Question When was the last time you exercised your GEN?

[TJ&LadyDi]

@TJ&LadyDi Is there a way to manually exercise the home genset again to see if it does it again? It seems like there is some linkage somehow.

I think there is, Sheridan, but I need to check the manual on exactly how. The other option is to wait two weeks and see if it does it again on the regular house-gen exercise. It runs the exercise every other Tuesday.

TJ

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

I was just taking a stab at maybe related. I’m not smart enough to be able to explain anything electrical. I know in aircraft strange things can happen due to relays (sensing type) with with extremely short millisecond settings, engineering later having to replace with even less reacting relays. Who knew that .0001 of a millisecond could make a difference.

When changing out ME-ARC on 2017 and resetting the programming I had AGS start generator even though it was disabled. Couldn’t ever figure out why it did start but settled down once I finished and never had it start unexpectedly again.

It did seem odd to me, Bill, that both generators started and ran during the same time period. We've never had the coach generator auto-start since we've had the coach (that I know of, at least) as I had not taken the time to enable it.

Since the coach batteries are consistently showing 13.6-13.7V, the trickle-charge function is on and we are connected to 30A shore power, I don't think any of the auto-start parameters were reached. And, auto-start shows "Disabled" in the SilverLeaf panel, I am really puzzled.

TJ

 

[NWIP]

Is this the first time for the whole house generator as auto exercised? If so will be interesting when it cycles next time with regards to coach.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

Is this the first time for the whole house generator as auto exercised? If so will be interesting when it cycles next time with regards to coach.

This is the second time the whole-house generator has "exercised" since it was installed. The first time, I was in the house most of the day, so don't know if the coach generator started. It could have, and could have run for the 240-minute max run setting, and I just didn't notice it.

I talked with my house generator guy today and he didn't see how the two things could be related, but didn't rule it out either. We are going to wait until the next regular exercise cycle on the house generator (Tuesday after next) and see what happens. Obviously, if I get an auto-start on the coach generator before then, we'll know something else is at work here.

TJ

 

[Neal]

While I don't have an answer to the GEN coming on while AGS is supposedly disabled, I wonder why anyone would ever set AGS to disabled other than taking the coach into service and they don't want the GEN coming on?

AGS is there for a reason and when the system is properly setup it's designed to help you. Whether the Air Conditioners are on and you lose shore power and you don't want to cook the pups or if the batteries fall to a level that need a charge and shore power is not present, etc. etc. I never disable AGS other than when necessary such as taking it into a service center. I will forget to re-arm it so this is something I personally never want to change.

Off topic but something I wanted to share my $.02 on.

 

[sheridany]

To @Neal’s point I don’t turn mine on very often as I am not confident the settings are correct. I’ll work on that this weekend. But a great point otherwise. I should probably turn it on in storage in case the breaker trips or loses power. I was worried about filling the building up with exhaust fumes. Sorry to detract from the real topic.

 

[TJ&LadyDi]

While I don't have an answer to the GEN coming on while AGS is supposedly disabled, I wonder why anyone would ever set AGS to disabled other than taking the coach into service and they don't want the GEN coming on?

AGS is there for a reason and when the system is properly setup it's designed to help you. Whether the Air Conditioners are on and you lose shore power and you don't want to cook the pups or if the batteries fall to a level that need a charge and shore power is not present, etc. etc. I never disable AGS other than when necessary such as taking it into a service center. I will forget to re-arm it so this is something I personally never want to change.

Off topic but something I wanted to share my $.02 on.

Well, apparently having it disabled is not that big of a problem: it auto starts anyway on my coach.

Point well made, @Neal and I've just never taken the time to verify the settings so that I was comfortable with using it. I will be doing that in the coming days. Looks like the battery voltage parameter is currently set at 11.8V; is that where it should be? Max run time was 240 minutes, but I reduced it to 120 minutes until I figure out why AGS is activating in Disabled mode. What other settings do I need to check/verify?

