[Dark Vader]

As helpful as the good folks are on iRV2, there just aren't as many GS owners as I need there! So I joined you guys here in hopes I can get more details about my coach.

As a disclaimer and preamble, I will say that my house batteries are not really good anymore and need to be replaced. They are good "enough" for me to notice there are some issues, however. I would like to figure out these issues before replacing the batteries.

1. I have a Heart Interface Freedom 20 inverter/charger. It has an ON OFF switch inside, as well as a remote ON OFF switch. The INSIDE switch is always OFF (as per recommendation). When plugged into shore power and the inverter OFF, the batteries will come up to some charge but seem to charge very slowly. Yesterday the batts died (3-4 volts only) and I plugged into shore power. Immediately the voltage at the terminals was about 11 volts. Left plugged in overnight (again the inverter off) and it remained around 11.0-11.3 volts at the terminals. To me this means the house batteries aren't really charging while plugged in and inverter off (but it did bring up the voltage from 3-4 volts up to 11 volts!). I say this because of point 2:

2. When the inverter/charger is switched on (via remote panel), the voltage starts at around 13.5-14.0 volts (first stage charging), and will lower over time to high 12s/low 13s. Leaving the inverter on for a day or two brings up the batt voltage to about 12.5 give or take after being unplugged from shore. To me this means that the batteries are charging "properly" with the inverter on. (Again, I know the house batteries are crap, but at least they hold a few hours worth of charge after I plug in and turn the inverter on overnight.) This also suggests that shore AC power will ONLY charge the house batteries while the inverter is on. Is this correct? It doesn't seem right but I have heard this is possible. But my heart interface remote control panel has a light that says INV/CHRG, and so there is no way to indicate to the user that the INVERTER is OFF, but also charging. They both are the same light. This suggests that you can only charge with the inverter on (since the light tells me both or none).

3. The alternator does not seem to be charging the house batteries. The house batts died like I said, down to 3 or 4 volts. I drove it for about an hour and the house batts were still around that range. So driving it did absolutely nothing to the house batteries. I have heard many ways of the battery separator working, some charge house batteries if the chassis batts hit a certain voltage, or after a certain time, etc. I really don't know how mine works. I have looked all over; where can I likely find my battery separator solenoid/isolator?

4. I have a small solar panel on the roof, about 18x18 inches. It seems to have come with the unit back in the 90s as the instrument panel appears old. It has a light that says SOLAR on it (which is illuminated), and then a voltage meter. 13.5 volts is lit up bright (matching the chassis battery voltage), along with a dimmer voltage saying either 12.5 or 13 volts. Is this solar panel likely to charge the chassis battery only? As much as that is a great feature to have....would have been nice for it to work on both the house and chassis!

So my questions are: are my house batteries supposed to charge while the inverter is ON only? If this is the case that seems a bit strange. If not, why will my house batteries not charge properly with the inverter off? I know the batts are toast, but they charge way better with the inverter ON. When inverter is OFF, they don't go past 11.3 volts. But inverter ON, the batts will get up to 12.3-12.7 volts. And the other question is why aren't my house batteries charging from the alternator while I drive? Where is the battery separator solenoid and how can I determine if that is working?

Thank you!