Charging House Battery

loadmaster · 10-16-2015, 07:28 AM

Received a invert-er Generator as a gift. I do a lot of back woods camping so I thought this would be great to keep the house battery charged, as the heater sucks up some juice in these colder days. On the generator, there is a plug that takes some wires with alligator clips and on the plug and manual it is for 12 volt dc. It is unregulated. The manual says I need a charge controller. What the heck is that. Googled and still do not understand. Or does everybody do something else to keep battery charged. Thanks

ddrueckh · 10-16-2015, 09:23 AM

Just plug your trailer directly into the generator. You might need an adapter that goes from the 30 amp plug on the trailer to a standard plug on the genny. Also, tell us what brand/rating the genny is and we can help you figure out what you can and can't do with it. Charging a battery directly from the genny 12v is not efficient. Better to just plug the trailer into the genny 110 and let your onboard converter do the charging.

mike837go · 10-16-2015, 12:07 PM

X2 on just plug the RV into the generator.

I tried the just 12VDC thing this summer. Let's just say it was a 'less than desirable' outcome.

Although, there are plenty of folks very happy with solar panels keeping their batteries topped up.

**Mustang65** · 10-16-2015, 03:15 PM

X3 for plugging your RV into a generator.

Not sure as to what your on-board charge controller is but most that I have seen are good for 45Amps. The one I have is 45Amps. If you compare the statistics of the 12Volt side of generators, you will notice that they are 10Amps or less for DC output. So if you look at the 2 options in MOST cases your are better off plugging your RV's shore cable into the generator. The other benefit is that the RV's controller more than likely has a 3 phase controller to better control the batteries charging rate. Deep cycle batteries HATE to be charged fast!!

Don

Honda 2000 DC output is 8 Amps
Champion DC output is 8.3 amps

loadmaster · 10-17-2015, 09:16 AM

Thought I had the solution from all of your suggestions well that is not the case. Before I go further, driving a 67 Jayco Class C. Everything works when plugged into Shore Power and everything that works on DC power is fine. This Am went out disconnected the house battery and put a volt meter across the positive and negative wires going to the battery.
Plugged into shore power and got nothing on the volt meter. Tried switching the battery isolator switch to different positions with no luck. Made sure I had power to the unit before anybody ask's. So my thoughts are that back in the day, that the AC hook up did not have the ability to charge a DC battery or there is something wrong with with on board unit. Which is another problem. My house battery does charge when the MH is running. So if this unit is not able to charge a battery, back to my ariginal question what the heck is a charge controler?
So Mike, what happened when you tried this
Thanks

Seann45 · 10-18-2015, 06:48 AM

How old are your batteries? They are probably toast now from being dead.. NOW with your RV plugged in take a VOM and check the terminals at the battery.. this will tell you if there is power going to the batteries..... I am betting your batteries just died of old age... or neglect..

CHARGE CONTROLER it controls the charge going into the batteries.. if you say fed 10 amps into your batteries and it did not taper off as the batteries neared full they would start to boil and would soon boil all the electrolyte off. A charge controller reduces the amperage as the batteries get near fully charged so this does not happen.

You have a '67 RV replace the converter with a new 3 stage one since the one you have is probably just a bulk charger..

ALJO · 10-18-2015, 11:15 AM

Loadmaster let members know what make and model inverter/generator you have.
So they can help you better.

loadmaster · 10-21-2015, 10:00 AM

I resolved my charring issue from the on board system. I called Progressive Dynamics and the referred me to another company. Master Tech. Cannot say enough about this company. They walked me thru the trouble shooting of the charging unit and we narrowed it down to relay that can be had at any automotive store. That was after a couple of calls to try different configurations of the wires. What a great company. They also handle most parts for the progressive items. 1(800)848-0558. Now onto the question about my gen. Predator 2500. 2500W Peak and 2200 Running. DC output, is 12 Volt 8.3 amps.
So what good is the 12V 8.3A plug in for. Also where would I be looking for a charge controller. Thanks

mike837go · 10-21-2015, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loadmaster

I resolved my charring issue from the on board system. ...snip....

So what good is the 12V 8.3A plug in for. Also where would I be looking for a charge controller. Thanks

A) Congrats on getting the onboard charger fixed.

B) I have yet to figure out a good use for the 12VDC output on a genset. The 5KW Honda we use for the house has one. In 8 years the 12VDC outlet has never been used for anything.

You may also like: