cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

House/chassis battery issue

ramsaymike
Explorer
Explorer
I have a 2007 Coachmen Concord DS275 and discovered that the only way to charge the chassis batteries is by the alternator. Shore power charges house batteries only. This is a real issue for me as the engine cracking speed is critical in starting the 6L Ford diesel. I also have a solar system but it too is house only. I would like to be able to use the solar charging as needed to keep the chassis batteries fully charged. The battery interconnect solenoid would seem to be what I need to use but when I activate it (apply 12v) the headlights turn on which greatly reduces the charging efficiency. Any ideas appreciated.
2014 Cedar Creek Cottage CRS
2007 Coachmen Concord M275 (6.0 diesel)
30 REPLIES 30

ramsaymike
Explorer
Explorer
As I understand it the problem is not that unusual and is likely due to leaks in the high pressure fuel system. I don't think there is any danger to the engine just an unusual long crank when cold as it gets the fuel pressure high enough that the ECU allows it to start. It is a late '07 motor and has 124k km so about 77k miles on it and runs well otherwise. Faster cranking speeds (from fully charged batteries) do make a difference - thus the idea of keeping the batteries charged. Because I have a solar system on it I can use it to always keep the batteries charged but needed a way to include the chassis batteries which the new interconnect takes care of...
2014 Cedar Creek Cottage CRS
2007 Coachmen Concord M275 (6.0 diesel)

30sweeds
Explorer
Explorer
Off topic here but have you done much research on the Ford 6L diesel of that vintage?They can be a fantastic motor but many are major problem prone.There is a whole industry dedicated to fixing these inherent problems.While costly,maybe cheaper than replacing a blown engine in the middle of nowhere.Google Ford 6L diesel bullet proofing. How many miles on it now?

ramsaymike
Explorer
Explorer
No. I have added a separate relay. I do normally use the dash emerg start tor cold starts as it provides a better cracking rpm that reduces start time on the 6.0 diesel. This issue is related only to my motor and would not apply to most. I am hoping that the ability to keep both sets of batteries charged helps with winter storage.
2014 Cedar Creek Cottage CRS
2007 Coachmen Concord M275 (6.0 diesel)

MrWizard
Moderator
Moderator
Dash interconnect
Do you mean the Emg jump start button ?
That is there to Boost the chassis battery from the house batteries,
If the chassis battery is too low to start the engine
I can explain it to you.
But I Can Not understand it for you !

....

Connected using T-Mobile Home internet and Visible Phone service
1997 F53 Bounder 36s

ramsaymike
Explorer
Explorer
To complete the picture I have now added my own version of a trik-l-start - essentially my own interconnect relay that I can control with my on-board data system. Once the house batteries are charged (in float) I connect the batteries and let the solar charge the chassis batteries. Exact logic to be determined but it seems to work fine. I plan to use this approach to maintain both sets of batteries over the winter although the effect of heavy snow may need to be considered.
2014 Cedar Creek Cottage CRS
2007 Coachmen Concord M275 (6.0 diesel)

Bert_the_Welder
Explorer II
Explorer II
Glad to hear you found that before spending bucks casing ghosts. Fingers crossed that's it. :C
:h 1998 GMC 2500, 10.5 Okanagan, My better/smarter half, George and Finnegan(APBT), all I need.

ramsaymike
Explorer
Explorer
Problem has been resolved. It seems that the dash battery interconnect button must be pressed with the key off. I was pressing it with the key on just before turning to start! My solar system keeps the house batteries fully charged so with the button I get good cranking speed and a start in maybe 2-3 seconds rather than 5-6 seconds. I will leave as is for now but will continue to look for the current leaks. Thanks to all for the discussion.
2014 Cedar Creek Cottage CRS
2007 Coachmen Concord M275 (6.0 diesel)

Bert_the_Welder
Explorer II
Explorer II
I believe you said your batteries were new. It is possible you might have gotten a dud. I had that with one. I also currently have no radio b/c something in it went south and was causing a pretty quick drain. Definitely have an electrical check done. Could be a simple/cheap fix and nix having to do anything further.
:h 1998 GMC 2500, 10.5 Okanagan, My better/smarter half, George and Finnegan(APBT), all I need.

