Low voltage

[AbdRahim]

Anyone experience a error code E01 on a Xantrex inverter, when the battery guage still says 12.6v? This is a low voltage shut down. I experienced this twice this week. The first time I tried to see if I could go all night without running the generator. At 4 AM all was shut down. Battery house batteries were at 12.1 v. This time I have only been sitting for five hours everything except the refrigerator is off, not even using lights. These are one and a half year old AGM batteries from Newmar.

I checked the cables and all seem to be tight. The inverter is set to shut down at 10.5 v.

 

[sheridany]

Have you tried resetting the inverter. Some have reset button near the on off switch. I am wondering if you have a bad battery in your series. You may want to have the batteries tested to confirm they are working properly.

 

[AbdRahim]

Thanks, no I did not reset it.When I start the generator the error goes of within a minute or two.

 

[sheridany]

So if I understand the situation, you are not plugged in and once you shut of the engine and the generator is not on, you start losing voltage over how long a time period? Does the error code generate immediately or after some period of time? I looked up the error code and it didn’t reveal much. Attaching a YT video on resetting it.

 

[sheridany]

Did you get your issue resolved?

 

[Neal]

Waiting for more details above but if you are plugged into shore power a Hughes Autoformer may be something to consider.

Amazon.com: Hughes Autoformers RV220-50-SP, Voltage Booster with Surge Protection, 50 Amp: Automotive

Buy Hughes Autoformers RV220-50-SP, Voltage Booster with Surge Protection, 50 Amp: Power Inverters - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[AbdRahim]

Thanks, folks. Had a rough two days. Last night two people hit my coach while parked at a truckstop. Long RVs trying to turn into a space between two lagre RV’s and the could not fit. Oh, the paperwork. Cops too busy to respond, had to fillout the police report online. Anyhow, the damage was minimal. The dented and scratched one or two of my slide toppers. I wand them replaced since I don’t tolerate dents and scratches on my vehicles. I hope I don’t have to argue with the adjuster too much.

So back to the battery issue. I think I am ok. I ran the generatorfor nine hours, at which time the didplay indicated it was no longer charging the batteries and the bank was full. I then unplugged essentiallyeverything but the refrigerator, even unplugged the microwave and shut off the generator. Every 1.5 hrs, I got up to check the voltage. At a little over 5hours the voltage was down to12.3. The generator was restarted at this point for a refill. No errors, although my gfci’s popped in the kitchen and bathroom when the generator was running - no big deal.

I checked each battery and each rea 6.45 v. I think the problem was that I was shutting off the generator when the disply showed float, but was still charging. Apparently, they are not fully charged until the indicator shows no more charging occuring.

Now thathat I am back on shore power, I plan to clean the ground connections as they are pretty dirty (inside the front grill. Then Iwill some day test to see how long I can survive on batteries alone. Best case scenario seems to be 8-10 hours.

Question: Newmar put in six 6v batteries. I looked at some 12v agm’s which appear to provide a total of 300 or more total amp hours. Is there a significant benefit to six 12v batteries. Ultimately, I wish for lithium, but that is not going to happen for a while.

Thought I knew a thing or two. Turns out it was only a thing or two out of hundreds of thousands. Still learning.

 

[Rich W.]

There are pros and cons to both 12 and 6 volt batteires, but it seems to come down more to what will fit in the space, what provides the most amp hours for the size of the bank, and what fits the budget.

So I’d put battery voltage last on the list when doing my comparative research and get the most amp hours I could in the space available, taking into considerstion of course that in series you double your voltage but keep the same Ah and in parralell its the other way around. But you probably already knew that.

When I replace my battery bank, if I don’t go with lithium, it will be with as much AGM amp hour capacity as I can fit, with either 6 or 12 volt batteries - I really don't care which.

 

[TheLooks]

How To Maintain Batteries - Deep Cycle Battery Store

THE BASICS ON BATTERIES *Important Items Highlighted/Colored First things first. A 12-volt battery is not a 12-volt battery. Twelve volts is just a nominal, convenient term used to distinguish one battery from another. A fully-charged 12-volt battery, allowed to “rest” for a few hours (or days) with

deepcyclebatterystore.com

I disagree with the 10.5 volt cutoff. Even if it is under a load, it is harming the batteries for the long term. The only solution is more batteries and that leads to lithium. Less weight, more amps.
It sounds like the damage is done and the recharge process cannot get them up to a full charge without excessive charging which most likely is almost superficial as they quickly drop back down to a reduced state. Once a battery hits 12 v it is half discharged.

 

[Rich W.]

How To Maintain Batteries - Deep Cycle Battery Store

THE BASICS ON BATTERIES *Important Items Highlighted/Colored First things first. A 12-volt battery is not a 12-volt battery. Twelve volts is just a nominal, convenient term used to distinguish one battery from another. A fully-charged 12-volt battery, allowed to “rest” for a few hours (or days) with

deepcyclebatterystore.com

I disagree with the 10.5 volt cutoff. Even if it is under a load, it is harming the batteries for the long term. The only solution is more batteries and that leads to lithium. Less weight, more amps.
It sounds like the damage is done and the recharge process cannot get them up to a full charge without excessive charging which most likely is almost superficial as they quickly drop back down to a reduced state. Once a battery hits 12 v it is half discharged.

That is the best battery maintenance and charging article I’ve ever read!