Batteries losing charge while in storage
My four six volt AGM batteries are losing there charge while the trailer is parked in storage. I disconnected all the wires from the positive terminal but still find them slowly discharging. In a se...
Forum Discussion
You state you have 4 6-volt batteries. That means you have pairs of 6-volt batteries connected in series to form 2 12-volt batteries. These two pairs are then connected in parallel.
When you said you disconnected the batteries, did you just disconnect the cables from charging sources (+) one end of the battery-bank and grounded cables on the (-) post of the battery-bank?
If the four batteries are still left connected to each other by parallel and series connections (typical for batteries using a "disconnect" switch and solenoid) a short from a manufacturing defect on a single cell of any of the four new batteries could cause the problem and ruin all the batteries. The spark you saw when removing a cable on batteries you thought were disconnected from the 12 volt circuit could do this if one had a shorted cell.
Getting all four batteries fully disconnected from each other so that each battery can be charged separately and the voltage monitored with a multi-meter is the only way rule out good batteries from bad. If the batteries should actually check out fine (I suspect NOT!) by holding charge over time, the problem becomes harder.
There would have to be a short from an incorrect connection, or a frayed wire from work done on the RV. It could be anywhere on the circuits in the RV. It take someone who knows how to pull fuses and check the circuits with a multi-meter to finally locate and fix the problem.
When you said you disconnected the batteries, did you just disconnect the cables from charging sources (+) one end of the battery-bank and grounded cables on the (-) post of the battery-bank?
If the four batteries are still left connected to each other by parallel and series connections (typical for batteries using a "disconnect" switch and solenoid) a short from a manufacturing defect on a single cell of any of the four new batteries could cause the problem and ruin all the batteries. The spark you saw when removing a cable on batteries you thought were disconnected from the 12 volt circuit could do this if one had a shorted cell.
Getting all four batteries fully disconnected from each other so that each battery can be charged separately and the voltage monitored with a multi-meter is the only way rule out good batteries from bad. If the batteries should actually check out fine (I suspect NOT!) by holding charge over time, the problem becomes harder.
There would have to be a short from an incorrect connection, or a frayed wire from work done on the RV. It could be anywhere on the circuits in the RV. It take someone who knows how to pull fuses and check the circuits with a multi-meter to finally locate and fix the problem.
