Refrigerator draws the battery down.

[Lins]

Originally Posted by CeeWoo

I've been reading this thread and apologize in advance if I missed something.

I bought a new Forest River Cruise Lite-20' a little over a month ago. First camped in it a week later (with full hookups) and the fridge froze everything in it. My dealer is over 2 hrs away so in phone communications, we're fairly certain that it's a bad thermister. I've since gone 'dry camping' (i did run a generator every morning to make coffee & recharge btry)with the trailer once, and have turned the fridge OFF at night to prevent the freezing (seems that about 8 hrs at night helps the freezing issue). Anyhow parked the trailer with nothing turned on inside about 2 weeks ago and the battery tested a whole 1.56 volts when I just checked on the trailer. Quite a parasitic drain!!!

Any thoughts on if I'm going to have that problem persist even after the thermister is replaced?

In my limited experience, 2 weeks is too long to leave the battery hooked up with the trailer parked.

[CeeWoo]

Originally Posted by Lins

In my limited experience, 2 weeks is too long to leave the battery hooked up with the trailer parked.

Thanks...was wondering about that myself. My previous trailer that I just got rid of had no problem even for a month or so...but of course at 18 yrs old, it may not have had as many things drawing a parasitic charge.

[wakeele]

Along the same tread of great info, we have a Wolf Pup Limited with the Dometic RM-2351 that had the battery go dead overnight.

Couldn't find any signs of a cause other than the fridge. We had been getting a check light on the panel. Good gas flow, at least to the stove burners. Several days before, we thought the light was just for a empty bottle, but there was a little left, but it seemingly solved the problem for a few days. We had been going to a lot of different camp sites around Alaska, so really bumpy roads at times.

While I was thinking it was a gas issue, I'm wonder after reading all the stuff in this tread, I'm curious if it's more electrical issue? Just trying to rule out as much as we can before we hit the ALCAN next week.

[Lins]

Originally Posted by wakeele

Along the same tread of great info, we have a Wolf Pup Limited with the Dometic RM-2351 that had the battery go dead overnight.

Couldn't find any signs of a cause other than the fridge. We had been getting a check light on the panel. Good gas flow, at least to the stove burners. Several days before, we thought the light was just for a empty bottle, but there was a little left, but it seemingly solved the problem for a few days. We had been going to a lot of different camp sites around Alaska, so really bumpy roads at times.

While I was thinking it was a gas issue, I'm wonder after reading all the stuff in this tread, I'm curious if it's more electrical issue? Just trying to rule out as much as we can before we hit the ALCAN next week.

Did you do anything to 'solve the problem for a few days'? In our camper, the fridge is the first to go out when gas is getting low. Furnace, hot water heater and stove will still run.

[MNtraveler]

Are you up in altitude?

[Lins]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

Are you up in altitude?

I'm not sure who you're asking but if it's me, no.

[MNtraveler]

Sorry no I was asking wakeele who was having intermittency problems and a check light in the panel.

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by wakeele

Along the same tread of great info, we have a Wolf Pup Limited with the Dometic RM-2351 that had the battery go dead overnight.

Couldn't find any signs of a cause other than the fridge. We had been getting a check light on the panel. Good gas flow, at least to the stove burners. Several days before, we thought the light was just for a empty bottle, but there was a little left, but it seemingly solved the problem for a few days. We had been going to a lot of different camp sites around Alaska, so really bumpy roads at times.

While I was thinking it was a gas issue, I'm wonder after reading all the stuff in this tread, I'm curious if it's more electrical issue? Just trying to rule out as much as we can before we hit the ALCAN next week.

Are you up in higher altitudes?

There . . . I found the Quote button again. ;-)

[Tyler114]

I’m new to the rv world . We recently picked our new unit up at the dealer , took it home and the next morning the battery was dead . I noticed the inverter refrigerator was on . Is there a way to turn this unit of while in storage ? I have the fuse pulled now . Inside there are no noticeable switches to turn it off . Only temperature controls .

