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Old 01-01-2018, 07:35 PM   #1
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Onan battery on it's own?

Hello all,

I looked around multiple forums but couldn't find any specific details and I found that my manuals are rather lacking (which will be corrected by the dealer soon). I have the Onan 5500 and we recently started planning our summer trip that will be ~15 days of dry camping so I thought it prudent to see what the battery setup looked like to make some plans. Well, I admit I missed this during the walkthrough but it looks like I have 2 batteries (24MDCST) with 85 ah but they are separated from each other. 1 ties directly into the generator and that's it, and the other ties into the trailer. Dumb me for some reason thought they should be running in parallel, but I am not sure. Also, looking at it I don't see how the generator battery is recharged since it is isolated from the camper and I don't see anywhere that the battery is charged directly from the Onan. Can I tie it into the charging system, or even run them in parallel or would that be a bad idea? Thanks.
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Old 01-02-2018, 02:42 PM   #2
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seems odd... 85ah isn't very long... sounds like you have car batteries... Normally they are hooked in parallel but it sounds like you have one dedicated to the generator so when hooked to shore power you have nothing charging the starting battery for the generator? which I could go with... but then only the gen charges that battery the gen starting bat? and how does it charge the house battery? is there some sort of switch between them? maybe some pics might help .. something just doesn't sound quite right...

are you sure there aren't cables branching off that you can't see?
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Old 01-02-2018, 03:05 PM   #3
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Onan battery on it's own?

I’m out right now but I’ll get pictures later. There are thicker cables that connect directly to the generator for the starting battery and that’s it, the house batteries are charged when the generator is powering the camper but I can’t find anything tying the generator battery to the camper otherwise. The Onan manual is kind of horrible since it shows multiple models it is really vague but the generator MAY directly recharge the battery at a very slow rate but I’m not sure.


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Old 01-02-2018, 04:19 PM   #4
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Sounds like the dealer didn't connect them up right. They add them as they don't come from the factory with batteries.
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Old 01-04-2018, 10:44 AM   #5
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Sounds like it was set up by a boater.......Boat guys have separate batteries, one to start the engine and another bank to run the electronics, pumps and trolling motors. That way when you run the batters low with the toys, you can switch back to the main battery, start the engine and get home.
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Old 01-04-2018, 07:22 PM   #6
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Most Onan RV generators do not have windings to charge 12v batteries. They typically rely on the RV manufacturer to install a converter with battery charging capability. If there is not an isolator circuit which allows the generator battery to charge from the house battery circuit, I would guess it's hooked up wrong. I know the 6 batteries on my Seismic are all hooked together for the house circuit and there are two cables that run to the generator starting circuit.

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Old 01-05-2018, 11:34 AM   #7
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Boaters (as I am one) use the blue sea switch 7650 solenoid/battery dual circuit system.. It has the typical switch but comes with a relay the allows the start battery and house batteries to be charged while underway. It also separates them for draining... always allowing for the start battery to get you going again.. but you can switch them and combine them... I am going to install it on my trailer.. 2 6v for the house and 1 12 v for the start and then allow them to all charge when shore power or generator is running... pretty simple. I know I will always be able to start my generator or draw from that battery if the 2 6v go south...
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