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Old 07-30-2017, 08:11 PM   #1
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3 dead batteries?

My three batteries are dead. I didn't turn off the main power switch when we put put the RV away for a few weeks There's an annoying sound coming from the landing gear. We were told it would stop when battery is charged. When tried to charge battery it began charging then a trouble light came on. Our unit is 2016 cedar creek silverback 331K Any suggestions??
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Old 07-31-2017, 07:12 AM   #2
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Welcome to the FRF!

Sorry about your bad luck!
As you and thousands of others have found out there are phantom loads in any rig that
will drain the batteries unless you-
leave it plugged in on some sort of charger or
Have a battery disconnect switch and remember to turn it OFF.

My advice is try charging them again.
It's bad to totally drain a battery and the longer it's left dead the worse it is but....
I have drained a battery(s) before and they did take a charge later.

Try again.
You might even consider a stand alone charger to try and coax them back to life.
I'm not familiar with your rig so I don't know about the alarm (low battery?) or why
you got a "fault" light.

Others will chime in very soon.
Don't give up on the batteries just yet!
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Old 07-31-2017, 07:16 AM   #3
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Like Dan said, if you can get a hold of a slow trickle charger, many times you can recover a battery with a slow charge.
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Old 07-31-2017, 07:27 AM   #4
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If you try to charge a dead battery with the converter in an RV, the initial current from the converter into the battery is usually high enough to blow the reverse polarity fuses. This is even worse with multiple batteries. You need to do several things.

1. First try to recover the batteries by removing the negative to chassis ground wire to isolate the RV. Then charge each one individually using a good automotive battery charger. This will should also help identify any single battery that may be damaged beyond recovery.
2. Once charged, connect the negative to chassis ground wire. Replace the blown reverse polarity fuses if needed.
3. Connect the RV to shore power and test the converters operation.
4. Once everything is working as it should, add a battery disconnect switch between the ground terminal and the chassis ground wire. ( one you disconnected in step 1.
Good luck

If you want to be absolutely certain the batteries are not damaged, you can remove them and take them to an auto parts store to have them load tested.
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Old 07-31-2017, 09:15 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flybob View Post
If you want to be absolutely certain the batteries are not damaged, you can remove them and take them to an auto parts store to have them load tested.
Good idea but they need to be charged first.
Can't load test a dead battery
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Old 08-01-2017, 08:37 PM   #6
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Smile Dead batteries

Thank you for your input.We took our generator and plugged it in the RV for about three hours. That charged them all up and we were able to hook up the R V. and bring it to our place and plug it in. Everything is all charged up and now we're getting ready to do some travelling. Leaving on Thursday Hooray! thanks again
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Old 08-01-2017, 09:03 PM   #7
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Hope you aren't dry camping cuz your batteries are probably damaged and unable to provide you their rated capacity.
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Old 08-02-2017, 09:09 PM   #8
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We'll have power for the 2. Weeks ,Then we. Will be dry camping for 8 days. What do you suggest we do
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Old 08-02-2017, 09:15 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubby View Post
We'll have power for the 2. Weeks ,Then we. Will be dry camping for 8 days. What do you suggest we do
Check water level after charging for several days, use distilled. Try them at Camp! You said you have a generator, that is your backup plan!
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Old 08-21-2017, 06:43 PM   #10
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Had a similar issue, dry camping for just two days, my one 120ah deep cycle battery didn't die but was reduced to pretty low level. Even though later I had it recharged and tested at a battery dealers' who gave it the thumbs up, it still was only good enough for us to get from one powered site to the next. I now keep it at home as a spare jump starter.

I have since replaced it with 2 heavier-duty 120ah (Full River) deep cycle batteries. We had a scare when we run them down badly after just two weeks on the road. My built-in charger/converter died and we didn't know about it for 3 weeks because we were dry camping only one night before using a powered site. It took ages looking at each (big) town we stopped at but I eventually found a 35amp multi-stage charger (Projecta), used it to hard-kick the batteries back up and then charge and everything has been good since.

A tip: A Dometic fridge (and probably all others too) with an electronic operator panel needs 12v at all times, regardless of whether you run it on shore power, gas or 12v, even just idling and turned off at the panel (no lights showing). It draws about between 9-13 watts continuously. If you plan to park your RV for long periods without shore power, you need to disconnect the battery bank by removing either the negative or positive terminal (or use an isolator switch). Better still, remove the batteries from of the RV, take them home and let them sit with a trickle charger on 24/7.

This fridge thing was the cause of my grief when we were boondocking.
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Old 08-21-2017, 07:09 PM   #11
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Once the SOC (State of Charge) has hit 20% or less permanent damage is likely. The best way to try to recover them is to remove them from the trailer and put them one at a time on a slow charge (5, maybe 10 Amp max.) for a couple of days (depending on the size of the batteries), generator or the built in charger are to fast in this case. Once fully charged do a load test and start saving for replacements. Make sure the battery fluid covers the plates and that it looks clear - if not, don't even bother.
Install a battery kill switch and use it .
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Old 08-21-2017, 08:00 PM   #12
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I read, was told and found that each need the full 14.5v whack to kick them up, then they go through the normal stages of a multi-stage charger. Low level charging even for a few days, did nothing to overcome the low level state they were in. Mine are now right-as-rain.
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