[MNtraveler]

Originally Posted by Tyler114

I’m new to the rv world . We recently picked our new unit up at the dealer , took it home and the next morning the battery was dead . I noticed the inverter refrigerator was on . Is there a way to turn this unit of while in storage ? I have the fuse pulled now . Inside there are no noticeable switches to turn it off . Only temperature controls .

Since it's plugged into an inverter, if no power switch is obvious, unplug the refrigerator from the inverter or unplug the inverter if that connection is reachable.

When in storage (and only when in storage), your battery circuit switch should be turned to OFF. That will turn off most power drains - but not all. There are small power leeches here and there in every RV. If turning off for more than a few days, and not leaving the batteries on a slow charge, it will be best to disconnect the batteries completely to stop all drainage.

Since you indicated you are new to the RV world, you may find these series a helpful place to start:

https://youtu.be/yMeNcRGVcUE
(Part 1 of 7 but don't be deterred!)

https://youtu.be/eA7O7y5e2r4
(Part I of III)

[wakeele]

Originally Posted by MNtraveler

Are you up in higher altitudes?

There . . . I found the Quote button again. ;-)

For continuity sake, and sorry for missing this last summer, but no (only at around 1500ft at most outside of Denali).

[Samson75]

Same here! I have 115 ah batteries. 1 year old. Good water level. And fully charged. Dead as doornails less then 24 hours later... nothing on in trailer ... nothing. Fridge and hot water

[Roddy234]

We just purchased a new Wildwood 233RBXL. The refrigerator is gigantic compared to a regular rv one, but it only runs on DC. We were told that it is relatively new thing but a battery should last a couple days at least. We asked for 2 batteries but the dealer told us they wouldn't fit but gave us a single 12 volt that is much bigger than the regular 12 volt. We have a honda 2000 generator and a 100 watt solar panel but the battery still has a hard time keeping up when the generator is not running. We dry camp for long periods of time. Any suggestions?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Roddy234

We just purchased a new Wildwood 233RBXL. The refrigerator is gigantic compared to a regular rv one, but it only runs on DC. We were told that it is relatively new thing but a battery should last a couple days at least. We asked for 2 batteries but the dealer told us they wouldn't fit but gave us a single 12 volt that is much bigger than the regular 12 volt. We have a honda 2000 generator and a 100 watt solar panel but the battery still has a hard time keeping up when the generator is not running. We dry camp for long periods of time. Any suggestions?

Your dealer isn't necessarily correct.. You probably have an Everchill 12v DC fridge. Personally i would never have such a fridge, since we dry camp a lot.
But if you always camp with electric hookups, then a single 12v battery should be sufficient.
But if you dry camp or boondock, you'll need more than a single battery.
Your trailer's A-frame should have enough room for two Group 24 12v batteries or two 6v golf cart batteries.

[Roddy234]

Yes, I do have an ever chill. went to Pasco to see about adding battery storage. Two 6 volt golf cart batteries will not fit on the tongue of the trailer behind the propane tanks. The trailer already had a Precision 12 volt 27 marine battery. To make a long story short I added two more 12 volt 27 batteries identical to the one on the trailer. There are connected with quick connects and sit (on a frame I built) under the trailer. Along with my 120 watt solar panel I have a pair of Honda generators, one 2000 and the other a 2200. Everything is working but we do have to run a generator every day in the morning and evening for about an hour. The fridge works so well and is so much better than our last TT fridge that all this is almost worth it.

[Roddy234]

Question - Will the batteries charge better if I run both generators at the same time? (they are connected together)

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Roddy234

Question - Will the batteries charge better if I run both generators at the same time? (they are connected together)

No.

[Roddy234]

Thanks Dan. I know you don't care for the ever chill but what do you think about my solution so far?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by Roddy234

Thanks Dan. I know you don't care for the ever chill but what do you think about my solution so far?

You'll probably be fine with your setup but you need to check and see how much charging you're getting through the umbilical cord.
It's not that I don't care for the Everchill, it's just for us, a DC fridge wouldn't be best for our dry camping. I like being able to have the propane option.

[Mizterusa]

Originally Posted by Bogey3025

Not sure what you mean... We have the option of gas or electric. It's two years old.

The 3rd way is 12v in emergency. It's only used to maintain a certain temp until either propane or 110 kicks back on.