Charging my batteries from generator

[TxMN2020]

Have use my honda generator to chargé our batteries 2 times nów, today being The second Tim’e, disconnected from generator, went inside to verify they full charges, and no Lightning or Power to anything on The master control at The door. Went inside when i initialy starter generator and had Power at than time. My FIRST attempt about a month Ago , same routine and no problem. We had our trailer winterized when we picked it up SO no experience with it SO far other than using generator to keep batteries chargéd. Recommendations when to start looking.

 

[jd1923]

43 minutes ago, TxMN2020 said:

... disconnected from generator, went inside to verify they full charges, and no Lightning or Power to anything ...

We had our trailer winterized ...

Given you did not work the winterizing, did they disconnect the batteries or do you have a cut-off switch for your batteries. No interior lights either? Hard to be sure from your description but it appears you have power connected to the generator and none when disconnected.

[Rolind]

Did you use a neutral grounding plug on your generator? Our EMS will usually but not always immediately block the generator from powering the trailer or charging the batteries. Not sure if your trailer has a built in EMS or not.  If you provide a bit more info, such as hull number, battery type, solar present or not, the forum members might be able to give you more specific help.  I hope you get this issue resolve quickly and it is something simple.

[Steph and Dud B]

So, you have interior lights when the generator is connected, but no lights without the generator? If that's the case, I agree with @jd1923 that it sounds like your batteries are disconnected somehow. Could be a cable, cutoff switch, or 12v circuit breaker. More details needed.

[TxMN2020]

Hull 1609, 2025 LE II, lithium with solar, and Yes used a grounding plug. Was successful FIRST time, will try again tomorrow, still learning The generator and trailer. 
 

 

[Steph and Dud B]

Ok. Lithium batteries. Do you have Lithionics batteries? If so, do you have the Lithionics app installed on your phone and linked to the batteries? If you do, what does the app say about your batteries' state of charge?

No app? Our Lithionics batteries have power switches on them which glow steady blue when the batteries are on, turn off when the batteries are off, and can blink error codes. 

What do you see on your battery power buttons? 

[TxMN2020]

I have seen The blue lights, all on in the past, trailer only little over month old, charged batteries when they Werę 50%, tok over a month after Comp,etę Charging to get to 50%, charged them FIRST time with Honda 2200 single generator, took a couple of hours to Complete chargé. I failed to chęck the level of chargé before this attempt to chargé, will try again using both Honda generators linked for 30 amp chargé. Have not set up the app as we arę not planning to use the trailer for a month longer. Getting our battery info off the round display on the curb side wall over the bed. Even this gauge was not indicating charge level and appears to not be powered up.

 

[Rolind]

I’m headed in a different direction and wonder if the breaker setting on I assume your xantrex converter/inverter may be set too high for your generator. The factory setting for breaker rating on our xantrex is 25A, but this is too high for our Honda eu2200 generator. I usually set my breaker rating to 20A or less if charging from the generator. If I try to run the generator with the breaker rating at 25 A, you can hear a change in the sound of the generator as it overloads and stops charging and the overload red light on the generator will light up. 

[Rolind]

Below is a screen shot from my xantrex app with the breaker rating circled in red.

[TxMN2020]

I am questioning why it charged very well the FIRST time using the one generator, with neutral bond plugged in on the generator, the only difference with 2nd attempt to charge with the same setup was i failed to check the amount of battery chargé before i connected the generator, i do know the blue lights were on and not blinking and i had lights in the cabin shortly after initiating the generator. Puzzle IF i use both generators or repeat the single generator and see what happens, i did nor know to check the generator warning light you mentioned.

 

[Geronimo John]

 

On 2/4/2025 at 2:38 PM, Steph and Dud B said:

So, you have interior lights when the generator is connected, but no lights without the generator? If that's the case, I agree with @jd1923 that it sounds like your batteries are disconnected somehow. Could be a cable, cutoff switch, or 12v circuit breaker. More details needed.

 

2 hours ago, TxMN2020 said:

will try again using both Honda generators linked for 30 amp chargé

As a new owner, in time you will know all there is to know about the wonderful "Gizmology" the new trailers can have.  Until then the learning curve is high.  But you have come to the  right place as the above guys are razor sharp.  But a simple "ole school" check out may clarify things to assist with the learning curve.  Do adjust your charge current as suggested above first.  I recommend using 15 amps as suggested for now.  You can optimize it later.  

A.  Hopefully  you have a volt meter.  If you don't i recommend getting one that is a meter and has a clamp for measuring amps.  My favorite onw was suggested by John Davies.  It is not that expensive but sure works well.  More than a few OTT owners would agree with this choice.  Don't get one that can only measure up to ten amps thru the leads.  Having the clamp is essential.

B.  I would first manually check the as is battery voltage and compare what is says to what your Xantrex system says.  Small step.  Take a mental note of the as is battery voltage.  If they are the same, then likely you know how to read the voltage and have confidence in what the Xantrex is telling you.  Another small step.

C.  Then using just one generator, set it up without being connected to Ollie at first.  Start your Honda not connected and put it into Eco mode.  Let it warm up then switch it to regular mode and back.  This step ensures you are familiar with the rpm of it loafing unloaded on Eco or running hard not loaded.  

D.  Now connect one of your Hondas while in Eco mode  and listen to what it does.  If your OTT charging system is working, it will quickly transition from Eco to Run mode.  If you hear it now working, take your volt meter and get clamp it around one of your battery cables.  (Meter set to DC AMPs.  You should get a reading pretty close to the setting you entered into your Xantrex...

Report back here and the above guys will be on a track to ask some more questions knowing the status of your system.   

