2017 Melbourne 24L House Battery

[72buickgsconv]

I'm a new owner of a 2017 Jayco Melbourne 24L. Can someone tell me how the house battery charges on this MH. I looked in the bed compartment where most of the wiring is located and I see no charger, just wiring and the fresh water tank. My guess is the House battery must charge of the Alternator like the Chassis battery does! If this is how it works I would like to add a battery charger for the House Battery. I'm going to also try and get a wiring diagram from Jayco to understand how this works! Thanks Very Much!

[KenS]

Hi, I also have a 2017 M 24L. Are you currently having an issue with it charging? My understanding is that it charges off the alternator when driving down the road, off the genny when running, and off the 30 Amp AC when hooked up to shore power. My main issue with the house battery was the puny house dual purpose marine "deep cycle" 75 AH battery that it came with. OK if you never needed it to boondock, not even enough to run the gas furnace overnight plus fridge and others. very disappointing. I replaced the battery with a larger one and never have had an issue. On a typical 6 week trip we have 4-6 nights without AC hookup.

ken

[Stavman]

Originally Posted by 72buickgsconv

My guess is the House battery must charge of the Alternator like the Chassis battery does! If this is how it works I would like to add a battery charger for the House Battery.

Why add a battery charger? I'm confused.

Everything you said is true, or others said, how and what charges the battery. So I'm not sure why adding a charger would effect or help anything

Solar is an option to add, for camping IE boondocking. I use that a lot.
As mentioned if you have issues with it charging be sure the battery is good. Also sitting for long periods of time will kill a house battery. Disconnect it so all the parasitic drains on it stop

[72buickgsconv]

Hi Ken, What I really want to know is how does the House battery charge when hooked up to Shore Power, There must be a Charger somewhere. How else would the 30Amp Circuit charge the house battery? I too was disappointed with the 1 Deep Cycle House battery! I just installed Very large 155 AH AGM battery and so far were good. I just need to get an understanding of the way it charges off the Shore Power. I understand the Alternator while driving and the Generator! Thank You!

[Stavman]

Your converter charges the battery when plugged in to shore power or when genny is running

[Pfflyer]

My charger/converter I believe is in with the fuse/breaker box. I think it is all one unit if I remember correctly.

[bucko]

Your house battery will charge a couple of different ways...one, the alternator will charge it when you're driving. Another way has already been mentioned, by the converter whenever you are plugged into shore power. Another way is when you run the generator.

For this reason, the battery disconnect feature should be used whenever you are not using the camper. This helps in keeping the house battery from discharging. I always connect a battery tender to the house battery when the camper is parked, but I also keep my camper at my house. In the summer months (Florida), I plug the RV in a 30 amp outlet I installed at my house to run the A/C unit so the camper inside does not get "stuffy".

I also run the generator for 30 minutes each month (which also helps keep the house battery charged along with the battery tender and being plugged into the 30 amp outlet).

Folks who "boondock" camp will either run the generator for an hour or two to charge the house battery up (especially on cold nights and running the heater, as the heater will drain a house battery in a few hours), or they install solar panels.