Automatic battery disconnect???

Surefire battery disconnect when storing, disconnect the battery.

A battery disconnect switch does not guarantee that the battery bank is disconnected. Some builders, in their infinite wisdom, connect alarms & such on the battery side of the switch. Result, after storage, dead battery. Go figure.

Veebyes wrote:
Surefire battery disconnect when storing, disconnect the battery.

A battery disconnect switch does not guarantee that the battery bank is disconnected. Some builders, in their infinite wisdom, connect alarms & such on the battery side of the switch. Result, after storage, dead battery. Go figure.

Mine didn't have one, so I installed one, it is the 1st item off the battery Positive terminal, battery stays up months.

Just make sure you solar charger is between the battery and disconnect, or you won't charge your batteries when it's off.

I'm guessing a lesson learned here is not leave the batteries installed if you have to take the trailer back to the dealership. I know if I had a bank full of expensive batteries I would have second thoughts of leaving them on the trailer out of my control.

The dealership can provide their own battery when needed depending on what the repair procedure is going to be...

Of course your trailer will need to have a battery installed to fullfill the emergency break away switch DOT safety requirement when being towed to and from the dealership.

None of my batteries perform very well after being discharged below their 50% charge state (12.0VDC) and not recharged back up to their 90% charge state (12.5-6VDC) in a timely manner. Just saying if your batteries set there for a couple of weeks in a complete discharge state they may be toast. Do some re-charging and watch them very close before you head out somewhere and need to depend on them. Getting a cheap mulitmeter from LOWES or WALMART ($7-$20) is a must have item for RV'er... The % of charge meter you described does not do a very good job to tell you your battery status. Need to read some 12VDC levels.

I think you can carry your batteries down to any autoparts store and they will do a battery test for free. Thats what I hear other folks on here say at any rate... AUTOZONE usually is the place they mention.

Batteries don't come cheap... You know the dealership would replace a dead battery right away haha... They probably have a sign hanging in plain view saying "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR DEAD BATTERIES"

Roy Ken

One dealer actually told me that it didn't hurt to run a battery all the way down. Needless to say when I took my RV in for service I disconnected the battery. And yes they may not know batteries but they do excellent work at a reasonable price so I overlook that one thing.

othertonka wrote:

jimtoo wrote:
No,,, it does not have an automatic battery disconnect switch.. If it sat there for 2 weeks the battery was dead due to parasitic drain. TV, fridge, radio,, alarms all have a parasitic drain on the battery.

And when you plugged in the 7 way, you were operating from the tow vehicle battery and the tow vehicle alternator also put a charge back into the battery. Look for a battery disconnect switch and turn it off when storing so it doesn't happen again.

Ditto the reples - no such thing as an "automatic disconnect".

However to add one more thought -
if the *manual* disconnect switch (battery compt) is set to "OFF",
depending on how the mfg wired the jacks.....
you will *not* have power from the on-board batts - but will have power from your tow vehicle when the 7-pin is connected.
(voice of "experience" and "Oops", LOL! - Batt charge was excellent, -had just checked 'em- but switch was off. Duh!)

BTW - good reminder, however! - Time to check the age - and ability to hold a charge of/for the trailer batts.

~

1320quick wrote:
I just went to pick up my 5th wheel from the dealership as it's been there for a couple of weeks for warranty work. When I backed up to it to hook up, the landing gear needed to go up a few inches to line up with the hitch. No problem, I hit the ext/ret button and nothing. No movement, no noise, nothing. The service person comes and and plugs the plug into my truck and magically it works. She asked if I had a battery disconnect and to my knowledge I don't but after plugging in the 7 prong RV plug to the truck once, now even disconnected from the truck everything works as expected including the landing gear. What am I missing? Is it possible there is an automatic battery disconnect or something along those lines that if it's sitting unused for a couple of weeks that it disconnects to save the battery??? This is on a 2014 Heartland Sundance XLT.

That's a stumper. Most factory disconnects will at least leave the landing gear hot. I know mine does. Not knowing how long your drive home was, I seriously doubt that you got a 2/3 charge just from the truck, unless it was cross-country. If you do have a battery issue, I'd have a serious talk with the dealer as they should either disconnect the batteries when it's not in the shop. I'd also wonder why the solar isn't keeping the batteries up more. Again, I seriously doubt that the solar system would be tied into a battery disconnect. Personally, I'd put the batteries on a trickle charger for 3-4 days, then have them load tested. I wonder if there's an auto-reset relay in line on the landing gear wiring.

Lyle