battery died every night

[bcrispy]

I have been dealing with the same (?) incredibly frustrating problem for 2 years. I have a 2016 Columbus 5th & i.e. if we pull in for an overnight stay somewhere with no shore power, turn on a movie & some LED lights with the fridge running or not 2 fully charged 6V batteries @ 14.2V drop to 10.8V in less than an 1 hour.
Converter, solar regulator, batteries have all been changed. Real puzzler is there is no real current draw anywhere but somehow it just goes away. Fuses have been pulled one at a time etc and both the dealership and I have spent a lot of time chasing this. New 6V batteries have been hydrometer tested good as well. RV is at the currently at the dealership for 5th time now, fingers crossed but I am losing faith. If I get any positive results I will be sure to let you know.

[steve32409]

I will be changing the converter when we get back home in a couple days - not sure that could even be the problem but I have a different brand ready anyway so that's first - then over the pit and looking for a shorted out wire ? or something with the generator as it wont start now either ,, I suppose it could be related . - please let me know if they get yours fixed . thanks

[FFred]

There is no EZ way to constantly monitor a battery system with out a battery monitor.

Think of it as a gas gauge on both how full the batt is and how fast it is being charged and discharged.

This is only one brand of many , that will give an accurate picture of what is happening in real time

Bogart Engineering: home

home - Bogart Engineering


For twenty-five years we've made battery system monitors that give you insight into your system. If you depend on batteries for power, our monitors show how full your batteries are, if charging sources are still charging like they used to, how fast your loads are drawing power, and to check whether your batteries are still ...

[steve32409]

It took awhile but finally found what was running my battery down in a matter of hours . Was looking around the lp tank just to see how many gal. it held and found the safety lp shut off was so hot I couldn't touch it - cut the wires and the drain was gone ! I then removed this 12 v valve ( ok , bring it on people ) so now it works great and the frig has been running all day and the battery still full - wahhoo ! so " bcrispy " please check this 12 v valve - they don't last very long really because they are constantly on - drawing power ?

[1A Camper]

That is something you see on boats that have a propane stove. Boats normally do not have gas absorption/heat type refig. A boat is a bowl in the water that will trap a propane leak (heavier than air )so lot of precautions are taken. It is only turn on when using the stove.
I bet the PO had a boat at one time.

[Toyman]

My experience with LP shutoff valves is that a properly operating one draws less than 1A. Can you check the draw on yours ? Do you have easy access to the valve ? If so, replace it with a manual valve.

Edit...if the tank is inaccessible, it will have a remotely operated valve. Included on MANY B vans.

[rockfordroo]

Some rigs have that solenoid valve. It is maintained open by the LP gas detector. If the detector smells gas, it shuts the valve. I think they're more common in motorhomes than TT's.

[steve32409]

I spoke to soon - it went dead again but just took a little longer without this malfunctioning gas valve ?

[bclemens]

What rig do you have again Steve?

[FFred]

I spoke to soon - it went dead again but just took a little longer without this malfunctioning gas valve ?

Even good fresh deep cycle batts are killed by a very deep discharge.

Take the connections off after charging and see if the batt dies when not connected to the coach.

If it does , its time for a new battery , regardless of its age.

Folks that travel might want to consider the brand of house batt , as many like Sears and NAPA and Interstate with loads of sales outlets may be easier to replace on the road.

The house bank must have a DEEP CYCLE battery , a std starting batt or the "Marine RV" , will not work for very long.

The amperage rating on a deep cycle batt will be at the" 20 hour rate", if it has a CCA or an MCA rating its not a deep cycle.

Trojan does good deep cycle batts but shops that carry them are harder to find.

[Hsrvtime]

If you need batteries contact Tom, he sells Lifelines.

Trans-Specialists RV Batteries

[steve32409]

Brian - I have a 2015 Rev - bought 2 1/2 years ago . I have tried to find a good quality shop to take it to but no luck yet and I bought it new out of state so cant take it there . The batteries , new large one and original both check out ok but something happens only when the frig is on . Checking the amps used with a multi meter between the neg post and the battery cable shows not much draw - but after a few hours with only the frig on the battery will just go totally dead ?

