Re: No roof A/C while on shore power!
Kieth,
The 4 golf cart sized 6 volt batteries under the windshield on my 2007 Tour Master are used to start the diesel generator and to power the AC inverter and certain appliances like the residential refrigerator when not connected to shore power. These batteries are charged through that same AC inverter when the coach is connected to shore power.
The "chassis" batteries are the two large 12 volt batteries that are used to start the rear diesel engine (mine is the Mercedes but yours may be a Cummins...) The chassis batteries are charged from the engine driven generator, and may not be charged from the shore power -- I added a float charger to mine just to keep them up during the time I am parked at my space.
The "house" batteries are the two deep cycle 12 volt batteries that are charged by the converter off the shore power and used to power all the 12 volt lighting throughout the coach, the ceiling fans, the water pump and perhaps the bedroom TV (if you have not yet replaced it with a full HD capable one like I did.) These are most likely the Gel batteries you describe on your coach... As you have discovered, they are also charged off the front diesel generator as well.
There are two transfer switches on this model of coach -- one at the main power feed to select between the diesel generator and the shore power. There is a second transfer switch that is downstream of this selection that switches those specific circuits (certain AC breakers...) that can be powered by the AC inverter, and switches between the shore power/diesel generator when either is available, and the output of the inverter (powered by those 4 golf cart batteries) when neither of those AC sources are available...
Lead acid batteries need maintenance and electrolyte level monitoring regularly, and good battery life for the kind of service you normally see in an RV can be as little as 5 years or so. What are the date codes on your present Batteries?
Chuck
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2007 Tour Master T40C
Acura MDX toad
"It takes a great deal of time to recover from any improvement..."
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