I recently got a 2007 Jayco Eagle 325BHS.. Great rig, we love it.It has 2 brand new coach batteries (admittedly, NAPA brand, but top of the line batteries for them) andwhen they are fully charged, they will go completely dead in 4 days.. That is with the camperclosed up, and nothing on. I think the detectors are still working of course, and the AM/FM radio in the bunk house is lit up and has a clock built in even when it is 'off'.I have the camper in for service today to fix a window issue and I asked them to checkthe camper for some sort of unusual electrical draw that would cause the batteries to die so quick.. Service writer said "Well, we'll look but they all do that"My Caravan would last weeks and weeks if unused and still have lights.. So I'm havinga hard time believing a twin battery setup will go stone cold dead in 4 days.I didn't notice anything unusual when we boondocked for 6 days last month, as we ranthe generator for 2 hours each day so the batteries always seemed fine on that trip.Any thoughts on that?

Those batteries should stay up for months if there is no more than detectors and a turned off radio drawing on them. NAPA batteries are a good battery. We've used them in semi-tractors and they stand up with any thing else we've used.Does your unit have a battery disconnect switch? If not, I would consider putting one in.

KevSchofield wrote:I recently got a 2007 Jayco Eagle 325BHS.. Great rig, we love it.It has 2 brand new coach batteries (admittedly, NAPA brand, but top of the line batteries for them) andwhen they are fully charged, they will go completely dead in 4 days.. That is with the camperclosed up, and nothing on. I think the detectors are still working of course, and the AM/FM radio in the bunk house is lit up and has a clock built in even when it is 'off'.I have the camper in for service today to fix a window issue and I asked them to checkthe camper for some sort of unusual electrical draw that would cause the batteries to die so quick.. Service writer said "Well, we'll look but they all do that"My Caravan would last weeks and weeks if unused and still have lights.. So I'm havinga hard time believing a twin battery setup will go stone cold dead in 4 days.I didn't notice anything unusual when we boondocked for 6 days last month, as we ranthe generator for 2 hours each day so the batteries always seemed fine on that trip.Any thoughts on that?Install a battery disconnect and you won't have that problem. If you =do= have one, use it. I admit that 4 days is a bit quick to kill 2 new batteries, though. You sure you've not got anything else on, like the fridge or furnace? Fans'll kill your batteries quickly. I learned the expensive way NOT to forget my battery disconnect.Lyle

use a disconnect switch or just disconnect the batteries and let sit for a few days and see what happens. If batteries still go dead, battery problem. If they are good start looking at the 5er.

How flat dead did you run them? Below 11.0 volts for very long could already have permanently lost capacity from sulfation.Many converters take 48+ hours for full charge and often chronically under charge the battery.Need to get them tip top 100% and disconnect from all loads for storage. Even better is 100+ watts of solar.A discharged battery is easy to freeze and destroy.

To answer your question: seems high to me.I had a similar problem with 2 new 12v batteries draining in 7 hours on a new 5er. Found out the Yeti cold weather package on the 12V side for the water pipe heat tape was drawing all the time due to no switch being installed from the factory for that side of the option. Dealer installed switch to control the heat tape on the water pipe so we now have plenty of battery storage for a recent 5 day boon docking trip using normal daily electrical for dry camping.Good luck and keep us posted.Lakeside

Is this battery drain normal? | Good Sam Community

C_Schomer
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014
On all of my RVs the propane detector would kill the batteries in about three weeks. I've also had a fantastic fan with rain sensor that went bad and it had .4 amps draw. I had to be sure to turn both FF switches off. If you don't have a meter check for spark at the battery cable and pull 12 v fuses til it goes away to find out which circuit it is. Craig
KevSchofield
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
Picking up the camper this afternoon..

They showed me very little draw with everything off..
I think he said a tenth of a watt for the detectors..
He speculated that the batteries were not actually fully
charged when I had my 4 day rundown, even though the meter
showed them as full..

I'm going to add a battery disconnect switch for sure..
and I'm going to add on/off switches to the radios as well
since they dont need to be on standby while nobody is
using the camper..
tegu69
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
My fw came with a solar charger on the roof. I noticed that the battery that came with it was running down way too fast. I was checking all the connections and noticed that there was a red wire coming from solar control that was hooked to red cable from camper hooked to positive side of battery, right? White wire from control to negative. I took the wires off to check with meter and it pegged backwards. I got 15 volts with white wire on positive side. I switched it around and it seems to keep the battery charged alright now.
Puddles
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
Disconect one of the battery cabels... put a volt meter between the cable and battery... read the amp draw... you may be suprised at the amount the radio, safety alarms draw..
Duck
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
My first trailer did not have a battery cut off switch. I just took a cable off the battery till I could install a battery off/on switch.
Don
laknox
Nomad
Sep 23, 2014
KevSchofield wrote:
Thanks for all the replies..

The batteries were replaced just prior to me getting the RV.. The date on the batteries
is 07/14 and I bought the RV in August.. The 'full charge' I have been taking from
the battery meter after being plugged in to the house for a week.. Then if I unplug,
shut everything off and let the unit sit untouched, 4 days later it's run down enough that the
lights are dim and the meter reads nothing..

I will look in to the suggestions here about what could still be on.. the humidity thing
on the fridge is a new one to me.. need to figure out how that shuts off.

In my old camper I had installed a little on/off switch next to the radio to kill power to the light
and clock on that..maybe I'll do the same on this rig.. Best suggestion is to install a battery
disconnect.. I've used them on classic cars that rarely get driven..makes
perfect sense to have one on the camper to stop all electrical draw.

I'll see what they say when I pick up the RV.. but will take these other suggestions
a follow thorugh on them as well~ Thanks!

My factory-installed disconnect is right above the door going out. When it's off, everything is dead except the front landing legs, and this includes the converter. If the disconnect is OFF, the batteries won't charge on shore power. Something to remember.

Lyle
Dakota98
Explorer
Sep 23, 2014
KevSchofield,

"I'll see what they say when I pick up the RV.. but will take these other suggestions
a follow thorugh on them as well~ Thanks!"

Let us know what you found out.
KevSchofield
Explorer
Sep 23, 2014
Thanks for all the replies..

The batteries were replaced just prior to me getting the RV.. The date on the batteries
is 07/14 and I bought the RV in August.. The 'full charge' I have been taking from
the battery meter after being plugged in to the house for a week.. Then if I unplug,
shut everything off and let the unit sit untouched, 4 days later it's run down enough that the
lights are dim and the meter reads nothing..

I will look in to the suggestions here about what could still be on.. the humidity thing
on the fridge is a new one to me.. need to figure out how that shuts off.

In my old camper I had installed a little on/off switch next to the radio to kill power to the light
and clock on that..maybe I'll do the same on this rig.. Best suggestion is to install a battery
disconnect.. I've used them on classic cars that rarely get driven..makes
perfect sense to have one on the camper to stop all electrical draw.

I'll see what they say when I pick up the RV.. but will take these other suggestions
a follow thorugh on them as well~ Thanks!
Dakota98
Explorer
Sep 22, 2014
Just because the batteries are new does not mean they are fully charged. What method did you use to determine they were fully charged? If it was the coach monitor system, - it lies !!!
12.6 + volts indicate a full charge, but may include a "surface charge" meaning they are not really charged to full capacity. New batteries require a few charges & discharges before they actually will take a complete capacity charge & hold it for any period of time without load.

This link may help:

The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)
www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm
Dayle1
Explorer II
Sep 22, 2014
Two more things to check, the 12V TV amplifier and the humidity control switch on the frig. (which is a 12V heat strip around the frig. door).