Battery going out this soon?

bikendan wrote:
you don't seem to know about the many parasitic power drains in modern RVs.
they can drain a single battery in just a few days, if not hooked up to shore power.
not sure what you're using to say that the battery didn't discharge for 4 straight days of usage, that doesnt' make any sense. any battery will lose power after that many days.

He means the battery lasted 4 days the last time camping and now won't even take a charge. But thanks for being critical of his explanation.

RTCastillow,

What converter is in the RV?

Do you have a volt meter or a multimeter?

A two hour generator run may not be enough to get anywhere near a full charge.

Did you check the shore power outlet to make sure it is working?

Thanks everyone for the useful comments and insightful suggestions and recommendations. I’ll do those things you recommended once we’re back to civilization next week.

Meanwhile as an update, battery did retain some charge with the use of generator and got it full in 2-hour run. We did use it for lights and of course water pump in automatics. Shut all lights off by 10pm and by morning it’s down to less than 25%.

Again, I appreciate your responses and suggestions.

There are legitimate reasons for exceeding the 50% “magic” number re DOD. An RVer doesn’t have room for more batteries and/or doesn’t want the extra weight but does not wish to reduce his/her electric use trades that decision for fewer cycles. Fewer cycles isn’t “damage,” it’s more “hard use.”

“You can't do that to lead/acid batteries. They are damaged by any more than a 50% discharge.“

Not exactly, Matt. The number of cycles decreases as the percentage of discharge increases. Not that much difference between 50% and 60% for instance. See the cycle life chart from Trojan for their Signature flooded series..https://www.trojanbattery.com/products/deep-cycle-flooded/signature-line-flooded-2/

RT,

You may be misinterpreting what you are seeing.

You say that the battery did not discharge in 4 days.
If by discharge, you mean that the lights got dim and things didn't work?
Then that is part of your problem right there. When to lights go dim, that is typically about 10 volts. That is an 80~90% discharge. You can't do that to lead/acid batteries. They are damaged by any more than a 50% discharge.

That the lights are dim after connecting to shore power indicates that the onboard converter/charger is not doing what it should. This can be either the converter of the battery is that badly damaged.

With the information available, all I can suggest is that you check out the installed system and determine that it is/is not working as it should.

You should also be aware that if the new trailer was shipped with, or fitted with a battery while on the lot, it may have been discharged there to the point that it was damaged.

Matt

Just on the off chance, check that your converter is working properly. We had one go bad on a unit that was only a couple months old.

Check your breakaway switch to make sure it isn't pulled.

you don't seem to know about the many parasitic power drains in modern RVs.
they can drain a single battery in just a few days, if not hooked up to shore power.
not sure what you're using to say that the battery didn't discharge for 4 straight days of usage, that doesnt' make any sense. any battery will lose power after that many days.