[bclemens]

Where are you located? You can try the dealer locator on the website...check for REV dealers or Isata 3-4-5 dealers. All of them should be able to help.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by steve32409

Brian - I have a 2015 Rev - bought 2 1/2 years ago . I have tried to find a good quality shop to take it to but no luck yet and I bought it new out of state so cant take it there . The batteries , new large one and original both check out ok but something happens only when the frig is on . Checking the amps used with a multi meter between the neg post and the battery cable shows not much draw - but after a few hours with only the frig on the battery will just go totally dead ?

Your fridge probably has a door heater if it's a Dometic. It pulls about 0.5 amps. Shouldn't be enough to kill your battery that fast, but it's something else you can disconnect.

Check the wiring diagram on the back of your fridge. If you have the door heater it will look like this (red square):



I've attached a tutorial on disconnecting the heater. If you don't mind losing the inside light, you can just pull the wire off pin J2 on the control card.

[FFred]

Lifted from a trawler board,



This article covers the subject https://www.proboat.com/2016/10/solving-sulfation/

[steve32409]

[QUOTE=rockfordroo;1818634]Your fridge probably has a door heater if it's a Dometic. It pulls about 0.5 amps. Shouldn't be enough to kill your battery that fast, but it's something else you can disconnect.

Check the wiring diagram on the back of your fridge. If you have the door heater it will look like this (red square):

Attachment 173089

I've attached a tutorial on disconnecting the heater. If you don't mind losing the inside light, you can just pull the wire off pin J2 on the control card . I will disconnect the heater today - someone else had brought that up also but I thought that this heater only worked when on shore power and not dc power ?

[camaraderie]

Originally Posted by FFred

Lifted from a trawler board,



This article covers the subject https://www.proboat.com/2016/10/solving-sulfation/

Good link...D'Antonio knows what he is talking about. One additional point...AGM's other than Lifeline are generally not amenable to an extended "rescue" EQ cycle and it will generally require special charging equipment capable of both adjustable voltage (over 15V) and amperage along with temperature monitoring. This is why AGM's are particularly sensitive to receiving a FULL 100% charge no matter how long it takes...otherwise, you make more crystals. Wet cells can always be equalized with the right equipment and the caps off...but depending on age and degree of sulfation will not always be salvageable.

[rockfordroo]

[QUOTE=steve32409;1819257]

Originally Posted by rockfordroo

Your fridge probably has a door heater if it's a Dometic. It pulls about 0.5 amps. Shouldn't be enough to kill your battery that fast, but it's something else you can disconnect.

Check the wiring diagram on the back of your fridge. If you have the door heater it will look like this (red square):

Attachment 173089

I've attached a tutorial on disconnecting the heater. If you don't mind losing the inside light, you can just pull the wire off pin J2 on the control card . I will disconnect the heater today - someone else had brought that up also but I thought that this heater only worked when on shore power and not dc power ?

No. Heater is always on with 12VDC applied. If you look at the wiring diagram, it's in parallel with the inside light (except the light is switched on/off by the door switch), so if you've got the light, the heater is on.

[Toyman]

There’s an organized way to track down loads. If it hasn’t been posted, here’s one.
Phantom Loads: A Possible Battery Draining Source

[steve32409]

so yesterday on full charged battery had multimeter in between neg bat post and neg cable again to watch what was happening - for over 8 hours it was pulling .58 with frig on and battery was still showing a little less than 100%. I opened the entry door a few times and there was a loud clicking noise coming from what sounded like , the backside of frig - I look over at meter and it is going crazy showing anywhere from 11.0 to 3.0 in rapid fire with these clicks / after a minute or so the battery which was still showing 12.90 before this - was dead showing 10.58 . Long story short this morning - now house has power with neg house cable unhooked so I will need to find where these 2 batteries come together or maybe someone can tell me if they know for a 2015 Rev. ( and I ordered a new step motor last night thinking it had a big problem - before this morning finding this new problem )