Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 10-07-2020, 01:56 PM   #1
Winnebago Watcher
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 3
Battery Issues

Newbie here, I have a 2009 Winnebago Outlook 31. I have had it for 3 years and this is the first year that I am having battery issues. I drove 3 hours and when I got to destination the house batteries were dead. I had to charge them about every two days on my vacation. THen I got home and I left it parked for a week and it held the charge. Except my Chassis battery has gone dead. Could this be my converter that is defective?
Nannielolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-07-2020, 02:23 PM   #2
Site Team
 
creativepart's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,818
Could be your converter. But it could be a couple of other things as well.

Your RV is 11 years old and you've only had it 3 years. It's very possible that the house batteries were abused during those years that you did not own the RV. So, it would not be strange for them to be shot at this point. They may be fine but you'd have to test them more precisely.

I assume they are flooded lead acid and if so you would want to test the cells with a hydrometer - OR remove them and take them to an auto parts store for load testing.

Since there are a couple of things that could be the issue I'd suggest tackling the easiest thing first and that's those house batteries.

The converter charger can be tested with a multimeter as well. The other suspect parts could be your alternator or the battery isolation solenoid. The BIM is more likely an issue than the alternator.
__________________
2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
creativepart is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 10-07-2020, 04:39 PM   #3
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,336
In this case I think you are looking for a short to ground, because you are loosing both your engine batteries and your house batteries at the same time. This "short" may be discovered in one of your RV solenoids or inside a bad battery cell.

As already recommended, I guess I would also start with what is easiest: A) Solenoid test; or B) Battery Test.

POWER GRID SOLENOIDS

Most RVs have 2 solenoids to manage their 12V power grid, and 1 or both of them is where I would start looking, if you have easy access.

In gas coaches these solenoids are often located under the front steps or near the batteries. In diesel coaches, like mine, these solenoids are located behind a cover in the inverter bay.

The solenoid that fails most often is the battery disconnect solenoid.

All coaches have a battery disconnect solenoid (The Salesman Switch), and if your coach has a "Battery Boost" switch, usually located in arms reach of your driver's seat, then you know you have second solenoid too.

Most people will just replace their the battery disconnect solenoid (no test) with this one by Intellitec, but your coach may have a different configuration:

https://www.amazon.com/INTELLITEC-01...2109325&sr=8-2

HOUSE BATTERY TEST

Two plus year old house batteries are always suspect and 90% of the time this is your problem. (Shorts are easily found. Sulfated batteries no so much!)

...And coaches with only 2 house batteries fail sooner than 3 or 4-battery 12V systems, because the 2 volt bank with less Amp-Hour (AH) of storage usually forces the owner to draw down the battery bank SOC to below 40% in between charges.

...And house batteries that are not the deep cycle type will often not last more than 1-year.

...And batteries stored in freezing climates without a battery maintainer will also not give you the useful life you hoped.

..And sealed-lead-acid engine batteries don't fail as often as your wet-lead-acid (deep cycle) house batteries.

...And if you are not fully charging your house batteries in between use then this will result in shorter battery life.

In this case, if one of your house batteries has a short in one of the cells that could be your problem too.

* Take your fully charged house batteries to a Les Schwab or Interstate Battery or Napa store and they will l test your batteries with a Load Device for batteries. (80% of the time this is an accurate test, however, these load devices are made for engine-start-batteries and sometime will "pass" a bad deep cycle house battery.)

* This summer my 2.5 year old (4-GC2-Golf Cart) house batteries were passing the load test and passing the hydrometer test, but over the course of 2 weeks, on inverter power... I would watch my EMS voltmeter show 12.7V and then drop to 10.8V in 3 hours, then 2 hour, then 30 minutes, which is a classic symptom of a single or multiple bad battery...

...But I refused to accept it was a house battery problem because I really worked hard to treat my house batteries right. So I kept thinking my inverter was shorting internally. ...NOPE! ...It was my house batteries. I.e., in my case my house batteries probably got badly sulfated. ...But my engine batteries were fine.

If your engine batteries is are loosing there charge (before your house batteries on a relative scale) then you might have a bad alternator. Or to be more specific the diodes inside your alternator are shorting to ground. And since you cannot replace these diodes, the remedy is to replace your alternator. However, I doubt this is your problem, because you would see a dash light coming on.

ALTERNATOR TEST

A fully fully charged 12v battery will read 12.7V, so if your voltmeter is reading above 13V at your engine battery or house battery, then you know your alternator is charging.
imnprsd is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-07-2020, 05:41 PM   #4
Winnebago Watcher
 
Join Date: Oct 2020
Posts: 3
Thank you very much. I will try having the house batteries tested and go from there. Much appreciate everyone’s input.
Nannielolo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
battery


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Issues, issues, issues...... SaltLife Winnebago Class A Motorhomes 16 03-01-2020 09:29 PM
Battery Charging Issues RCranium Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 14 08-03-2016 06:02 PM
Journey Battery issues BibleBill Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 14 07-04-2016 11:55 AM
Battery Issues mtnfan Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 15 12-06-2014 08:21 PM
Battery & Plug-In Electrical Issues emmmw Electrical | Charging, Solar and Electronics 6 04-28-2012 11:33 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Winnebago Industries or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:40 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.