One source we read said the alternator should be putting out 13.6 to 15.8 volts, depending on battery condition and the state of charge. If you step on the gas the voltage will increase a little. You will see the voltage your alternator is putting out at idle. Put the red probe of your meter on the center post and touch the black probe to ground – any metal of your engine or frame or negative post of your engine battery is ground. Put your meter on the 20 volt DC setting. To find out if the isolator is sending charging current to your batteries, start your engine and check the voltage at the center post that comes from the alternator. In the photos of this article we used a more expensive Fluke multimeter. It includes a diode test function as well. A low cost Harbor Freight model is shown to the right. You will need a multimeter to do measure the voltage. There will be some voltage drop across the isolator. It will allow current to flow from the alternator to each battery, but will not allow any current to flow the other direction. The isolator is like 2 one-way valves for electricity (which are called diodes). The isolator (Dodge shown) in the photo has the middle wire going to the alternator, the top wire going to the engine battery, the bottom wire to the house battery. The isolator on a Chevy will have 4 posts (an additional smaller post), while the isolator on a Dodge will have 3 posts. It will lead to one of the terminals of the isolator. If you don’t know what your alternator looks like, follow the big wire from the positive (+) terminal of your engine battery. It will lead to the center binding post of the isolator. If you have trouble finding the isolator follow the big electrical cable from the alternator. Location will vary from an obvious spot on the firewall to practically hidden under the engine battery. The isolator will be mounted under the hood, close to the alternator. We will assume you have lead-acid batteries (either AGM or wet cell), which have a fully charged resting voltage of about 12.7 volts.
#Battery isolator relay on coachmen leprechaun how to
Since our Class B has an isolator, we will describe how to find out if the isolator is the source of your charging problem. If you find you have a problem with either your house or vehicle battery getting charged, it is important to check your isolator or separator. Unlike an isolator, a separator will draw some current while idle. In addition to charging both batteries from the alternator, the battery separator allows both house and vehicle batteries to be charged when you are plugged into shore power. However this article will not discus how to test a separator although the process is similar. Shown at the right is a battery separator. The job of these devices is to charge both house battery and the engine battery, yet to keep the batteries separate or isolated from each other so you will not deplete your engine battery if you run your house battery too low (and vise versa). Alternator power flows normally through an isolator or a separator. Your alternator will charge both your engine battery and your house battery. The easiest and fastest way to charge your battery is to drive. If you camp without electrical hookups it is important that you keep your batteries in good condition and that they get charged. Battery Separatorīatteries are vital to RVers. Or you can spend a lot more on a more versatile multimeter.
A basic multimeter from Harbor Freight can do what you need for $5.99. Your will need a multimeter (sometimes called a VOM or Volt Ohm Meter). It is important to be able to do some basic troubleshooting yourself to fix the problem. Note that even if you have two (or more) house batteries we will use the single term battery in this article. Nearly every motorhome owner will at sometime experience a charging problem with their house battery.
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