Dead Battery

[Tinner12002]

Just purchased my RV and with them only putting one battery in it was dead yesterday. I had actually run the gen for about an hour last week just to top off the battery. I had been doing things in the camper, running a couple lights and running a slide or two out and back in. Battery wasn't anywhere near dead when I left it and I always trip the battery disconnect when I'm done. I did find the ground cables loose on the battery and tightened it up about 4 turns on the nut. I can't imagine a loose wire on the battery would cause a power loss on the battery when everything was supposedly disconnected. So is there something on the coach that has power all the time that doesn't get disconnected with the battery disconnect?? I plan on checking power across the fuses today with battery disconnected and see if something is still running while disconnected. Disconnect appears to be wired correctly...well I can't see the wiring but when its off lights and slides don't work nor does the IN-Command.

[ctbruce]

You always have some phantom draw. Propane detector, radio lights, etc. They don't draw much but can run a battery down. You'll need to plug in or connect to truck to start Genny. The only way to stop all current draw is to remove the negative cable from the battery, either manually or with a second disconnect.

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[Tinner12002]

Originally Posted by ctbruce

You always have some phantom draw. Propane detector, radio lights, etc. They don't draw much but can run a battery down. You'll need to plug in or connect to truck to start Genny. The only way to stop all current draw is to remove the negative cable from the battery, either manually or with a second disconnect.

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I was wondering about things like that...thinking I will have RV shop where I'm having 3 new batteries installed go ahead and install a second disconnect. Also I tried starting gen with truck plugged in but it just caused DC unit to chatter and control pad to restart so I'm thinking battery has to have good solid power to fire up genset.

[notanlines]

Bear in mind that a generator will not start with a dead or drained battery simply by plugging in a running vehicle. It will need to run a period of time to charge the battery (ies) before there is enough ready energy to start your generator. I just thought I'd make this clear in case someone didn't realize this.

[Tinner12002]

Yes I figured that was the case with the gen not starting. Used a jump box to get it going but had to leave it on the battery for a few minutes before gen would stay running. Run the gen for over an hr then took cables off the battery for the nite for quick fix.