Questions for SMB Caretaker - Page 2

Scalf77 · 10-17-2021, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlsm

Hi again,
You have all been so helpful, thanks very much. Scalff 77, I will need a while to digest your post. I just want to make sure your info is relevant for a 2001 (your post mentioned 91).

Yes I meant "01" or 2001. Some chargers don't handle a completely dead battery, and at best 8 hours at 10 amps and the battery would not even 50% charged. Try driving and bringing the voltage up, and then put on the charger to completely bring it to full charge,

Pulling the fuse works for killing the alarms is OK, but should not be as normal practice. Eventually the sockets will become loose overtime.

I use a Victron Energy BPC121531104 Blue Smart Waterproof Battery Charger 12/15 with Bluetooth to keep my Transit starting batteries charged up.

-greg

vandiesel · 10-17-2021, 07:20 PM

One trick I learned to bring back a dead battery is to hook it up to a known good battery that is on a charger itself. The good battery can often times bring back the dead one. I don’t have the technical knowledge to explain why but have seen this work.

jlsm · 10-17-2021, 07:44 PM

VandDiesel: Thanks for your reply. I can't access the terminals of the house battery, otherwise I would try to charge it directly from a charger. I tried via a charger to the van battery, and it didn't work, which I now know is due to a one-way flow controlled by the isolator. The house battery is under the van, and even though the manual says there should be screws in the flooring, I don't see any access points.

Greg: I drove for approximately 6 hours on the freeway (with some down time) and it came up quite a bit. 11.60, I believe. I also bought an adapter so I'm plugged into 110 right now. I believe it should be 15 amps. The 12V system works, so there must be *something* that converts the 110 to 12V, right? Is this the separate charger that is mentioned in the manual (separate from the inverter)? I will let it charge over night, and then see how quickly it drops. Or should I drive more to get it up in the 12's? And, I appreciate the warning about the fuse removal. I won't use it repeatedly, and once my immediate issue is fixed, I'll go back through your options.

Eric: I'm following your suggestion and plugging into shore power. Fingers crossed.

Thank you again for all of your help.

Scalf77 · 10-17-2021, 08:42 PM

So the manual always shows the basic build with the converter/charger. If there was a larger inverter installed then generally they have a charger also. So you wouldn't have a separate charger/converter. When you plugged in you would have most likely seen the voltage go up, at some point it should reach the Absorption target of 14.x volts and after sometime move to a float stage. This of course depends on the charger.

Hopefully you have a charger, but most of your 12 volt side would still be working off of 11.6 volts, so saying the 12 volt side is working doesn't really clarify that a charger is on board.

-greg

jlsm · 10-17-2021, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vandiesel

One trick I learned to bring back a dead battery is to hook it up to a known good battery that is on a charger itself. The good battery can often times bring back the dead one. I don’t have the technical knowledge to explain why but have seen this work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scalf77

So the manual always shows the basic build with the converter/charger. If there was a larger inverter installed then generally they have a charger also. So you wouldn't have a separate charger/converter. When you plugged in you would have most likely seen the voltage go up, at some point it should reach the Absorption target of 14.x volts and after sometime move to a float stage. This of course depends on the charger.

Hopefully you have a charger, but most of your 12 volt side would still be working off of 11.6 volts, so saying the 12 volt side is working doesn't really clarify that a charger is on board.

-greg

Hi Greg, When the 110 is plugged in (ie shore power) vs unplugged (no shore power), the little icon on the Innova changes from the circle to the battery, so hopefully that means there is a charger. One can hope! What do you think?

Scalf77 · 10-18-2021, 05:58 AM

Yes, that would indicate that it was on a charger, especially if just prior the battery was at 11.6. I expect it is in Bulk Charger mode and that value will go up. The general converter they install is a progressive dynamics intelli-power, I think it would be the 9001 series. It has an output of 13.6 volts, so as the battery charges it should get to 13.6 volts (minus some voltage drop) on your 12 volt display.

If you have a charge wizard installed you will see a boost mode to 14.4 and then drop to 13.6.

-greg

Scalf77 · 10-18-2021, 06:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scalf77

Yes, that would indicate that it was on a charger, especially if just prior the battery was at 11.6. I expect it is in Bulk Charger mode and that value will go up. The general converter they install is a progressive dynamics intelli-power, I think it would be the 9001 series. It has an output of 13.6 volts, so as the battery charges it should get to 13.6 volts (minus some voltage drop) on your 12 volt display.

If you have a charge wizard installed you will see a boost mode to 14.4 and then drop to 13.6.

-greg

Actually after a little more digging, I suspect the battery indicator means it is just battery power. Did the voltage on the display read 12.6 or is that the stock picture?

-greg

jlsm · 10-18-2021, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scalf77

Actually after a little more digging, I suspect the battery indicator means it is just battery power. Did the voltage on the display read 12.6 or is that the stock picture?

-greg

When the shore power is plugged in, it shows the circle symbol and is reading 13.01. When the shore power is unplugged, it shows the battery symbol and is reading 11.66 (but probably dropping). The 3 amp fuse is still out so there should be no draw. I conclude that the 110 is reaching the battery, therefore there must be a charger, but that the battery might not hold the charge due to being depleted all the way. I will continue gathering readings. Thank you so much for your help thus far.

BrianW · 10-18-2021, 10:00 AM

When I bought my first SMB the house batteries were dead from sitting so long. I had a 10-hour drive home in the dark and after a few hours of highway driving all of a sudden a bunch of ceiling lights and stuff in the back all came on. Scared the heck out of me! [emoji3] The dead battery and gotten enough charge to power the lights, which I guess the previous owner had left on. While they worked with the engine running and feeding the battery, they wouldn’t hold the charge and had to be replaced.

jlsm · 10-18-2021, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianW

When I bought my first SMB the house batteries were dead from sitting so long. I had a 10-hour drive home in the dark and after a few hours of highway driving all of a sudden a bunch of ceiling lights and stuff in the back all came on. Scared the heck out of me! [emoji3] The dead battery and gotten enough charge to power the lights, which I guess the previous owner had left on. While they worked with the engine running and feeding the battery, they wouldn’t hold the charge and had to be replaced.

Thanks, this is helpful. And that's a great story.