Emergency Help Needed

[Adarian]

Looking for somebody who knows how to hook up battery for a flxble metro-stranded on road!!!
1988 no a/c with an air starter
when turning on battery disconnect switch, 12 and 24 volt gauges do not move
when turning master run switch, nothing happens

[gfcgfc1]

Hi adarian , Is the original battery still installed in the bus? I am no expert but know how it is on my coach.Where are you and what is the specific situation you are dealing with?More details will help us help you. I or someone else will probably know the answer.Details help.Thank you and Good luck .Stay calm .GFC

[Adarian]

original battery in bus; sure power dual vac 2-has a 24 volt in/12 volt out and a ground; 4 batteries in all- 2 commercial and 2 deep cycle; on commercial batteries: 2 black cables/2 red that run back to bus, 1 smaller gauge wire that runs to converter, 1 red cable that runs to the disconnect switch; on deep cycle batteries: 2 cables that each have two fittings, there are also three smaller gauge wires that run to some fuses in the battery disconnect box.  how do I hook up to get power back to the bus?  the only thing that works are the interior lights. 12 volt and 24 volt gauges do not read anything after turning on disconnect switch.   

[HighTechRedneck]

I am not experienced with your model bus, Cummins engines, or with air starters in general. 

But basic troubleshooting techniques would be first to try to determine where the power stops.  Since you are broke down on the road, it was working, now it is not.  Something broke.  Do you have a multimeter with you to test it with?  If not are you mobile with another vehicle to go pick one up (Wal-Mart, hardware/home centers, Radio Shack, Harbor Freight, auto parts stores, just about any place sell them).

Once you have a tester, make sure the battery switches are on, and find out where the voltage stops or if the start batteries have any to give.  (I am presuming the house batteries are running the interior lights you mentioned.)  When you find where the voltage stops, then you can figure out how to bypass it to get the bus home or to a shop.

[Adarian]

basically trying to figure out if battery is connected correctly.

[HighTechRedneck]

Understood.  But you mentioned being stranded on the road.  The connections as they were (are?) got you that far.  Unless they have been altered while trying to figure it out, that shouldn't be the problem.  Barring that, the culprits I would be looking for would be broken wires, corroded wires, wires pulled out of crimp on connectors, a relay that isn't working (power in but no power out when it should be), switches that don't pass power through when on, etc.

[zubzub]

Don't forget the ground.  Sounds like a loose somthing or a bad relay.  In you situation, if i knew what I was doing I would get power to where I needed it ad go somewhere safe and work it out.  Don't know your engine configuration, but I imagine you need voltage for engine management and shut down, the thing to watch out for is some componenents need 24 volts  some only 12 and if you mess that up and give 24V to a 12V system things will fry and you'll be really stuck.  As others said probably a loose connection, tighten all the main large cable connection, especially the ones in the engine by (like the ground strap from engine to frame, if you don't  have a Multimeter rig up a test light using a 24 V bulb and some wire, you can use this to trouble shoot,where power is and isn't.  Good luck and go slow so you don't miss anything.

[John316]

Adrian.

Where are you? Somebody might be near you...

I agree with HTRN. Check and see where you have voltage.

Did it just quit on you driving down the road, or were you stopped? Did you do anything with the batteries, or did it just quit?

Also, I would check your fuses. Sometimes they can power small, but essential things.

God bless,

John

[John316]

Must not have been too stuck on the side of the road

God bless,

John

[HighTechRedneck]

Let's not be critical of the silence.    Let's rather hope that he got some sleep, gave it a fresh look in the morning, found the problem and got on the road again.

[John316]

Sorry, HTR. I have just checked in a lot more today, to see if there was an update. I hope that he is back up and running. Maybe he forgot his BB in the battery bay, and doesn't want to stop driving to get it .

God bless,

John

[JohnEd]

This guy doesn't need a battery to get the beast running.  He is air started.  That the bus was running doesn't prove that the engine bats were connected correctly.....this time.

What if:

He installed the bats in backwards?  Would the alternator "deplete" the charge?  Happened to me with a Corvair being pushed in reverse.  When he let out the clutch he lost headlights and when he rolled to a stop the lights came back on.  Pushed him three times and finally went up and said "just show me what you are doing with that gear selector.  Automatics could be push started back then.  My point is that it didn't "blow" anything, as I would expect, in retrospect.  Can a bus alternator "eat" the charge by charging the wrong polarity?

Doesn't that bus use the chassis bats to run the solenoids and air valves that are used to engage the starter?  A solenoid doesn't care much about bat polarity as it isn't using permanent magnets like a DC motor might.

This guy was stuck on BATTERY as the probable cause.  Has he had them out recently?  What does that Flex use for ground?  I heard that a Flex is a positive ground system.

If he disconnects his chassis bats and hooks in the deep cycles he should have enough relay power to engage the air start.

What caused it to stop running?  A safety shutdown that is voltage sensitive somehow?

I can't do it but he needs his first question answered: how are the chassis bats connected?  12....24....pos ground???

Just stirring the pot a little.

john

[zubzub]

while we stir the pot it's a '88 flxble so probably neg ground.  As an 1988 model probably has tons of safety stuff to shut it down, plus lots of relays and fuses etc...Buddy sounds maybe like he's new to fixing vehicles, so this is probably a little over his head  unless he has all the manuals, and if he has all the manuals he should be able to work out the wiring for the batts.  I guess if he comes back, the basic info is a 24V system can use 2X12V batts connected in series (sequence would be neg lead(the one that goes to ground) attached to the neg  pole of the 1st battery, pos pole of 1st battery attached to neg pole of second battery, pos pole of 2nd battery attched to hot lead of bus.  In this case 1st and 2nd battery are named such arbitrarily to show the sequence, not in any way to refer to their location on the bus.
Me I'm figuring he fiddled with things when it shut down, got lost in the trouble shooting, finally hooked things up properly again as well as tightened a loose bat pole that hadn't been noticed, and is busy driving his transit home.

[Adarian]

Thanks to all. I was able to figure it out at 3 am n the morning. I was in So cal outside of Palm Springs.
I told my wife to post here, that I should be able to find help.
I will post what I found out later about how the 24/12 system works on my Flx Metro bus.

[Hartley]

The 83 & 84 models with 2-8D batteries were wired wierd.

The Right Battery in the tray had cables going forward to an electrical box
in the bay forward of the fuel tank. The Left Battery had the same.

The disconnect switch wires also went to the same box.

The Negative of one of the batteries went to the ground on the frame.

(-) to box. (+) to box | (-) to Frame. (+) to Box.

The switch took the (+) from the right Battery via the box and routed
it through the switch and back to the box and connected it to the (-) on the
left battery.

It was very wierd. The switch actually was wired to break the link between the two batteries.

To jump one of these beasts you had to get the Ground on the (-) terminal of the Right Battery and the +24 Volts to the (+) terminal of the Left battery.

Always use a meter first, Especially if someone "rewired or simplified" the wiring.

Ok, Now I am tired, having to remember all that stuff.....