# Battery charging problems on 2001 Damon Challenger



## greyone (Sep 28, 2006)

We recently bought the challenger which is based on a Chevy Workhorse Chassis, the problem started after swapping the original 2x 6v house batteries for 4x 6v sealed batteries wired in series/parralel to give 12v at 240 amp/hour, unfortuneately, due to my friend connecting the batteries up wrongly i.e. negative to black and positive to chassis, the batteries are now correctly connected, but, do not charge when connected to site mains, or when vehicle in motion, when on site mains, the internal lights run fine from the charging/load unit housed in one of the rear lockers, and this unit is giving out its 13.6vdc as it should. Does anyone know if there is protection fuses or diodes which may have been damaged, and does anyone know how the split charging happens for the batteries, when the engine is running, also, any information ref the battery connect/disconnect would be helpfull, i.e. should the batteries be in "connect" mode or "disconnect" mode when vehicle is in motion, and sited with mains?
Also, does anyone have any user manuals for the Damon Challenger range preferrably 2000 on. 

Many thanks. Greyone.


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi Greyone

Great user name by the way, makes me think we should be sat crossed legged smoking pipes with our squaws running around the wigwams lol.

As to your problem I might suggest contacting Damondunc, one of our subscribers. He is an expert on this sort of problem and will no doubt be able to assist.

stew


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hi greyone
Welcome to MHF and the world of RVing mate.....
Have a look at This Site and you can download info etc which may help you.
With regard to your charging problems, RV's in general do not charge the coach/house batteries from the motor alternator when the engine is running. The batteries are only charged from the mains. If you have inadvertantly reversed the polarity of the batteries then it is possible that you have lifted a trip somewhere near the charger or transformer. Check for all and any trips and ensure that they are in the on position. There may also be a fuse somewhere but I have no idea where, sorry.
You have a facility on the dash, usually called "emergency start" or something similar, which pulls in a relay to connect the coach/house batteries in series to the starter batteries so that you will have enough power to start the engine in the event of the starter batteries becoming flat. This has nothing to do with charging though.
Hope this helps

Keith


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

Hi
Small addition to my previous post.... I have just had an email from JSW to let me know that all the RV's he has had experience with do in fact charge the house/coach batteries from the alternator when the engine is running.....
Our Rockwood certainly doesn't do this and when I asked the question about it several people all said that it was normal for this to happen.....
Hope this helps

Keith


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

*battery charging problems damon challenger*

Hi,
If you have a look under the hood (bonnet) you may see a large black plastic box with battery control centre written on it, remove the cover and you should see some small grey thermal trips with a black button on the front, one of these trips may have tripped, press in the black button and it will reset. This trip provides the link between the converter(charger) and the leisure batteries.
Sorry to disagree with Keith but when the engine is running, the leisure batteries and the vehicle battery should both be charged via the alternator and the same solenoid that controls the emergency start. Conversly when the RV is hooked up to the mains normally the converter only charges the leisure batteries.
The reason that the leisure batteries are not being charged is that the converter has two outputs one to charge the batteries and the other runs the 12 volt interior lighting etc.
The other thing that may have happened is that you may have blown a fuse link which could be anywhere.
All this info is based on our Damon which is a 1999 model.
Regards Duncan.


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## 88927 (May 10, 2005)

*Re: battery charging problems damon challenger*



damondunc said:


> Sorry to disagree with Keith but when the engine is running, the leisure batteries and the vehicle battery should both be charged via the alternator and the same solenoid that controls the emergency start. Conversly when the RV is hooked up to the mains normally the converter only charges the leisure batteries.
> 
> Regards Duncan.


Hi Duncan
Yes it would seem from my email as mentioned above that this is the case.... I did ask the question before and a lot of people told me that it was normal, that's what I get for listening to advice :lol: :lol: :lol: 
Can you please ensure that you have one of these relays on board when you service Rocky, I will be in touch shortly to arrange this with you matey :lol:

Keith


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## damondunc (Feb 14, 2006)

Hi Keith
I am a bit slow on the old keyboard and your ammendment came in whilst i was typing  
If it is a standard relay i keep them in stock anyway, just give us a shout when your'e ready.

Regards Duncan


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## 98452 (Apr 2, 2006)

So when driving both engine and leisure batteries are being charged but when on hook up only the leisure ones are being charged?

PS:- my batteries are on slide out tray but seems to have a catch as I can only move the shelves a fraction yet they seem in the small amount of movement the slides are running free is there a trick to open the catches?


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