House batteries not charging (2013 Adventurer 32H)

kevin1959 · 09-07-2015, 03:46 PM

I"m not sure where to begin. I need a little electrical 101 !! It appears my house batteries are not getting charged. I just spent a couple days at a campground plugged into shore power then drove 150 miles home. After sitting in the driveway unplugged for about 30 minutes I noticed the fridge was beeping and showing a "low dc" on its display. No interior lights would work and the control center was dead also. Couldn't get any readings at control center. Plugged back into shore power and every worked as it should. Anything obvious I'm missing here ?

grtharris · 09-07-2015, 03:58 PM

kevin1959, you didn't hit the coach battery disconnect by chance at sometime. The coach batteries will not charge if the disconnect is open.

Ranger Smith · 09-07-2015, 04:00 PM

Either intermittent coach disconnect or bad batteries or battery disconnect has been hit off by mistake. If the lights work when plugged in then the converter/charger is probably OK.

kevin1959 · 09-07-2015, 04:12 PM

Nope, I checked disconnect switch.

nothermark · 09-07-2015, 04:12 PM

And if the lights don't work when the unit is unplugged the battery is disconnected.

Two easy power tests:

Unplug the unit and turn on a light - light on =storage switch in the right place. If no light then toggle the storage switch. Light should come on.

Plug unit in and check the microwave readout to see if you have AC.

FWIW I leave a light on when the unit is in storage. If it the light switch is on and the light is working the storage switch is in the wrong place. ;-)

Ditto if I look out the window at night and see light.

kevin1959 · 09-07-2015, 04:24 PM

I just unplugged from shore power and put on some lights and actually watch the voltage on my control center panel go down till all lights went out.

garbonz · 09-07-2015, 04:28 PM

Bad batteries then. How old are they and have they ever been discharged to 0 before (not including now).

Might take them in for a load check to make sure, but if the lose voltage that fast it sound like they are toast.

grtharris · 09-07-2015, 04:32 PM

kevin1959, check the water in the coach batteries may have a dead cell. Also check the connection at the battery. Sounds like the batteries will not hold a charge.

kevin1959 · 09-07-2015, 04:41 PM

Sh,,,,it !!!! Batteries look dry !! Need water !!! Think they'll come back once I add water ?

Ranger Smith · 09-08-2015, 02:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevin1959

Sh,,,,it !!!! Batteries look dry !! Need water !!! Think they'll come back once I add water ?

I don't think so. Add distilled water that you can buy at Walmart. Every time I've added regular water the minerals killed the battery and I had an internal battery short. Happened twice on the road. Now I carry a jug with me.

garbonz · 09-08-2015, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevin1959

Sh,,,,it !!!! Batteries look dry !! Need water !!! Think they'll come back once I add water ?

If they work at all (eg internal short like mentioned above) they won't work for long. Might be best advised to just replace them AND check on the voltages that your converter is putting out, if the converter is overcharging that would explain the dry batteries. The is, if you actually have checked them once and awhile.

A properly operating converter will not boil of much water at all, and checking and topping off every couple weeks or month will keep them up.

Hikerdogs · 09-08-2015, 02:22 PM

If the coach is only 2 years old I can't believe they've been dry for long. As mentioned fill each cell to the bottom of the slot with distilled water. We had the batteries run dry in our 2001 Adventurer. After filling them they lasted another 3 years. Not nearly as long as they would have had they not run dry, but I couldn't complain. Even if it doesn't work you're only out the additional price of a gallon of distilled water.

If you do have to replace them I would get a set of Quality group 31 deep cycle batteries. When we did eventually replace the originals in our 2001 Adventurer the second set lasted over 8 years.

garbonz · 09-09-2015, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hikerdogs

If the coach is only 2 years old I can't believe they've been dry for long. As mentioned fill each cell to the bottom of the slot with distilled water. We had the batteries run dry in our 2001 Adventurer. After filling them they lasted another 3 years. Not nearly as long as they would have had they not run dry, but I couldn't complain. Even if it doesn't work you're only out the additional price of a gallon of distilled water.

If you do have to replace them I would get a set of Quality group 31 deep cycle batteries. When we did eventually replace the originals in our 2001 Adventurer the second set lasted over 8 years.

Good point, AND it depend on how you use your unit. If it is plugged in most of the time and not dry camped much, you don't need much of a battery anyway. If you are spending several days unplugged, those batteries may not still have the capacity you need. In reality, they will either work in the use you put them to or not.

nothermark · 09-09-2015, 07:42 AM

So top them off and try running overnight in the driveway. That is the only way to get a clue how well they will still work.

kevin1959 · 09-09-2015, 08:23 AM

You guys ROCK !! Thanks !!