Dumb Chargers

[06 Bill]

  I have a couple of dumb chargers in the 20 amp range that will charge forever on shore power. When I switch
over to 2500w honda genny they will both click on and off via their internal breakers on the 12 volt output lead. My
? is what could cause this, high voltage, high or low hertz etc. ?   Thanks in adv 06 Bill.

[FloridaCliff]

Bill,

Most likely is caused by the output of your Honda generator.

It is probably really a generator, feeding an inverter, and the inverters output is not a true sine wave.

This clipping causes the chargers not to work.

Cliff

[robertglines1]

are the 120v plugs on the chargers 3 wire--supply -ground-earth ground..I'm following post to learn...sounds like some type of reverse polarity problem? How does everything else run in coach ok ?  curious.-Bob

[06 Bill]

My generator is not the inverter type. Old type tech constant speed gov control. Everything else in coach works just
fine, Tvs, Computer, and all manner of other 120 volt stuff. 06 Bill

[John Z]

Are you sure it is the generator acting up? When the chargers fail and click off and on; if plugged into shore power, do they still fail?

[FloridaCliff]

Bill,
My generator is not the inverter type.

OK, That rules out my first guess

? is what could cause this, high voltage, high or low hertz etc.

Maybe, I would rule these out first though.

I had one power pack that would never work on my Ole Generator, it had a very tight voltage range.

Let us know what you find on the Voltage, Hertz ?

Cliff

[Sean]

Bill,

This kind of problem is really difficult to diagnose remotely; I can think of dozens of things that might cause this.  Make and model on the chargers might help.

Your generator's frequency is probably not the problem, as very few plain chargers are sensitive to this.  I would, though, check the voltage with a good meter under normal operating conditions and make sure it is in the range 110-125 volts.

That said, my best guess is a combination of two factors:  Chargers that don't like their outputs wired to their inputs (this type of charger really can't be used on a conversion) along with a ground and/or neutral wiring error that masks this behavior on shore power but not on the generator.  This theory is easy to test if the charger can easily be removed from the coach.

Double-check that your shore ground is properly connected and that your neutral bus is properly isolated on shore service, and fully bonded at the generator.  Also that whatever mechanism you are using to switch between shore and generator switches the neutral along with the hot(s).

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[robertglines1]

gen set running and some things in coach running..connect battery chargers..prob occures..on your gen set it will supply 20 amps max output..so what is 120 demand in coach when hooked up...how much power do chargers (120volt) amps to run?could we just be running out of amperage that is available..low supply power to charger?