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Old 11-17-2018, 06:03 PM   #1
Ddclausen
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12 volt power drain when in storage

My 2017 Alpine 3400 cant keep batteries charged. I use the built in battery disconnect and no added connectins to battery. I visited the storage yard and noticed the battery voltage at 5 volts and heard beeping from my 6 point auto leveler. This is my second year with the rig. This did nt happen in my first year. I noticed that the factory wiring has 2 purple, 1 brown, 1 red, and 1 blue wires attached to the bus prior to the battery disconnect switch. Does anyone know what those wires go to? How about a wiring diagram Keystone?
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Old 11-17-2018, 07:15 PM   #2
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Keystone has not provided a wiring diagram for any of their trailers. If you happen to find one, market it, you'll make a hefty profit. It would be easier (and you'll probably be more successful) to find a unicorn.....
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Old 11-17-2018, 08:41 PM   #3
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Battery disconnects are worthless the way they are setup. My batteries only last a week. I have a solar panel to maintain the charge during most of the year. If it’s not plugged in during the winter you need to disconnect the negative side from your batteries so you don’t damage the batteries. Keep them above 12.5 or so.
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Old 11-18-2018, 05:01 AM   #4
Frederick
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I have a 2014 Alpine the batter disconnect dose not turn off the safety sensors I had your same problem you will have to put a main disconnect in the power line which I did my battery now stays charged during storage
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Old 11-18-2018, 06:34 AM   #5
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Here's a very basic diagram I've found helpful.
Not a lot of detail but simple to read.
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Old 11-18-2018, 08:12 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Canonman View Post
Here's a very basic diagram I've found helpful.
Not a lot of detail but simple to read.
That diagram is something that I put together. It's for my 2018 Keystone Cougar 22RBS trailer. I imagine that there's a lot of similarities between the different units when it comes to DC distribution.

I've put in a disconnect at the battery now so I can disconnect the batteries completely when I want to.
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Old 11-18-2018, 12:04 PM   #7
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Keystone disconnect does not turn off everything

The Keystone disconnect does not turn off everything. The safety sensors, the leveling system if you have one, and the front stabilizer legs. The only way to turn off the power completely is to disconnect the Negative battery terminal from the battery or install a disconnect switch there. A simple Knife switch would do or buy one from amazon about $25.
Mel

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Old 11-21-2018, 12:23 PM   #8
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I have a 2016 Alpine and used the battery disconnect(s) also and my batteries were drained while in storage. I now disconnect the battery terminals as previously mentioned in other replies. So far so good. Remember to disconnect your inverter bat. as well.
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Old 11-21-2018, 01:42 PM   #9
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Keystone has not provided a wiring diagram for any of their trailers. If you happen to find one, market it, you'll make a hefty profit. It would be easier (and you'll probably be more successful) to find a unicorn.....
An albino unicorn standing on 4 leaf clovers.
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Old 11-21-2018, 01:52 PM   #10
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Mboys what is an inverter bat.?
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Old 11-21-2018, 02:42 PM   #11
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Mboys what is an inverter bat.?
Some (not all) RV's with residential refrigerators have a "dedicated battery" to power the inverter that powers the residential refrigerator. The trend seems to be away from a "dedicated inverter battery" and most manufacturers seem to have moved toward wiring the "refrigerator inverter to the main RV system battery bank" ...

Unless you have a residential refrigerator, you won't have a OEM inverter or inverter battery.
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Old 11-21-2018, 09:07 PM   #12
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On your Alpine and all Alpines the hydraulic pump, CO detector, emergency brake break away , and level up control panel as well as the level up control module located in front storage compartment are directly wired to the main batteries.

All of this will drain your batteries dead in about a week.

Smarter option is to remove batteries and take home and put batteries on a maintainer to keep them fresh and ready.

Every Alpine I’ve seen with residential fridge has separate battery and inverter mounted in forward compartment...

This battery will also go dead over a period of time without being on a battery maintainer or plugged into shore power to receive a charge from the converter.
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Old 11-25-2018, 09:38 AM   #13
baybum10
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There is always a drain on the battery with the factory disconnect. I installed a disconnect to the negative terminal and it now is a true disconnect.
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Old 11-25-2018, 10:05 AM   #14
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We have a 2017 Alpine with residential fridge and our wiring for the fridge inverter is connected to the main residential battery. However, I have placed a Blue Sea multiple Battery disconnect to isolate my 4 deep cell golf cart batteries from house battery as well as the inverter when in storage. I disconnect the negative house battery when in storage as it goes dead rather quickly from parasitic draws.
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Old 11-25-2018, 11:31 AM   #15
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I had the same issue with parasitic draw. I added a battery cutoff switch when I upgraded the battery bank. This solved the problem.
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Old 11-25-2018, 01:42 PM   #16
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I pull my battery from the RV, store it in my garage and put a battery tender on it. Problem solved.
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Old 11-25-2018, 01:47 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by efrulla View Post
I pull my battery from the RV, store it in my garage and put a battery tender on it. Problem solved.
Same here.
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Old 11-25-2018, 08:19 PM   #18
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Could you furnish a picture of that disconnect, I want to put one in mine but not sure what kind to use.

Thanks in advance
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Old 11-26-2018, 12:18 PM   #19
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More surprises & bad labels.

About 15 years ago I bought a Bounder and was thrilled about the low point drains - until the next season when I had to fix frozen pipes.

This cuttoff switchs story is a similar bad label and I wonder how many dealers don't have a clue. I bought a new Cougar at Camping World in Utah a couple of weeks ago a couple of weeks ago. They told me about the battery cuttoff switch. I took it at face value! Bad! I had already found that my electric jack and stabilizer motors are powered when the switch if in the off position. I wonder what else.

Just last Sat, I noticed that my temporary battery was down about 30% with no load on it. Or at least I thought. Once I do some "fixup" on my new trailer, I will remove the temporary battery for the rest of the winter and then install two 6 volt T105s. In the meantime, out comes the Honda generator.

I will also install a main cutoff switch next spring so ALL DC power is shut off during storage. Most marine stores and of course Amazon sells cutoff switches for batteries.

By the way, the question regarding the "inverter" battery refers to the power from the battery that powers the inverter. If you shut off the inverter, there should be ZERO current drain from the battery. However, worth calling your inverter manufacturer.
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Old 11-27-2018, 03:38 PM   #20
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Batteries will discharge when not in use.

I too learned that the factory "disconnect" doesn't save the battery. I ended up installing two Perko Marine disconnects (got them on amazon) in our 2013 Monty 3400RL; one on the negative cable and one on the positive in hopes to isolate the battery and save the charge for a few weeks between trips. Still found the battery with low voltage after a few weeks. I spoke with a rep at Interstate Batteries and was told that these batteries will discharge over (a brief) time even when not connected to anything. They need to be on a maintenance/trickle charger when not in use. Now if it'll be more than a week between trips, I always pull the battery and put on a battery tender in the garage.
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