in the rear fuse box as well as blowing the Emergency Start fuse in the front fuse box.  I also replaced the Battery Merge Relay in the rear fuse box on principle.

       

[Jack Houpe]

Thats a lot happening there, thank goodness for safe guards. What do you think caused all this Jim?

[CaptainGizmo]

Ha...ironically, I just mentioned this on your other post about the DEF relays!!

HEAT...ROOT CAUSE IS HEAT!!  That Load Center is the DEATH SENTENCE for these relays, the MERGE RELAY being the lead fatality...as you found out!!

NOTICE the browning of the seal on the top?  YUP, that's discolored FROM HEAT!

This is exactly what happened to mine and put 1524 down for the count! Look below...look familiar? 

We replaced it with a heavier duty version (200A if I recall) which Newell has had better success with. Looks as if that's what you've got there as well.

Newell refers to the other one as a "KLAXON" relay (not positive of its function) and we replaced that one as well.

[Jack Houpe]

Dang that did get hot! Bigger is better when it comes to the capacity of those batteries and the current they can share.

[hypoxia]

My last coach had a Big Boy relay.  It would get corrosion on the contacts but you just take it apart, clean the contacts and you're good for a year or so then repeat.  This one is sealed so that's not an option.  It's easy to jumper the terminals if needed when travelling.

[Jack Houpe]

Jumper bingo!

Jim please educate me on the merge and when you should do this, I have never merged the batteries in our coach but never had a problem with engine or house batteries. Is it common to merge the batteries while underway?

[hypoxia]

Jumper bingo!

Jim please educate me on the merge and when you should do this, I have never merged the batteries in our coach but never had a problem with engine or house batteries. Is it common to merge the batteries while underway?

The Merge relay joins the Chassis and House batteries together.  If one set of batteries are low you merge them to give enough power to start the engine or generator, if the chassis batteries aren't charging when on shore power you can merge them.  1482 automatically merges them after engine start to charge the house batteries while underway.

[Jack Houpe]

Thank you, keeping the chassis batteries charged while siting long periods of time is important I've had a C-tech charger on ours for months now, never thought about merging them and let the inverter charge them till now. 

[hypoxia]

Newell refers to the other one as a "KLAXON" relay (not positive of its function) and we replaced that one as well.

I think Newell was referring to the Sensata Technologies Klixon Series of circuit breakers.  Klixon is a quality brand circuit breaker which is used in the aircraft industry as well as others.  I have some in my airplane parts bag.  I'm wondering what the Buss Hi-Amp protects and if they have had problems with it.  There were 6 of them in my last coach and I think I replaced one in 7 years.  I foolishly left my spare Buss Hi-Amp breakers in my shop.

[Richard]

Jack,

There are several different philosophies on the merge switch use. For years, Newell told owners to leave the batteries merged all the time.

I do not subscribe to that logic for two reasons. The first is that sooner or later while you are not attending the coach, the power pedestal or plug in will cease to provide power. If that goes for a few days, then you return to DEAD batteries for both the engine and the house. Since Newell does not provide a standalone battery for the generator, then you are dead in the water. Yes you could reset the input power and wait for the charger to do it’s thing, but it’s an inconvenience, and very hard on the batteries. The second reason is that I have a large lithium bank and small Leece Neville alternator. No way will I put the load of charging those lithiums directly on the alternator. 95% of the time the coach is a pedestal queen so alternator charging of the house batteries is not something that is required for us.

So I leave the merge switch OFF unless I have some sort of emergency. I have an echo charger that separately keeps the chassis batteries up. It was a pretty common item for Newell to install in our era coaches. Look in the driver side inverter bay. It usually resides in a carpet covered box mounted on the forward wall of that bay with some 12V fuses and cable connections.

Others may have different approaches, and I am not saying they are wrong. This is what works for me.