Coach battery voltage dropping hourly in 59K

[Gizmoneer]

Howdy!

Our 2023 Travato 59K coach battery is losing power hourly with no awning or radio use. It has been suggested that I need to check current draw to locate "leak"; however, there was no real suggestion where to start to look for "leak".

BTW - dealer installed a relay module to be used as an awning "safety interlock". The relay appeared to be energized all the time. I removed power from the awning module to check if that was location of "leak" -- system still "leaking". Note: coach battery is switched to "off".

Battery started at 12.6v less than 24 hours ago. Now 12.2v and by tomorrow morning will be 11.9v (based on experience over past few weeks of camping and while on shore power).

Generally, voltage drop has been about .8 volts every 36 hours.

House currently batteries not impacted because even when boondocking, they are being topped up by solar or on shore power.

Dealer does not have any real suggestions, Winnebago technical also not a great deal of help.

Thoughts?

[Morich]

We may need to clear some communications items first?
I think of coach or house batteries as being the inside RV things like lights, fans water pump!
The other I often call chassis or start batteries that work the normal car/truck things like headlights horn, etc.

Are you maybe using coach as being the truck type stuff and house being the Rv items?

I'm not sure which batteries are going dead too soon! Little help needed there!

But one of the things that dealers do not mention often enough is the way RV are set up on the battery disconnection deal.
When we have a disconnect for cutting off the RV items I call the coach, it DOES NOT really cut off all those times!
Safety items like CO detector, propane detector are often still ON and will try to drain the battery---even when we thought we diconnected them all!
If it is the battery for the inside things like lights/fans/ water pump, try spotting a small green light on the propane detector front and then see if that light goes out when you "disconnect" the power! I suspect it will stay on! And given time, that will run the coach batteries down!

But if it is the battery used for starting that I call chassis battery, there are also things on it which will run the battery down when stored.
Radio presets or memory, auto door locks and some ignition systems use small amounts of power and may sneak up on us if we don't watch carefully!
If we have a "clicker" or remote to open doors, etc. that system has to be alive drawing power to pick up the signal!

See if that clears anything on the why? The WHAT may still need work!!
Best of luck getting used to a new one!

[creativepart]

If you mean the chassis battery wouldn’t that be an issue for the chassis manufacturer? Presumably, Ram for the ProMaster chassis on the Travato.

As to where to look for a leak, you’d likely start at the battery. Getting readings with a voltmeter, in real time, and testing things such as the battery cutoff, etc. looking for info on the things impacting voltage and looking for amp draws.

The Promaster vans, like the Sprinter, have individual specific forums on the web that can be a great resource for chassis specific issues. You might try searching at a Ram Promaster forum to see if others are experiencing this issue, as well. You’ll find a much larger pool of users there to help with Ram specific problems.

https://www.promasterforum.com/

[Gizmoneer]

Thanks for the replies. This morning "chassis" batteries had dropped (again) to 11.9v after less than 30 hours of sitting in driveway. (BTW - sorry about any confusion I might have caused about using coach" battery use instead of "chassis". As a 15 year RVer, not sure where my brain was...) Initial troubleshooting has proven fruitless.

Since I have a 30 amp shore power circuit available at my home I've added a battery tender this morning to the mix. Winter is coming and last thing I want is for a flat chassis battery. When we are adventuring, we are often driving enough to keep the battery up or I can start the generator (or the Travato) periodically to keep the battery up when boondocking. And since I have one more spot for a 100w solar panel, I'm even thinking about routing that panel to a charger for the chassis battery only.

I know, I know spending more $ & installation time for workarounds is not always in the best answer to an issue that should not exist in a BRAND NEW RV; however, piece of mind can also be priceless. Last thing I want is to have an issue in the backwoods of Washington, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, or northern California (our preferred travel areas) until we can get this issue figured out sometime in near future.

Be well!

[Morich]

Understand and I envy you on th ecooler weaterh close by!

