Battery Life Question


D

DRegus

New Member
Hello all,

I have an 18ft toyhauler made by Forest River, the model is a Stealth. It has one deep cycle battery on the front end and the life of the battery fully charge seems to be low to me. I will fully charge the battery using the generator, turn off all the lights, the only thing that is running is the Refrigerator and periodically the heat and by morning my battery is dead. So dead that the Frig has turned off.

Does this seem right? The trailer and battery are only 1 year old.

Any info is greatly appreciated

Dennis
 
P

paulm235

Junior Member
Re: Battery Life Question

I wasn't aware that the fridge ever ran off of the battery. It's either shore power or propane (aside from the status lights I guess). The heater blower will use the battery and can run it down fairly fast if it runs a lot. I have always replaced my 1 12 volt battery with 2 6volt batteries when I purchase a rig. You get more than twice the power time this way. Haven't done it on this 5th wheel yet because I'm not sure where I can put a second battery :question: . Make sure the battery is in good condition by taking it in and asking them to fully chage it then do a load test. If that's all good then you need to look at something in the camper that might be draining it.
 
P

paulm235

Junior Member
Re: Battery Life Question

I wasn't aware that the fridge ever ran off of the battery :question:. It's either shore power or propane (aside from the status lights I guess). The heater blower will use the battery and can run it down fairly fast if it runs a lot. I have always replaced my 1 12 volt battery with 2 6volt batteries when I purchase a rig. You get more than twice the power time this way. Haven't done it on this 5th wheel yet because I'm not sure where I can put a second battery :question: . Make sure the battery is in good condition by taking it in and asking them to fully chage it then do a load test. If that's all good then you need to look at something in the camper that might be draining it.

Sorry about the double post. The site was acting up. Doesn't seem to be a way to delete either :blush:
 
Triple E

Triple E

Senior Member
RE: Battery Life Question



DRegus - 7/22/2010 9:20 AM Hello all, I have an 18ft toyhauler made by Forest River, the model is a Stealth. It has one deep cycle battery on the front end and the life of the battery fully charge seems to be low to me. I will fully charge the battery using the generator, turn off all the lights, the only thing that is running is the Refrigerator and periodically the heat and by morning my battery is dead. So dead that the Frig has turned off. Does this seem right? The trailer and battery are only 1 year old. Any info is greatly appreciated Dennis
Click to expand...

Hello and welcome to the forum. Have you checked the water level in your battery? If the water level is low refill and connect a battery charger to it for a complete charge. You would have to run your generator for a long time to get a complete chargeto a low battery. Also asthe other post said. Have it checked out by someplace that service's batteries. Just because it is only one year old, it could still be bad. Good luck and let know how it turns out. :)
 
L

LEN

Senior Member
Re: Battery Life Question

Even though the battery "IS" only a year old going dead is not good for a battery and maybe shot or has been dead at the dealer befoer purchase several times. Is it a true deep cycle battery? And as above the charge time for a gen on the battery will be long 4-6 hours. All the newer refers require 12 volt to run even on propane. Also any smoke or propane detectors use battery also unless they are stand alone.

LEN
 
H2H1

H2H1

Senior Member
Re: Battery Life Question

Just to add on what Steve has stated on filling the batteries with water. Please make sure it is SPRING WATER and not TAP WATER. :approve:
 
Kirk

Kirk

Senior Member
Re: Battery Life Question

Paulm235............. All RV refrigerators use controls that are powered by 12V-dc power. It is what allows them to shift automatically between propane and 120V-ac power for the heat source. If you have no 12V power you will have not refrigerator, water heater or furnace.

Dennis,................ While I don't disagree with anything so far, let me ask you a question. When you recharge from the generator, are you using a battery charger to do that recharge, or are you depending upon the converter? RV converters that come standard are usually very poor battery chargers. Typically, it will take at lest six and perhaps as much as 12V hours to recharge a depleted battery from the converter, even if the battery is in good condition. Tripple E is correct on his suggestion about using a battery charger.

On the water to put into your battery, as a long term battery tech, may I suggest that you not use tap or spring water but get a gallon of distilled water at any grocery store and use that. Even the demineralized water is a poor substitute. Any minerals that are in water that is added to the battery will shorten the life of it. The two most common minerals are iron and calcium and both are very harmful to a flooded cell battery. I hate to disagree with Hollis, but my training and work experience cause me to do so. Using anything other than distilled means that you are gambling on what may be in that water.
 
H2H1

H2H1

Senior Member
Re: Battery Life Question

Yes I did for get that part, I have a gallon of DISTILLED water on the work bench in the garage, Kirk don't hate to disagree with me, most of the time I am 98% wrong. I don't have any work or training as you do in that area. :( :laugh:
 
G

Guest

Guest
Re: Battery Life Question

well one other thing ,, there are still alot of 120/LP/12 volt refers out there .. i have one in my MH ,, and alot of the pops ups have them also
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top