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Old 09-18-2018, 08:36 PM   #1
Yooper421
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Brand New FW, Battery Drain

We just took delivery of our 2019 311 RES. Several annoying trim problems, an extremely noisy water pump, a serious breach by the delivery guy or prep staff resulting in a broken cabinet door, and generally not as clean as DW expected it to be.

All of those things would be forgiven (once addressed by the service dept.) BUT on our first weekend out, Labor Day, the battery lost power at the rate of .2 -.4 volts every 3-5 hours!

We dry camp alot so I had a generator, battery charger and a second battery with me. I immediately connected to the second battery while the first recharged, thinking that it might be a dead cell or something with the brand new battery. Same result.

There was NOTHING turned on except the clock light in the Ent Ctr. and the refrigerator running on LP. Since returning home, I shut the frig off to eliminate that possibility, but it made no difference.

I had it at the dealer last week, they "observed" it for the 5+ hours that I was there but didn't see any noticeable drop in voltage. I returned home, and by the next morning I didn't have enough power for the leveling system.

The dealer said they'll check with Keystone to see what they suggest for this issue. My experience with other RV forums is, you get much better answers from other guys and gals that have experienced and solved the same problem.

So, anyone got any ideas, I'll be glad to try anything.
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Old 09-19-2018, 02:32 AM   #2
flybouy
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There have been more posts on this issue than I can count. Try searching the forum. There are more parasitic drains on a RV than just "the light on the radio". LP detectors, the stereo memory, remote controlled systems,etc. Your fridge requires 12vdc when running on gas (as does the water heater) and some fridges have a door heater thats 12 vdc as well. Try the search function, set back and enjoy the reading material.
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Old 09-19-2018, 03:01 AM   #3
chuckster57
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Brand New FW, Battery Drain

What size battery? Was the battery load tested?

BTW, welcome to the forum!!
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Old 09-19-2018, 03:06 AM   #4
notanlines
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Yooper, your multi-meter is your friend. Here is a short video explaining my statement.
Try this method and then pull one 12V fuse at a time until you know where your juice is disappearing. Get back to us.....and, oh, welcome to the forum.
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Old 09-19-2018, 03:15 AM   #5
C.LeeNick
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Howdy,

It sure sounds like you've got something draining the battery above and beyond "normal". One should be able to dry camp for a few days at least without the battery going dead. Imagine if you had to run the furnace at night. We recently purchased a 2019 Passport, and it's been at the dealership getting some work done while we were out of town. We were gone about two weeks, and when I stopped in at the dealership to check progress, I noticed the onboard battery was stone cold dead. I brought it up to the service guy, and he mentioned the propane leak detector being on all the time, as well as the display for the clock/stereo. I don't know how long it took for the battery to go dead, or what the circumstances were (maybe the service guys left the lights or radio on when they put it back out on the back lot? It's still there at the dealership since they have one more major job to do), but we also have an old motorhome that was built in the 1970's, and when stuff is "off", it it "off"! No electronics. The coach can sit there for months and the house battery will barely lose any charge. The new RV's, with electronics, make me wonder how much drain there still is when things are "off". In our new trailer, the CO2 detector and smoke detector are both battery operated, and I know they can go a year on a battery, but I do not know how much power a hard-wired 12 volt propane detector uses. Also, does the electronic circuitry in the new power control panels use 12 volts when the coach is unplugged? I've gone inside my rig when stored here in the yard on a warm day and noticed a cooling fan blowing in the electrical control panel, and that was a new experience for me. No RV I've ever owned had that. It was plugged in at the time, and I didn't think to unplug it to see if the fan runs off the battery when unplugged.

Hopefully, your dealership will come up with some answers. It's under warranty, so they must fix it, but it's a pain to not be able to use it the right way in the meantime. Otherwise, how experienced are you with electrical? It might come down to checking each electrical device for excessive drain when "off" (or on!). Perhaps a faulty switch is leaking some voltage to something, but it would have to be a high drain device for it to kill your battery that fast. The only thing I could think of that would use that much power would be the motors for the leveling system, which are meant to be run a short time, and then be totally off, but could use a lot of power if a switch is leaking power to the windings of the motors even when "off".

Here's something that just struck me: Does your rig have holding tank heaters? I'm not familiar with them directly, but any 12 volt heater could potentially use a lot of power if left on.

As for the "extremely noisy water pump"...you ain't kiddin'! I put a new pump in our old motohome when I bought it 15-16 years ago, as the old one was toast. I didn't buy a particularly expensive one, but it's still a heck of a lot quieter than one in our new Passport!
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Old 09-19-2018, 04:17 AM   #6
mazboy
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i always use two batteries...i'd suggest you do the same. both should be equal in power and similar age since power always pulls the stronger battery down to the weaker one.

you have a heavy drain somewhere, good luck. I had a 12 volt electric refrig once that destoryed my batteries in a day.
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Old 09-19-2018, 01:12 PM   #7
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I’d have to yank out that original “new” battery supplied at delivery and get it mid tested. Any auto shop / parts place
Can do this. I’m suspecting a shorter cell in the battery.

And you really need two batteries hooked up all the time for dry camping. One isn’t gonna cut it for dry camping.
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Old 09-19-2018, 01:37 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChuckS View Post
I’d have to yank out that original “new” battery supplied at delivery and get it mid tested. Any auto shop / parts place
Can do this. I’m suspecting a shorter cell in the battery.

And you really need two batteries hooked up all the time for dry camping. One isn’t gonna cut it for dry camping.
Great advice !!! First, any battery should last at least a few hours....

As for needing two batteries for dry camping. The OP's trailer has 3 full size slides, so just leveling the trailer and deploying the slides will probably discharge one GP 24 or GP27 battery below the recommended minimum charge level leaving nothing to run the trailer for the rest of the day.....
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Old 09-19-2018, 01:51 PM   #9
sourdough
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I would 1) make sure the existing battery is actually good and 2) add a 2nd battery. If adding a 2nd battery I would just put in 2 new ones. Dry camping on one battery with a modern trailer can be difficult.

When I bought this trailer it was to come with 1 battery. I told them I wanted the 2nd installed. They died (similar to yours; would not hold a charge, dim lights etc.). When I opened the battery boxes it looked like they had found some old junkers somewhere and put in there. I suppose the Camco was supposed to be the new one and the other was covered in grease looking stuff and the bottom had swollen. Replaced with 2 new Interstates 3 years ago and not a hiccup since.
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