One thing to take a quick look maybe. Is the top of any of the battery really collecting dirt, etc that might be creating a path to "leak" to ground? That's one that sneaks up on folks doing battery powered out in remote areas where there can be lots of dust blowing around to collect and then become a path when night air or rain come around!
A metal battery holddown can do it at times.
changing from trailers to motorized, one of the big things to figure out is that the two battery sets are connected only when we drive or push the boost switch and NOT connected when parked or stored. So the converter charges the coach batteries when plugged to power but lots of RV do not charge the start battery.
Some do have a small option added, that used to be made , called something like Trik-L-Start, etc but they went out with Covid and I've not seen a replacemend on the market yet.

[Gizmoneer]

Originally Posted by Morich

Understand and I envy you on th ecooler weaterh close by!

One thing to take a quick look maybe. Is the top of any of the battery really collecting dirt, etc that might be creating a path to "leak" to ground? That's one that sneaks up on folks doing battery powered out in remote areas where there can be lots of dust blowing around to collect and then become a path when night air or rain come around!
A metal battery holddown can do it at times.
changing from trailers to motorized, one of the big things to figure out is that the two battery sets are connected only when we drive or push the boost switch and NOT connected when parked or stored. So the converter charges the coach batteries when plugged to power but lots of RV do not charge the start battery.
Some do have a small option added, that used to be made , called something like Trik-L-Start, etc but they went out with Covid and I've not seen a replacemend on the market yet.

Thanks. Battery nearly new and clean as a whistle.

I added a battery tender this morning to work when on shore or generator power. Some day, when the dealer can fit us into the schedule, we're going to have them continue to troubleshoot. I have run out of ideas and the suggestions put forth by Winnebago - lets just say they are interesting.

[Ray,IN]

Until the phantom-draw is found and eliminated, I'd install a manual cutoff in the negative battery cable. https://www.amazon.com/12V-48V-Curre...475250&sr=8-21
If your batter is hard to access, consider a remote battery cutoff: https://www.ebay.com/itm/334323362581

[Winterbagoal]

I'm going out on a limb here, and assuming we are actually talking about the coach/house battery(ies) here, and not the under hood chassis battery. If I'm wrong, then never mind, I'll shut up.
Section 4 Owner's Manual talks about the power source for the refrigerator as 12VDC, even when the coach/house battery is disabled. Maybe read the appropriate section and determine if your frig may be the drain. There are 2 OMs @ Winnebago online for the 2023 Travato. Not sure which one applies to you.
Is your refrigerator "on" by any chance, when/while the drain is occurring?
Failing that, wait until it's dark out then check the entire coach for a 12VDC "courtesy lamp" or a compartment lamp, that may be "on" and drawing power. This will apply to whichever battery is being drained. Coach/house or chassis, depending.
Anecdote: I had an 86 Corvette that had an under hood courtesy lamp that was switched on by a mercury switch when the hood was raised/opened, and was supposed to be shut off when it was closed. The switch failed, and failed to shut off, when closed. Cost me 2 batteries and a lot of heartburn, but I eventually noticed it on a clear moonless night. A faint glow on the driveway under the front of the car. Odd? I got down on hands and knees and sure enough, the damn courtesy light was on with the hood closed/down.

[Gizmoneer]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

I'm going out on a limb here, and assuming we are actually talking about the coach/house battery(ies) here, and not the under hood chassis battery. If I'm wrong, then never mind, I'll shut up.
Section 4 Owner's Manual talks about the power source for the refrigerator as 12VDC, even when the coach/house battery is disabled. Maybe read the appropriate section and determine if your frig may be the drain. There are 2 OMs @ Winnebago online for the 2023 Travato. Not sure which one applies to you.
Is your refrigerator "on" by any chance, when/while the drain is occurring?
Failing that, wait until it's dark out then check the entire coach for a 12VDC "courtesy lamp" or a compartment lamp, that may be "on" and drawing power. This will apply to whichever battery is being drained. Coach/house or chassis, depending.
Anecdote: I had an 86 Corvette that had an under hood courtesy lamp that was switched on by a mercury switch when the hood was raised/opened, and was supposed to be shut off when it was closed. The switch failed, and failed to shut off, when closed. Cost me 2 batteries and a lot of heartburn, but I eventually noticed it on a clear moonless night. A faint glow on the driveway under the front of the car. Odd? I got down on hands and knees and sure enough, the damn courtesy light was on with the hood closed/down.