DrewE
Explorer
Explorer
ramsaymike wrote:

And somewhat related to the last comment it seems that the house batteries are under the entry step (2007 Coachmen Concord M275) while the chassis batteries are further back in a compartment. I thought it should be the other way around and actually took the unit back to the dealer to confirm but was told that it was correct. It seemed odd to me. Can anyone confirm that this is correct?


On a class C motorhome, which this model seems to be per a google image search, the chassis battery would be under the hood in the front. More generally, I'd generally expect the chassis battery (or batteries) to be in fairly close proximity to the engine on any motorhome, though I'm sure there may be some makes and models that have them in strange locations. House batteries can be most anywhere; under the entry steps is one quite common place.

time2roll
Explorer II
Explorer II
ramsaymike wrote:
Well I think the Trik-L-Start is a DC-DC trickle charger...no?
TLS is a combiner. When it senses voltage high enough to charge it will combine the batteries electrically at that charging voltage and allow up to 5 amps to pass through.

Typically an actual DC-DC charger is a bit different. A DC-DC charger will boost the voltage to give a faster charge. However this could drain the supply battery to 10 volts or less. A DC-DC is designed to boost voltage from a continuous power source to charge a battery at the end of wire that is a bit too long and too thin for proper charging. Also since the DC-DC charger creates a differential of voltage you could create a charging loop with multiple sources. Anyway this is not really what you need.

Trik-L-Start will work great.

However you may also need to look into why the battery is getting drained so fast. This will take some real time and deliberate investigation to isolate the issue.

ramsaymike
Explorer
Explorer
Well I think the Trik-L-Start is a DC-DC trickle charger...no?

And somewhat related to the last comment it seems that the house batteries are under the entry step (2007 Coachmen Concord M275) while the chassis batteries are further back in a compartment. I thought it should be the other way around and actually took the unit back to the dealer to confirm but was told that it was correct. It seemed odd to me. Can anyone confirm that this is correct?
2014 Cedar Creek Cottage CRS
2007 Coachmen Concord M275 (6.0 diesel)

ajriding
Explorer
Explorer
you have bigger problems if the batts are dead in 10 days. 10 days you should not notice any difference.

For a diesel you do have two "cracking" batteries, right? The compression of the pistons is higher than on a gas, but newer diesels maybe have a work-a-round idk. Mine was from 20 yrs ago.

If batt is dead then you have a voltage draw somewhere. Have fun finding it.

Using the jump start method, connecting the house batts will give more power, but because the house batteries might be far from the starter motor you will not necessarily be getting all the boost from them as if they were directly connected, close and with heavy gauge wire, and will prob never work for a diesel with a dead battery.

You say a trickle charger is too much problem? Sell the diesel and get a gas truck. A trickle charger plugged in is as easy as getting a drink from a water fountain. If this is too much trouble then nobody here can help you, and you will never be able to help yourself. sorry.

MEXICOWANDERER
Explorer
Explorer
Group 65 batteries were developed for this purpose. A pair of 65's will render almost 2,000 CCA.

Make CERTAIN your engine has a GEAR REDUCTIOMN ND starter and not a 20 MT Delco straight drive starter. Delco GLOW PLUGS are a world apart in durability and double check the cold timer for accuracy.

ramsaymike
Explorer
Explorer
Batteries are new. I will continue to monitor to see if there is something going on with a unknown current draw. (several modifications have been made by previous owners - alarm/remote start/... - so it is difficult to know exactly what is going on)

The use of a separate battery charger would require the inverter and seem more complex than just using the Trik-L-Start. It appears to have all the smarts to effectively replace the charger with no user intervention and would be an excellent long term solution. Maybe I'm missing something.
Thanks to all for the discussion.
2014 Cedar Creek Cottage CRS
2007 Coachmen Concord M275 (6.0 diesel)