| Author | Message | ||
| Mark (66.43.13.11) Rating: |
I purchased two new 8D batteries the day I bought my bus. I have been starting the bus about once a week to keep them charged, etc. Yesterday the batteries were too weak to start the engine. My question is: How should I hook up the charger?! Or does it matter? Since there are two batteries, do I need to charge them separately or can I leave them hooked up and connect my charger to the positive of one battery and the negative of the other? Eventually I would like to purchase a solar trickle-charger to keep the batteries maintained. Any suggestions as to how much wattage I should plan for? Thanks for the help! Mark '75 Gillig 636D | ||
| two dogs (67.30.23.110) Rating: N/A |
you have a battery drain....no need to charge till you find out whats draining the bat.,suggestion,disconnect the batterys & charge them,dont reconnect till you find the problem | ||
| Mark (66.43.13.107) Rating: N/A |
I agree that there is a drain somewhere. In fact, I think I may have found it. So anyway, back to charging my batteries. If I charge one, will the other one get a full charge at the same time? And as for the solar charging - assume that I have no drain on the batteries while parked. Thanks again Mark | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong) (24.127.74.29)
Rating: N/A |
Mark - Your batteries should be disconnected and charged individually. Best is with a charger that will go into "float" mode when full charge is reached. Be sure to check the water level before you start charging, and only add distilled water, if necessary. Besides the drain you've found, starting the coach about once per week will draw far more out of the batteries than letting the engine idle for awhile. It's also not a good idea to just let the Detroit idle - it will build up sludge, and you'll get a lot of slobber out the breather tubes. If you have to fire it up, take it for a 50 - 100 mile run to burn the crud out of the crankcase, plus it's fun to play with your toy!! If the coach is going to sit for about a month at a time or so, your idea of a solar trickle charger is a good one. I'd suggest you get two, and hook one up to each battery (batteries disconnected, of course). HTH, RJ PD4106-2784 Fresno CA | ||
| Don KS/TX (66.82.9.32)
Rating: N/A |
I am not sure if you have a 24v or 12v system, but if 24v there is no need to disconnect the batteries, you can just stick a 12v charger on each one, or switch off from battery to battery if you have only one 12v charger. I think RJ's advice was intended for if you have a 12v system. | ||
| RJ Long (Rjlong) (24.127.74.29)
Rating: N/A |
Don - TTBOMK, all the Gillig skoolies had 12v systems. Their Phantom transits, both regular and low-floor models, are all 24v. I may be "corn-fuzzled" on the issue a little bit, but it seems to me that you get better results if you charge the batteries individually, regardless of whether or not it's a 12v or 24v system. . . Or am I missing something here? RJ | ||
| Don KS/TX (66.82.9.39)
Rating: N/A |
You are right that for an optimum charging of each battery, disconnecting the two in a 12v system might do that (although they are never disconnected when being charged from the engine on a day to day basis). | ||
| Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (216.67.215.19)
Rating: N/A |
Prefered method of charging batteries on a 24 volt system is use a 24 volt charger. If this is not available, then disconnect the 2 batteries from themselves and the bus and reconnect them in parallel (one can use a set of good quality jumper cables) and then charge them together with a 12 volt charger. This way they both get charged to the same level. By disconnecting all the battery cables, it gives one an excuse to clean all the connections and make sure they are good and tight. Peter. | ||
| Don KS/TX (66.82.9.30)
Rating: N/A |
Sure Peter, but some of us are lazy and cheap, and I was merely pointing out that with no work whatever, you can just hook a 12v charger (they are inexpensive) to each battery, no disconnections required. I used a pair of cheap automatic ones while converting, keeps the batteries up and makes them last longer, and you can just leave them hooked up all the time so you have bus DC power at will while working on it. While camped for extended periods, I chose to use a 24v automatic hooked to the 120v bus supply, rather than suck off the inverter charger. Worked swell. | ||
| drivingmisslazy (24.196.191.70) Rating: N/A |
I have four 8-D's, connected in parallel for a 12 volt system. I have for years used a 12 volt charger to recharge them if required. Since the output of the charger is divided among the four batteries, the final charge time is longer, but it works great. In my opinion it is not necessary to disconnect them for a one time recharge. Richard | ||
| Phil Dumpster (12.230.214.167) Rating: N/A |
I don't know about your Gillig, but my Flyer has a disconnect switch located in the battery compartment. Whenever I'm done with the coach I open the battery box and yank the switch to the disconnect position. | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