Howdy. Issue is with the chassis battery. That as been remediated for now (Battery Tender installed.) Thanks for chiming in. Be well.

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by Gizmoneer

Howdy. Issue is with the chassis battery. That as been remediated for now (Battery Tender installed.) Thanks for chiming in. Be well.

In that case, I'd assume the chassis battery has similar issues to most other motorhome chassis batteries, and does run down when not in use. Adding the battery maintainerwill help, but I'd still want to know why it's dropping so fast.
Courtesy lamps anywhere in the coach that might be run off the chassis battery staying on, when not supposed to? Compartment lamp left on? Are there any "always hot" 12VDC outlets anywhere that might have some small appliance plugged into them?
Just spitballing here.
Good luck.

[Gizmoneer]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

In that case, I'd assume the chassis battery has similar issues to most other motorhome chassis batteries, and does run down when not in use. Adding the battery maintainerwill help, but I'd still want to know why it's dropping so fast.
Courtesy lamps anywhere in the coach that might be run off the chassis battery staying on, when not supposed to? Compartment lamp left on? Are there any "always hot" 12VDC outlets anywhere that might have some small appliance plugged into them?
Just spitballing here.
Good luck.

Nope. No phantom appliances plugged into the single 12V chassis battery outlet. I've even added extra cutoffs to awing relay circuit (about only thing in coach that supposedly draws chassis battery power).

Winnebago also allegedly looking into issue with dealer. Now waiting for a litany of warranty parts before heading back to dealer for replacements and further battery drain issue troubleshooting.

I'm wondering if there are any other 59K owners in this forum who have had similar issues?

[Morich]

Since it is the chassis battery, we are even less suited for getting the right answer as we get less info then we do for the parts that Winnebago adds.
But we make do with what we have?

If you are in the mood for some real "hammer head" searching, there is one way to get some idea of where current may be flowing, even without tools to measure it?

We we have power on a circuit and current is flowing, it may arc when we connect or disconnect the items drawing power.
Some things on the chassis will always being drawing power and that can confuse us if we are not alert!

But if you find the automotive fuse box and look over any label in the lid, etc., you might be able to sort out things like any door locks and ignition that are normal to be left on.
Then if you avoid them but start pulling and reinserting the other fuses, you might be able to spot something drawing current when it should be shut down. Careful watching for that spark as it just makes contact "might" be a clue?

If there is a pretty big drain, the arc may be bigger but nothing in the 12 Volt section should be dangerous. Maybe something odd like a stop light switch stuck on? Some wire dropped off and making ground contact but not good enough to blow the fuse or lots of weird stuff to drive us silly?

Maybe taking to a dealer is good but then it may not as the results seem so mixed. I'm not a good mechaninc but several I've tried lately are not much better!

[SanDogDewey]

Disconnect your negative battery terminal. Put an ammeter inline between the negative battery cable and the negative post on your battery. This will show the parasitic draw on the battery. Shouldn’t have more than 50mA of draw. Start pulling fuses till you find the culprit. Google parasitic draw testing on YouTube.

[Katfarley]

I have a 2019 59G and I had issues with my Chassis battery draining. The battery was less than two years old.? Had to buy a new one.

[Bobn1957]

Charge the battery, disconnect the battery from the chassis and let it sit for a couple of days, if it is still discharging the battery has failed internally!