The attached Manual is the Controller module for the Battery Isolation Manager on many Winnebego RVs.
(I know it is at least on the 2015 Brave.. I am sure it is on many others as well).
The module controls a relay that will connect the house and starter batteries. It is important to understand its function if you are going to change the House Lead Acid batteries out with LiFePO4 batteries. In particular, it will turn on the relay and connect the two batteries when the engine is running or if the engine is not running but it detects a charger on the house battery. Neither of these scenarios is a good idea, so I completely removed the module on the RV I recently worked on. (I also put in a Victron TR-Smart to allow charging from the alternator).
An alternative to removing the controller is to hook an always-on 12V to both the Ignition and Genset pins of the controller. This makes the controller think both the Gen-Set and the alternator are both on. In this condition, the controller will never turn on the relay. See the manual for a description of when it will turn on or off. (I did not try hooking the two pins to +12, but I see no reason it will not work.)
Note: the relay it controls can also be activated by the 'Boost' button that uses the house batteries as a jump-start if the starter battery is dead. This function will remain active after the controller module is removed.
The following is from the manual and is the key information about how it works:
Detailed Operation:
1) Relay is turned on if:
Here is a pic of the controller without the relay.
More discussion about this controller and the overall BIM function can be found here:
diysolarforum.com
(I know it is at least on the 2015 Brave.. I am sure it is on many others as well).
The module controls a relay that will connect the house and starter batteries. It is important to understand its function if you are going to change the House Lead Acid batteries out with LiFePO4 batteries. In particular, it will turn on the relay and connect the two batteries when the engine is running or if the engine is not running but it detects a charger on the house battery. Neither of these scenarios is a good idea, so I completely removed the module on the RV I recently worked on. (I also put in a Victron TR-Smart to allow charging from the alternator).
An alternative to removing the controller is to hook an always-on 12V to both the Ignition and Genset pins of the controller. This makes the controller think both the Gen-Set and the alternator are both on. In this condition, the controller will never turn on the relay. See the manual for a description of when it will turn on or off. (I did not try hooking the two pins to +12, but I see no reason it will not work.)
Note: the relay it controls can also be activated by the 'Boost' button that uses the house batteries as a jump-start if the starter battery is dead. This function will remain active after the controller module is removed.
The following is from the manual and is the key information about how it works:
Detailed Operation:
1) Relay is turned on if:
a) Ignition is on for 20 seconds &
i) 2 minutes have passed since Relay last turned off
ii) & Coach Battery voltage low and needs charging Chassis Battery has a charging voltage
ii) & Chassis Battery is Less than 15.5V & Generator is off
b) Ignition is off &
i) 10 minutes have passed since Relay last turned off
ii) & Chassis Battery voltage low and needs charging & Coach Battery has a charging voltage
iii) & Coach Battery is less than 15.5V
2) Relay is turned off if:a) Ignition goes from on to off state
b) Relay has been on for 1 hour (prevent overcharging and allow to view separate voltages)
c) Anytime Ignition and Generator are both on.
d) Anytime either Battery goes above 15.5 volts for 30 seconds.
Here is an image from the manual showing both the relay and the control module:Here is a pic of the controller without the relay.
More discussion about this controller and the overall BIM function can be found here:
Details about the Winnebego Battery Interconnect Manager.
Folks, I recently did an upgrade on a 2015 Winnebego where I had to learn a lot about their 'Battery Interconnect Manager' and 'Boost button' I thought I would share what I learned here in case any of you run into this. (From what I can tell, Winnebego had the same setup for several...
diysolarforum.com
