Batteries Drained

[Bobby1948]

I purchased a 2021 E-Pro 19QB in August of this year. I took it out once and than put it back in my storage unit. I went to check on it today and found the batteries drained. So my questions are do I need to keep it plugged in at the storage unit? Is there a master switch inside the unit that cuts off all the power so that the batteries do not drain? Or do I need to disconnect the batteries while it is in the storage unit? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Bob K.

[bwag1961]

Originally Posted by Bobby1948

I purchased a 2021 E-Pro 19QB in August of this year. I took it out once and than put it back in my storage unit. I went to check on it today and found the batteries drained. So my questions are do I need to keep it plugged in at the storage unit? Is there a master switch inside the unit that cuts off all the power so that the batteries do not drain? Or do I need to disconnect the batteries while it is in the storage unit? Thanks for any help you can give me.

Bob K.

Either charge up the batteries and disconnect them or pull the batteries and take them home and place them on a battery tender. I prefer the later.

[Flybob]

If the batteries drained, it is likely you do not have a battery cut off or were told where it is. You have several options.


1. Connect a micro controlled battery maintainer to the battery and plug it in if you have power. Not a trickle charger.



2. Add a battery cut off. If you do this be sure to wire it so it disconnects all power connections.


3. Remove the wires from the negative terminal of the battery.



Be sure to reconnect or switch on the cut off switch before moving as the battery powers the break-away brakes.

[boondocking]

Do you live in an area where winters are below freezing?
If so, fully charge the batteries, disconnect one of the cables (pos or neg). Then come back in the spring and recharge the 10% discharge that the batteries lost over winter.

[TBeri01]

I own a 2019 E-Pro 14FK - check the thermostat for the furnace. I went out on Sunday to find my batteries were drained. I plugged the trailer back in to charge the batteries back up and when I did the furnace turned on since it's been cold the last few days here (gas was off) and that is what drained the batteries. I found that you have to make sure the thermostat "clicks" into the off position. The batteries have been full ever since. Hopefully it's something easy like that in your case!

[Bobby1948]

So I went over to my storage unit and was able to plug my trailer into shore power. Everything seemed to work inside and the batteries started charging.

In researching the electrical problem I discovered a battery cut off switch, but it was not convenient to access. It is located on the frame under the propane gas tanks. To get to it you have to lay on the ground and slide under the frame and reach up to turn the switch to the off position. I think this is really a poor design.

So I left it on and the trailer connected to shore power to charge the batteries. Once they are charged I might disconnect shore power and turn the switch to the off position to see if the batteries continue to drain.

Thanks for all your suggestions.
Bob

[RobbieH]

That's where mine is too, but I leave mine plugged in all the time so I never use it.

One thing to watch, if you do leave it plugged in all the time and have flooded (regular) batteries, be sure you check your battery water monthly, and top it off with distilled water as needed. You probably should check yours too, since they ran down all the way.

[Reverse_snowbird]

Unless your battery disconnect switch is located directly on the battery, that's not going to work to preserve your battery charge.
You need to charge your batteries and either disconnect the negative battery cable (the no cost solution) or install and use a battery disconnect switch directly on the battery.
Batteries that are properly disconnected will keep their charge for months under normal conditions.

[RobbieH]

His description of the location under the propane tanks is the common location for the full battery disconnect on travel trailers.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by TBeri01

I own a 2019 E-Pro 14FK - check the thermostat for the furnace. I went out on Sunday to find my batteries were drained. I plugged the trailer back in to charge the batteries back up and when I did the furnace turned on since it's been cold the last few days here (gas was off) and that is what drained the batteries. I found that you have to make sure the thermostat "clicks" into the off position. The batteries have been full ever since. Hopefully it's something easy like that in your case!

You have other things draining your batteries.

Unless your RV is really old, all rv's have a CO/LP detector which is connected directly to the battery. Stereo radio clock, station memory and standby and touchscreen control panel - standby mode, they may/may not turn off with a disconnect switch.

You may/may not have an inverter for a residential refrigerator, even with the fridge turned off these almost always need to be turned off by the inverter's on-board power switch. If you have an after market inverter it may not have a power button so your only option is to disconnect it.

[richp]

Sadly, if your batteries were indeed completely drained in this episode, they likely are permanently damaged. Only time will tell, but in any event their life span was most certainly shortened, if they hold much of a charge at all.