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Old 07-25-2014, 10:38 PM   #1
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House battery not charging from shore or van

Hello all, I'm trying to get out the door on a trip and I'm having a house battery problem.

First off the house battery is original on a 2006 so it may be done it's the larg AGM I believe. I have a Tripp Lite inverter. The current voltage on the battery is about 7.5 volts.

When the van is running the house battery is not charging, I did hear a click and the battery started charging but I shut the van off and when I restarted it did not start charging again.

When I plug into shore power it does not charge either. I am plugged into a hot GFI outlet in my garage. The GFI plug in the van has no power and I have reset it. According to my Sportsmobile manual the shore power goes directly to the van GFI out let first so I should have power at that outlet unless it has gone bad.

Allen at Sportsmobile said my house battery is probably toast.

Thanks in advance for any help.

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Old 07-25-2014, 10:48 PM   #2
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

I'm no expert, but at 8 years old and 7.5 volts, it has probably had it.

Before you put in a new battery, make sure your TrippLite is putting out voltage to the battery when plugged into shore power.
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Old 07-25-2014, 10:57 PM   #3
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

Thanks for the input. The Tripp lite is not putting out power when I'm plugged into shore power and according to my manual the shore power goes to the GFI outlet then the breaker panel then the inverter. So maybe I have a bad GFI
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Old 07-25-2014, 11:12 PM   #4
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

I believe the GFI is only for your 110v outlets. The battery charge function on the TrippLite should have separate wires going to the battery. EDIT: Oops, I didn't read your post closely enough. Can you check the GFI with a voltmeter to verify it's dead?

My TrippLite has a Reset button. Maybe yours does too. Try pressing that and see if it puts out voltage to the battery. If the TL was malfunctioning and not charging, that's why your battery is so low.

I still think your battery is toast, tho. Once a batt gets below about 9.5-10 V, it's gone.
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Old 07-26-2014, 08:49 AM   #5
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

Your battery should always be charging when the van is running. If not, you have a problem with the battery isolator/separator under the hood. This has nothing to do with the Tripplite. Apparently it's not charging via the Tripplite either (when plugged in) so I think you may have two problems. First thing I would do is check, clean and tighten all of your battery connections, especially the grounds, and look closely at the ones on your battery isolator. Is your front battery charging OK? Also, as Photographix stated, there is a reset on the Tripplite. There's also a reset on the outlet. If your Tripplite is the model with a 3 position toggle switch and LED lights you can troubleshoot via the lights and switch positions, but I have to always use my Tripplite manual to do this. Tripplite's customer service has helped me as well over the phone. Did you switch the Tripplite off (toggle at center position) and see if all your other AC outlets still work when plugged in? They should work when the inverter is switched off.

I hope this helps and doesn't further confuse the issue. I have the Tripplite manual and can help you more if needed.

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Old 07-26-2014, 02:50 PM   #6
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

I think I do have multiple problems.
1. My house battery is done
2. When I plug into shore power no power is getting to my outlets or the inverter. I checked the breakers, I was having trouble resetting the GFI so I replaced it but can't get the new one to reset at all. I checked the power chord and it has power at the socket that plugs into the van.

My starting batteries are fine. I'm going off of the Mark solar charger to see if the van is charging the house battery, when there's is no light hitting the solar panels and the van is running the charging light on the Mark does not come on. With the van off and sun hitting the panels the charging light is on.

One of my kids got strep so I'm not going anywhere now. Thanks for the help.
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Old 07-26-2014, 03:50 PM   #7
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

Not sure if you have an isolator or separator, but maybe you can check the voltage at whichever one you have to see if you are getting voltage to the house system.
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Old 07-26-2014, 09:07 PM   #8
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

I'm not sure either the book that came with the van is vague. I need to pull the coolant tank to see if there is an isolator under the tank.

I'm going to replace my 8 year old battery and clean everything and see we're that gets me.
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Old 07-26-2014, 09:34 PM   #9
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

An easy way to check would be to pull the cables off the existing house battery and start the engine. Get a voltmeter and test the positive cable to see if its getting any juice. Theres most likely several wires connected to the clamp, just keep them all on there since one will be the feed from the isolator/separator.
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Old 07-27-2014, 12:24 AM   #10
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Re: House battery not charging from shore or van

Not too sure about the Tripplite operation but if the battery is truly dead, it might appear as a short to the inverter causing it to kick out of the charge mode. Just a guess but it sounds like a dead battery yet you should look over other possibilities as suggested in the thread.

A dead house battery can also cause the separator to open if the alternator can't supply enough current to push the battery above 13+ volts. Many times the separator will close while the van is running then quickly open as the batteries voltage tapers off in a short period when the alternator charge is stopped after the engine is shut off. This can also happen with a semi-shorted wire that is touching the frame.

The GFI might be a separate issue...mine is not wired before the breaker panel but is the first of the line of outlets. With it off, the inverter still works and only the outlets wired behind will be dead if the GFI trips. Not sure how each van is wired though.
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