Couple of things here. On my Crown, if I fire up the main warp engine every month or sooosss and let it run for about 30 minutes, the recharge sometimes is NOT enough to bring the two 8D batteries back up. I noticed this watching the dash panel volt gage, which would creep lower and lower between the firing ups. Eventually it would get low enough soosss the low voltage alarm would sound. It takes an hour of running around.... ...to bring the batts up to around 13.5 volts(indicated) Also my Crown has a 12 volt system, but a 24 volt starter. Has some sort of parallel series switch on the starter. It will start on one battery, does does not like to. When I recharge the two batteries with a remote charger, I just hook up one battery and it seems to recharge both. This is confirmed with the fluke multimeter thingy. I do NOT know what voltage your Gillig has--may be 12 volts--may be straigh 24 volts, or like my Crown, a combination of both. Goood luck. | ||
| Mark (66.43.13.34) Rating: N/A |
Thanks all ~ By the way, my Gillig is a 12 volt system with a 12 volt starter (at least that is what I beleive!) It seems that I have some options here to consider. I, too have a battery disconnect, which I will be utilizing a little more often. Thanks again! Mark 75 Gillig 636D | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A |
I think my battery disconnect only disconnects the power to the starter(80 Eagle). You need to turn it off and then check and see if it removes all power.Richard | ||
| dougthebonifiedbusnut (136.217.0.198)
Rating: N/A |
I cnt believe Fast Fred hasnt cleared this up yet IN my opinion he is the battery guru BUt I dont think you are waisting your time by dissconecting each battery and charging them inidividually but is is however not neccessary. I have opted to use four series 60 batteries because if one goes bad I can replace it quickly,easily, and inexpensively those big 8d's are expensive when goes bad,. I just put my automtive charger on 12 volt medium and let it go all day freshens them up nicely In dont want to take any of FF's thunder but he gave me the best rule of thumb so far when he said that you loose 1% of batery life per day so like in henrys case thats 1/3 of his battery life between charges which explains why 30 minutes may not be enough to bring his batterys back to 100% | ||
| FAST FRED (67.75.109.208) Rating: N/A |
IF all the batts in the string are of same type and age , chjarging all together will be fine , but perhaps slow. IF your attempting to "revive" a start batt that went DEAD (if you did this there is always at a loss of capacity) a seperate long charge , with an Equalizing charge at the end is best. Equalizing is a 1% of 20 hour rate at about 16 V for a few hours , ADD WATER after. The rulle of thumb of 1% per day is ONLY for fairly new batts (in warm weather) , for batts that have been flattened or are getting old the internal loss can be 3% per day. Best is a power cord and smart (expensive brain) charger or a single large rooftop PV pannel with charge regulator. For those that have PV many times you can get away (not Recomended) with no regulator if the daily output in W is about equal to 1% of batt bank cap figured at at 20 hr rate in watts. Never let them go below 50% , and if you want a good set to last 10 to 12 years never let them go below 70% and recharge fully 100% as soon as you can. AS usual the last 5% or 10% will take many hours , which is why solar works far better than short cycling with the noisemaker which always damages the set from never being fully charged. FAST FRED | ||
| Mark (66.43.13.38)
Rating: N/A |
Pardon my ignorance, but how will I know when my batteries are AT 70% or 60%, etc? I am taking notes! I want my batteries to last! By the way, math is not one of my strong points! Since I have two 8D batteries, how many watts of solar power should I be shooting for? (Just to maintain the batteries - considering aproxamately 1% loss per day) Finally, does anyone have a source that they like for this type of solar set-up? Please advise!! Much thanks! Mark | ||
| Peter E (Sdibaja) (200.76.240.28)
Rating: N/A |
Mark: go to http://www.westmarine.com click on West Advisor at the lower left of the page click on West Advisors in the middle of the next page under Electrical clik on Solar Panels... good basics Peter E | ||
| FAST FRED (67.75.106.235) Rating: N/A |
First you will need to get deep cycle batts , most (not All) 8D are starting batts and can seldom be drawn down even 20% with out loosing service life. Then go to bogartengineering.com or to the Trace site and look for the LINK accessory for their inverter$. Or find E-meter in a search and spend the $200+ a detailed instalation . Any of the above will display the AH used and the batterys state in % of charge. Easy isnt it! The other (po- boy ) way is with a temp compensated hydromemeter and some graph paper. Much LESS fun! FAST FRED | ||
| Charles (66.26.229.95)
Rating: N/A |
Richard, How do you use the 4 8Ds. | ||
| drivingmisslazy (24.196.191.70) Rating: N/A |
The four 8-Ds are house batteries, connected in parallel, for 12 volt output and I have them going thru a marine type disconnect switch, so I can disconnect them completely. The starting, or coach, battery consists of three type 31 batteries, also connected in parallel for a 12 volt system. They go thru a disconnect switch, but it only disconnects the starter, so that the bus can not be started but all the rest of the coach system, such as the headlights, have power. I suspect it was wired like this to prevent somebody from stealing the bus. I do not know if this is standard Eagle wiring or not. Richard |
