Dead Batteries

[RVNDC]

I had my rig plugged in at a friends house this weekend with the furnance running. I returned Tuesday and discovered the circuit breaker had tripped and my batteries were drained to zero.

I attempted to start the rig and discovered the chassis battery was dead too. This is my second RV and the first RV chassis battery was independent from the coach batteries.

Based on my findings, I think it's safe to assume it's not true for the Berkshire. I reset the circuit breaker and the coach batteries read "charged" and the slides, lights, etc work fine, but I can't start the rig.

The rig is parked in Maryland with about 2.5 feet of snow snuggled all around it. Will call Good Sam for a jump.

[Crossfire]

You should have a rocker switch on the dash that says emergency start or auxilary start ; this switches the power from your coach batteries to the engine battery and acts as a jump start. Hold the switch while starting the engine. If this doesn't work; then you may have a tripped breaker or blown fuse/ or the starting battery has a dead short and even a jump won't start the coach.

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by Crossfire

You should have a rocker switch on the dash that says emergency start or auxilary start ; this switches the power from your coach batteries to the engine battery and acts as a jump start. Hold the switch while starting the engine. If this doesn't work; then you may have a tripped breaker or blown fuse/ or the starting battery has a dead short and even a jump won't start the coach.

This would work if his house batteries weren't dead as he stated in his original post.

The starting battery is separate from the house batteries. However there is an isolator that allows both the house and starting batteries to charge while remaining completely separated from each other. I suspect it may be bad, something to check. It could just be a coincidence that the starting bat. died also.

If I need to keep heat in my rig I don't ever use the furnace as problems can arrise like this. If you run out of propane the circuit board on many furnaces aren't smart enough to turn the blower off just lets them keep running till the batteries are dead. I have used a small space heater in our rigs for over 10 years now to keep a little heat going.

Hopefully they aren't completely dead and can be brought back up.

Good luck.

[RVNDC]

Thank you all for the information. I returned to the rig today and the coach batteries are charged but the engine battery is dead. I held down the switch and nothing. I do recall about a month ago my display read "low voltage" and I assumed it was because I hadn't run the engine for a few weeks.

I understood why the coach batteries died, but not the engine battery. I'll make the call to Good Sam.

Thank you all for the information.

[NWJeeper]

Originally Posted by RVNDC

Thank you all for the information. I returned to the rig today and the coach batteries are charged but the engine battery is dead. I held down the switch and nothing. I do recall about a month ago my display read "low voltage" and I assumed it was because I hadn't run the engine for a few weeks.

I understood why the coach batteries died, but not the engine battery. I'll make the call to Good Sam.

Thank you all for the information.

Same thing happened to me about a month ago, the starting battery went bad. If you have another you can switch in I would try that. Or get a volt meter and test it. I am betting it's a bad starting battery.

[RVNDC]

Good Sam dispatched a technican to my rig, who jumpstarted it. I left the rig running today and hope it charges. The technician bought two batteries with him in case the jump didn't work. The batteries were $125 each.

I'm going to let the rig run overnight and will drive it home tomorrow before shutting the engine off. If it doesn't start then I'll be purchasing new batteries. I don't want to experience this again.

I'm glad to have Good Sam. The service call was $200.00, but cost be nothing.

[KyDan]

If your coach is stored long term and your onboard power system
does not keep the cranking battery charged you should buy a
battery tender. Period. You can't beat them. I've got one on my
trailer, lawn tractor, motorcycle and tow vehicle.
Battery tenders won't boil your battery dry and they are great for
preventing sulfide build up.
It comes with both clip on leads as well as one you can permanently
attach to the battery with a plug on the other end so you can attach
the battery to the charger very easily.

http://www.batterytender.com/
Just google battery tender or search at Amazon.com

[RVNDC]

Thank you for the info. The batteries charged fine. I'll keep an eye on them.