Newbie question - battery

[Dgumz]

I am a new owner of a 2017 Coachmen Prism 2150LE. I have had it parked for about a month. The battery in the cabin is beeping. Someone told me I should be able to quickly take that offline if parking for an extended time. I am not sure how to do that. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[sailski]

You are probably hearing the carbon monoxide detector that will beep when the battery is low. You can plug your shore power cord into a 120 V receptacle to recharge the battery. Or if there is no electricity available where you store your coach remove the coach batteries, connect them to a battery charged and store them inside where you can keep them charged in the winter. You should not leave the charger on continuously but it's good to recharge once a month.

[Dgumz]

Yep. That is what is beeping. I don’t see how to get to the battery. May have to just plug it up.

[Wileykid]

Originally Posted by Dgumz

Yep. That is what is beeping. I don’t see how to get to the battery. May have to just plug it up.

There should be a master battery shutoff for the house batteries. That will also shut the beeping off on the detector.

I am not familiar with your model, but you should be able to access the house batteries (separate from the vehicle battery) from a cargo door on the outside of the vehicle. The door should be the one without any locks on it (DOT reg).

What you should do, is if you have the ability to connect to shore power, that will take care of keeping the batteries recharged. If not, you should take the house batteries out and put them on a battery tender.

It sounds like no one has walked you through the RV and explained everything. The manual should help, and whoever you bought it from should have.

Mark

[ACJC]

Battery might be under step inside. Should be a switch to shut off coach power near the control panel.

[bikendan]

It's a shame that your dealer didn't go over this stuff, during the PDI, cause this is basic PDI information.

To not show the buyer where the battery disconnect switch is, is a huge fail.

[Dgumz]

There is a power switch under all the control switches just inside the door. I keep that off when it is parked. I have plugged the RV up to the house now. I hope that solves my problem.

When I had my orientation, it was done by someone who didn’t really know the Prizm. Someday I am going back to get properly schooled.

Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Much obliged!

[Jakieboy]

Darryl, do us all a favor and let us know the name of the dealership you bought your rig from, so those of us who may be in the market can avoid them!!


Your issues are fundamental, and should have been included in your orientation before accepting delivery of your new rig.


Welcome to the world of RV Dealership incompetence.

[FrankMor]

Originally Posted by Wileykid

There should be a master battery shutoff for the house batteries. That will also shut the beeping off on the detector.

I am not familiar with your model, but you should be able to access the house batteries (separate from the vehicle battery) from a cargo door on the outside of the vehicle. The door should be the one without any locks on it (DOT reg).

What you should do, is if you have the ability to connect to shore power, that will take care of keeping the batteries recharged. If not, you should take the house batteries out and put them on a battery tender.

It sounds like no one has walked you through the RV and explained everything. The manual should help, and whoever you bought it from should have.

Mark

The door with no locks is the LPG door. The battery door can have locks. Both MH we have had (89 Winnebago Chiefton and current 15 Thor Windsport) have locks on the battery door.

Frank

[travellvr]

Originally Posted by Wileykid

There should be a master battery shutoff for the house batteries. That will also shut the beeping off on the detector.

I am not familiar with your model, but you should be able to access the house batteries (separate from the vehicle battery) from a cargo door on the outside of the vehicle. The door should be the one without any locks on it (DOT reg).

What you should do, is if you have the ability to connect to shore power, that will take care of keeping the batteries recharged. If not, you should take the house batteries out and put them on a battery tender.

It sounds like no one has walked you through the RV and explained everything. The manual should help, and whoever you bought it from should have.

Mark

I'm having similar problems as a 2018 Coachmen newbie. We recently got a 204RD and have it stored on a lot this past 2 months. Battery was low the first day we worked in it, but inside lights worked fine, radio worked as well, and we connected it to TV to charge for awhile. Came back next day and CO2 monitor was beeping, so we charged with TV more while we worked inside. Third day, came back battery was beeping - we again charged with TV, however, no inside lights or electrical worked at all, even after having the TT connected with the TV for an hour or so. Nothing works even while the TV is connected and running.
Can't find the master battery on/off switch and manual doesn't help since there are no pictures or diagrams for reference and information given is too general to locate it.
I could use help in locating the switch (pictures or text) for this model, and whatever other suggestions and steps that will help us get on the road with power! Thanks and Merry Christmas, y'all!

[Flybob]

You may not have a factory installed battery shut off switch. If you do it will be at the battery. If you don't you can always add one later. Also you can not count on charging the battery with the TV. The wiring in most TV circuits is too small. At best you can maintain a fully charged battery during travel. Even if you upgrade the wiring, you will not "charge a battery" very much with the TV when the engine is at idle. Storing with a connected battery for 2 months will kill a good battery. If you are not going to be able to have power for charging, I suggest fully charging the battery and disconnecting the battery.

