replacement chassis battery 2015 Itasca Viva

JohnW2837 · 03-25-2022, 08:15 AM

Hello, I have a 2015 Itasca Viva on a Ram promaster chassis and I need to replace the chassis battery. It's in storage now and the battery is totally dead. I believe it is the original battery. Last year i converted the house batteries to lithium and the battery boost switch was disconnected but i doubt it would work anyway. A long winded way of saying I need to replace the battery and i'm looking for advice from the experts here on what I should buy. Finding one that fits is easy but not sure if there are other things I should consider. TIA

BobC · 03-25-2022, 12:22 PM

As far as I know, chassis batteries are pretty much a commodity. I'd just get a decent sealed lead acid battery (maintenance free) of the proper size, or even a bit bigger if it will fit. From what I've read, there's not much advantage to an AGM battery and they're significantly more expensive.

It's a good idea to disconnect the chassis battery when in storage since there are a number of parasitic loads that can cause it to go dead. The same goes for your house batteries. Even if your house batteries are "disconnected" via your Aux Battery switch or whatever it's called, there are parasitic loads like your propane alarm etc. that will draw them down over time.

I keep my house and chassis batteries topped off with a small 25W solar panel hanging on my rear ladder. This is a temporary measure until I can install my rooftop system. My chassis battery feeds of the house batteries for charging via an Amp-L-Start but I'm not sure if this would work OK given the differing charge profiles of the LiFePO4 batteries and the lead acid starting battery. Don't even consider the small 2W - 5W panels that are sold to keep auto batteries topped off. From what I've read, 15W is minimal.

JohnW2837 · 03-26-2022, 05:58 AM

Thanks Bob, really like the idea of the trickle chargers and disconnecting the batteries especially now that i'll have a new battery.

71_340 · 04-06-2022, 04:50 PM

I would replace it with an Optima battery. With that said, any battery will discharge if you leave it connected due to parasitic draw. You have to either remove it and put it on a trickle charger or get a solar panel.
On our first Class C I used a $15,00 Harborfreight 15 watt solar charger you place on the dash and it kept the battery alive over the winter.