TJ

 

[sheridany]

Me too @Neal You could charge for this and teach us over Zoom. Push that button. No NOT that one.

 

[Neal]

I suggest taking a look at @redbaron article:

Simple Guide to Battery Life in your RV

He may want to elaborate on AGS and scenarios if needed, I have not read the full document but see he has an AGS section. The purpose of AGS is several but one that affects all is preventing the batteries from discharging. The ME-BMK improves upon this by using percentages but V is fine too. Essentially you want AGS to kick in before LBCO is reached and charge up to a certain voltage and then it will shut off. Make sure you don't prevent the GEN from getting to the upper end of the charged state. There is a document of defaults for the ME-RC/ARC controllers as well, may even be in the resources, haven't checked yet.

 

[redbaron]

The AGS settings are something that I typically keep disabled. The reason is that my RV is stored inside, and it would be disastrous to have the garage smoked by my generator.

When I am boondocking, I do use the AGS, with a combination of SOC (vs voltage) and quiet time settings, if applicable.

I recently started lowering my SOC, with my new setting being 40%.

When quiet time settings are used, you can have the generator run proactively for a few hours before the quiet time begins.

I do not have any solar, and only have the stock AGM batteries. This setup works well for me.

Another use of the auto start is to have the ac demand start the gen. When we are traveling, I use the generator in auto start, and set the thermostat for a comfortable setting.

This really reduces the generator usage. For example, when we leave our Texas home in June for Montana, we usually take 70 hours to make the journey. We will stop at a campground one night, but boon dock 2 nights. My 2013 did not have a setting to auto start based on thermostat demand, so I would start the generator and let it run until I arrived at the campground. This was 50+ hours of generator usage each way.

Last year we did the trip in our 2019 DSDP, and the generator only used 15hrs going up, and 18 on the way back.



2019 DSDP 4369 * Active Air * NHSO

 

[Neal]

I found and uploaded the document I had for ME-ARC settings (v4) to the Resources area (must use browser, not viewable in Tapatalk)

Magnum ME-ARC Settings

Settings checklist for ME-ARC controllers, possibly out of date but a good reference or document for recording your settings.

rvforums.com

 

[Neal]

The AGS settings are something that I typically keep disabled. The reason is that my RV is stored inside, and it would be disastrous to have the garage smoked by my generator.

When I am boondocking, I do use the AGS, with a combination of SOC (vs voltage) and quiet time settings, if applicable.

I recently started lowering my SOC, with my new setting being 40%.

When quiet time settings are used, you can have the generator run proactively for a few hours before the quiet time begins.

I do not have any solar, and only have the stock AGM batteries. This setup works well for me.

Another use of the auto start is to have the ac demand start the gen. When we are traveling, I use the generator in auto start, and set the thermostat for a comfortable setting.

This really reduces the generator usage. For example, when we leave our Texas home in June for Montana, we usually take 70 hours to make the journey. We will stop at a campground one night, but boon dock 2 nights. My 2013 did not have a setting to auto start based on thermostat demand, so I would start the generator and let it run until I arrived at the campground. This was 50+ hours of generator usage each way.

Last year we did the trip in our 2019 DSDP, and the generator only used 15hrs going up, and 18 on the way back.



2019 DSDP 4369 * Active Air * NHSO

A garaged coach is another scenario that I can see would warrant turning off AGS, however, an idea came to mind. While at the Balloon Fiesta I saw quite a few coaches using dryer vent tubing to divert the gen exhaust out to the front away from the close neighbors. I could see a setup in a garage where you add a dryer vent and attach a dryer vent line from the gen exhaust to the dryer vent when parked. This would allow AGS to remain on such as a situation where a severe storm takes out power, a hurricane, etc. depending on your circumstances.

Yes, I too have been walking down the SOC as I use a step down approach in my setup with solar followed by shore power followed by gen.