Battery question

[Bruceper]

When I bought my 1992 Pleasure-Way it didn't have a chassis battery. I just installed one today. No issues with installation, lights work etc.

Was there any kind of regulator installed to prevent overcharging of the chassis battery? I suspect not due to it's age but I thought I would ask those that know.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by Bruceper

When I bought my 1992 Pleasure-Way it didn't have a chassis battery. I just installed one today. No issues with installation, lights work etc.

Was there any kind of regulator installed to prevent overcharging of the chassis battery? I suspect not due to it's age but I thought I would ask those that know.

when you say chassis battery do you mean house battery.

[Bruceper]

Good point, yes I mean house battery.

[gerrym51]

then if it's a wet cell battery and you have the original charger your fine,

if you used an AGM battery and you have not upgraded the charger you need a 3 stage charger

[Bruceper]

It is a wet cell battery, it's an old(ish) deep cycle marine battery.

[gerrym51]

my opinion is that the old chargers were made for that so good to go
i don;t know if an alternator would overcharge it

[Davydd]

My 2005 Pleasure-way Plateau came with a converter/charger that would overcharge your battery. I would guess yours would do the same. Pleasure-way did not switch to a smart charging converter (PD9200 series) until 2006 as I recall.

Check your converter. Mine was a 9100 series Progressive Dynamics. If you have the same then you can buy a Charge Wizard module that plugs into it that will make it a smart charger that won't overcharge. I paid $33 for a Charge Wizard but that was about 8 years ago.

[wincrasher]

They aren't any more expensive now. You could buy a new converter/charger with the smart wizard built in for less than $150. It's an easy change-out, the wiring and screw holes are exactly the same if you buy the same amperage size unit as you're existing.

[Bruceper]

Sounds good. Now if I only knew where the converter/charger was located lol

Any assistance with that?

[wincrasher]

It's under one of your cabinets most likely. If your fusebox is mounted on a cabinet near the floor, then it's probably close by. Mine was under the false bottom of the closet.

[Davydd]

Mine was in the ottoman space on the driver's side over the wheel well.

[markopolo]

Sometime you can hear these things humming or buzzing or even a fan noise.

I'd suggest using your multimeter to get some baseline numbers. Record the voltage reading at the house battery with the engine idling and also with the engine off and the coach plugged in.

The old converter / chargers often have a steady 13.8v DC output. And, on the alternator side of things, there's often a voltage drop caused by the isolator and or the gauge of the wiring.

Typically, in a rig with an older converter / charger and an isolator and small-ish wiring, the battery never gets fully charged (14.4v dc). That chronic undercharging and partial state of charge cycling shortens the calendar life of the battery.

As a side note, some AGM's specify 13.8v dc as their float voltage so the old converter chargers may have some use if you can make sure to get the battery fully charged by some other means on a regular basis.

If you can find a battery manual or spec sheet for the battery you bought then you'll be able to look up the charging and float voltages the battery manufacturer specifies for it.