I really need HELP! - Page 3

sdwindansea · 02-27-2009, 02:15 PM

On the 2007 SMB, does the house battery automatically start the van if the van batteries are dead/low, or do you need to do something for this? I still have the original batteries on our 2007 SMB. I should mention that it is my every day driver, so it gets driven at least 4 to 5 times a week.

Jeffrey · 02-27-2009, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdwindansea

On the 2007 SMB, does the house battery automatically start the van if the van batteries are dead/low.

Apparently not! Unless my system is faulty. I kinda like the manual separator the Jage suggests. Then you can tell what each system is doing.

**BroncoHauler** · 02-27-2009, 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffrey

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdwindansea

On the 2007 SMB, does the house battery automatically start the van if the van batteries are dead/low.

Apparently not! Unless my system is faulty. I kinda like the manual separator the Jage suggests. Then you can tell what each system is doing.

I was thinking the same thing. "Automatic" backup systems mask a lot of symptoms.

Herb

sdwindansea · 02-27-2009, 04:46 PM

Thanks. So my next question is, how do you use the house battery to jump start the van?

CJ · 02-27-2009, 05:18 PM

I have a 2007 with inverter and seperator and yes it does switch the starter bat over to use the house bat.

It wasnt untill my starter bat self detructed that i found out. Didnt even get a tic tic out of the starter bat and while I was looking at the dash gettting red in the face I herd a click, the key was not all the way off and suddenly i got dash power back so a half turn more and it started as if I had a great starter bat.

long and short.....depending on the elec system you have it may "automatically start".

scatter · 02-28-2009, 09:45 AM

On my '07, the house battery does kick in to help starting. BUT, it isn't part of the starting equation until the key is in the crank position. That means that when you turn the key on to heat up the glow pins (diesel only) and the cranking batteries are low, you just get flashing dash lites and lots of weird stuff. When you turn the key to crank, the house battery kicks in and the engine cranks, but in cold weather it takes quite a lot of cranking as the glow pins are not hot. I now have a small jumper wire with alligator clips that I use to jump on the crossover solonoid to connect the house battery into the system when my cranking batteries have bit the dust. That way the glow pins heat up and all is well. Just have to remember to remove the jumper after it starts.

jage · 02-28-2009, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scatter

BUT, it isn't part of the starting equation until the key is in the crank position.

When I was writing that kind of stopped me in my tracks... "they wouldn't really tie the diesel batteries together, just in the crank position would they?" makes sense in a gasser, but in a diesel I'm thinking that is just daft.

CJ · 02-28-2009, 02:22 PM

Not exactly sure how it's tied together,

but I can tell you how it does work. When I start it and its dead (I mean not even dash power) I have to wait for a minute or two untill I hear the (I beleive its the seperator)? click and then it starts right up. Exactly as it does if the starting battery was good. The reason I think its the seperator is because the click comes from under the couch where the seperator is.

I think I need to know how it's wired ........

AHhh sherlock let's go find out.........

scatter · 02-28-2009, 07:04 PM

I agree with you Jage. Doesn't make sense in an oil burner but that's the way it is in my rig. I even disconnected my starter batteries and turned the key on to check it. No power to the dash that way. Turned the key to crank and the house battery kicked in. Go figure....

**daveb** · 03-05-2009, 03:21 PM

This has been posted before but a good way to test your starting batteries if you have a solenoid separator is to pull the ground wire off it. The separator SMB uses will stay open with the ground off and if your starting batteries are bad it will not be able to use the house battery. If you have weak batteries or 1 bad starting battery in a diesel, the engine will crank slow and not sound normal. Its probably a good idea to do this now and then to know the status of them especially if you use it as a daily driver. The way I found out I had a bad starting battery was when I charged off shore power. The amperage jumped up to 50 A or more when charging. This told me I had a bad battery in the bank or a short. After I pulled the ground off the separator the van had a harder time starting. It was a matter of dropping each starting battery and testing it. Of course Ford would not tell me the truth about the single bad starting battery and felt if the vehicle would start it was OK. Glad you got Ford to pay for a new set of batteries Jeffery, they screwed me. After I got my trouble fixed I bought a battery switch to install. That was over a year ago. One of these days I'm gonna get it out and install it....one of these days.
DaveB