Once you get it figured out, then ask them how to set up your system for Honda and Companion Honda to charge at a higher amp rate.

GJ 

Edited 15 hours ago by Geronimo John

[TxMN2020]

I took the voltach at the battery with my meteor and showed likę 2.6V, using próbek at the battery post. Have just not had time and need to get info the zantrex yet as we had no plans to use trailer, and our owner orientation was very poor, Dealer rep mainly said sińce we Werę winterizeing he could not go over many things. Hopę to work on this tomorrow to start the process. Thanks to all who arę responding and helping.

 

[Geronimo John]

1 hour ago, TxMN2020 said:

I took the voltace at the battery with my meter and showed likę 2.6V

Most likely your Lithium Battery Management System has sensed a ultra low voltage (bad) and turned off the batteries.  One of the above guys can discuss the process to bring them back on line as mine are different than yours.

GJ

[Geronimo John]

I took a look at your profile.  If you were to share where in Central Texas you reside,  likely there is an owner in the area who may be able to assist.

If that is not possible, then you should submit a Service Ticket for your 2025 OE2.

GJ

[TxMN2020]

I am in North Texas, just North of Denton, over 2 hours to closest Dealer one way.

 

[Rolind]

I agree that I think your batteries have shut off due to being discharged to 10%.  This is not a problem and the batteries have not been damaged. The shutoff feature is designed to protect the batteries in the event they are discharged to a low level. If you turn the batteries and discharge them completely they could be damaged, so first job is to get at least some charge in them

I think a good place to start would be to install the Victron Connect app, the lithionics app, and the xantrex app on your phone. 
I would then pull your trailer into a sunny location on a sunny day and turn on both batteries by pressing the the power button on both batteries until it turns blue.

Then make sure your xantrex inverter is not turned on at the wall panel, ie the button should not be depressed. 

Now, using the Victron app or the wall mounted indicator, make sure there is current flowing into the batteries. If the answer is no, check the large red and white switch in the overhead cabinet above the street side bed and make sure it is on.

Under good sunny conditions I would expect between 5-20 amps to be flowing into the batteries, depending on the angle of the sun.

Now that you have some solar charging occurring, I would make sure that all the apps you installed above are communicating with your batteries, xantrex inverter and the Victron shunt. Make sure you understand what they are telling you.

Now would be a good time to try the generator. You can use one or two generators. For use of two, you will need to connect the generators together using the parallel cord from Honda.  If you use only one generator you will need to decrease the breaker rating in the xantrex to 15-20 amps as I mentioned above. The batteries will charge faster using two generators and a higher breaker rating. The overload light I mentioned is on the front of the generator and is red on my eu2200.

You should now be able to monitor charging by watching how many amps are flowing into the batteries using either the lithionics app or the Victron app and the battery state of charge using the lithionics app. The Victron state of charge percent may be incorrect until the batteries reach 100% State Of Charge, SOC.

I know this seems like a lot, but once you are familiar with how things work, it is really pretty simple.

i would make an afternoon of this project with a beer some music and enjoying your awesome new trailer.

Last, there are a look of great video online explaining how trailer electrical systems work.

good luck and I hope this helps.

 

 

 

[TxMN2020]

Thanks Rolind, i appreciate the time and expertise. My wife is the tech guru of the two of us, SO it will be Good for both of us to do the process together.

[Steph and Dud B]

I agree with @Rolind. Sounds like your batteries are in low voltage shutdown. You should not do anything to drain them any further. Leave them off until you can get a charge into them, as soon as possible, following @Rolind's procedure.

Once you've got them recharged, my next question would be, what caused them to discharge? I suspect something got left on in the trailer after you left it for the month. My first suspect would be the Xantrex inverter. It's easy to leave that on by accident. The little silver button should be in the "out" position whenever you don't need to convert 12v battery power to 120v household power for boondocking. It should be off/"out" every time you park your trailer between trips.

Another possibility, considering the dealer winterized your trailer before this happened, is that the water pump was left on and has been cycling while in storage. On our 2022 there's a green LED above the water pump switch on the kitchen wall. (You can't go by switch position alone because it's a 3-way switch.) Make sure the pump's off during storage, too.

Good luck. Let us know how you make out with the recharging.

[Steph and Dud B]

A third, and probably best, option for charging would be to bring your trailer somewhere where you can plug it into an outlet. Ideally, a campground with 30 amp receptacle but you can use a household outlet, too, if you set the Xantrex breaker rating to about 15 amps.

[Rivernerd]

18 hours ago, TxMN2020 said:

Getting our battery info off the round display on the curb side wall over the bed.

The "round" Victron "display on the curb side wall over the bed" shows present charging voltage, NOT State of Charge.   Download the Lithionics app so you can use it to monitor State of Charge (SOC) of your two 130 Ah Lithionics batteries (260 Ah total), which is what matters most. 

For example, when a generator or shore power is connected to my Hull #1291 through the 30A connector on the street side, and the batteries are charging, the round Victron display reads:  "14.6V".  That is a proper charge rate for Lithionics 12V batteries.   That tells me nothing about the level of charge in the batteries at the time, just the current charge rate (pun intended).  To know State of Charge, or battery charge level at the time, I must consult the Lithionics app.

The Lithionics app also advises whether the batteries are receiving charge at the time (Green) or being discharged (Red). 

This training was thoroughly covered during our orientation in Hohenwald.  Sorry to hear you got limited orientation from your Oliver dealer at delivery.  The electrical system is not affected by winterizing, and so should have been carefully covered.  I recommend you file a service ticket with Oliver so they will know to educate that dealer.

Edited 17 minutes ago by Rivernerd