Originally Posted by travellvr

I'm having similar problems as a 2018 Coachmen newbie. We recently got a 204RD and have it stored on a lot this past 2 months. Battery was low the first day we worked in it, but inside lights worked fine, radio worked as well, and we connected it to TV to charge for awhile. Came back next day and CO2 monitor was beeping, so we charged with TV more while we worked inside. Third day, came back battery was beeping - we again charged with TV, however, no inside lights or electrical worked at all, even after having the TT connected with the TV for an hour or so. Nothing works even while the TV is connected and running.
Can't find the master battery on/off switch and manual doesn't help since there are no pictures or diagrams for reference and information given is too general to locate it.
I could use help in locating the switch (pictures or text) for this model, and whatever other suggestions and steps that will help us get on the road with power! Thanks and Merry Christmas, y'all!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by travellvr

I'm having similar problems as a 2018 Coachmen newbie. We recently got a 204RD and have it stored on a lot this past 2 months. Battery was low the first day we worked in it, but inside lights worked fine, radio worked as well, and we connected it to TV to charge for awhile. Came back next day and CO2 monitor was beeping, so we charged with TV more while we worked inside. Third day, came back battery was beeping - we again charged with TV, however, no inside lights or electrical worked at all, even after having the TT connected with the TV for an hour or so. Nothing works even while the TV is connected and running.
Can't find the master battery on/off switch and manual doesn't help since there are no pictures or diagrams for reference and information given is too general to locate it.
I could use help in locating the switch (pictures or text) for this model, and whatever other suggestions and steps that will help us get on the road with power! Thanks and Merry Christmas, y'all!

You might ask your disconnect switch in the Motorhome section's Coachmen sub-forum, instead of a General section.

It's obvious that your dealer provided another lousy PDI, for you.
Showing a customer such a basic thing as a disconnect switch, is a no-brainer.

[travellvr]

Some clarification is in order. We did disconnect the battery while it was stored for two months. We then hooked it back up and had immediate power in the trailer. We also hooked it up to the tow vehicle to charge it up more. And we had electricity the first day, but not the second. What we are looking for is the power converter switch. In our previous TT, we had an on/off switch for that that was located under the dinette table; on this one, we can't find it. We are assuming that since it was winterized when we bought it (and still is) that it is possible the converter switch was never turned on. We checked the circuit breaker for the converter and it is on. Is there a switch somewhere to turn on or something else we should be looking for?

[Wileykid]

Since your TV is 12V, it does not have to go through the converter. It does not on mine. No reason to, but mine does go through a fuse and a master battery on/off switch, and does not have an individual switch for the converter (other then the fuse on the fuse panel). With your TV hooked up, measure the voltage at your trailer battery. Should be 13V+ at that time. If not, you may have other problems, even with your TV.

One more thing. I saw the manual (for your trailer) mentioned that the converter is an excellent battery charger. What it doesn't say is that is only true when you are hooked up to shore power. Like what has been mentioned above, your TV does not put out much power to the trailer plug. Usually only sufficient to maintain what the trailer is using. It may recharge your trailer battery, but you would have to be hooked up for a day or two. And if your trailer battery is down some, forget it.

Here is a basic schematic of how your electrical system works. You can see the converter really has nothing to do if you are only using 12V, and no shore power.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by travellvr

Some clarification is in order. We did disconnect the battery while it was stored for two months. We then hooked it back up and had immediate power in the trailer. We also hooked it up to the tow vehicle to charge it up more. And we had electricity the first day, but not the second. What we are looking for is the power converter switch. In our previous TT, we had an on/off switch for that that was located under the dinette table; on this one, we can't find it. We are assuming that since it was winterized when we bought it (and still is) that it is possible the converter switch was never turned on. We checked the circuit breaker for the converter and it is on. Is there a switch somewhere to turn on or something else we should be looking for?

Most likely your battery was "mostly" discharged and could not handle the load once shore power was removed. It can take several days of charging to restore a very low battery.

Additionally, a high draw item (like the heater) will deplete a partially discharged battery very quickly. Removing the load for a few hours may allow the battery to "recover" some what, but a full charge on a dedicated charger will be needed to operate off grid for any length of time (minutes to hours).

[2017 XLR Toy Hauler]

Hello Everyone,


Just bought my 2017 XLR HyperLite 29HFS. Currently living in Northern VA and it is cold as .... I have one battery on the front of my Toy Hauler. I guess because of the extreme cold were having right now it is zapping my battery power. I've asked around to others in my company who have trailers about how to keep the battery charged.


It is currently in a storage lot with no electrical hook-ups. Best answer I've gotten so far is to take the battery off and take it home to trickle charge... I bought a 15w solar panel to trickle charge it but that is worthless.


Any Ideas? or should I just pull the battery and put it on a trickle charger at home?


Thanks for the advice.

[Flybob]

You have parasitic draws from items like the propane detector unless you have disconnected the battery. A small solar charger is worthless as you found out. If you do not have power at the storage lot, best thing to do is remove battery and take it home. You can charge it and then check it every month or so or put it on something like a Deltran battery Tender or a CTEK battery maintainer. Do not leave a discharged battery on it in freezing weather as it will freeze and crack.

[cavie]

Put your trailer battery on a real auto battery charger until fully charged. Your rig may not have a battery disconnect switch. Mine does not. I just remove the ground connection. If it does, it will be near the battery. My convert also does not have a switch. Only the circuit breaker which I never turn off. A converter is not a charger.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by cavie

Put your trailer battery on a real auto battery charger until fully charged. Your rig may not have a battery disconnect switch. Mine does not. I just remove the ground connection. If it does, it will be near the battery. My convert also does not have a switch. Only the circuit breaker which I never turn off. A converter is not a charger.

Most of today's converters are in fact, battery chargers.

[babock]

Originally Posted by 5picker

Most of today's converters are in fact, battery chargers.

Agreed...and they are normally 3 stage chargers.