Update - the Forest River regional rep just called me. Despite being out of warranty, they are going to cover everything in good will. They advised me to take it to my dealer and they will cover a new controller (either an R LUX, or a Go Power) as well as a new chassis battery. This is my second FR Rv (previously a Cedar Creek FW) and I have to say I have been really pleased with their customer support. I've owned a few other brands and most are usually a PITA to get them to cover anything in warranty let alone out of warranty. Happy customer! Thanks for all the replies on this one.
That’s great to hear. IMO they are only fixing half your problems.
solar controller crapped out. No big deal. Easy replacement.
battery dead. Great they are replacing it but first it “should” have lasted longer if it’s actually a bad battery. But entirely possible it’s just a defective battery that won’t charge.
However you suspect a parasitic draw and that literally takes 2 min to diagnose.
If that the case, that is the most important thing the dealer needs to fix. And assuming you better get it now while they’re being generous about goodwill warranty. A battery and cheap charge controller are just parts replacing.
I’d diagnose the presence of a draw before even taking it in, so you can be confident in what they need to fix.
No, it shouldn’t go dead in 2 weeks. Or 2 months. Maintainer shouldn’t be mandatory for a couple months in nice weather.
Personally, I think the chassis battery is fine. Takes and holds a charge fine. It just went dead sitting 2 weeks in storage. I think Mercedes nature of the beast with all the electronics. It was enough charge to start it but barely. I've had similar experiences with an e350 and c300 I previously owned, and a bmw when they sit for 2 weeks. Heck, my 37 year old jeep does it too.
PS it’s super easy to diagnose whether there is a draw or not. Most simple is unhook the battery and wait and if it starts when it wouldn’t have if hooked up, it’s not the battery.
more accurate way is just check with an ammeter in line between the neg battery post and the neg cable (ground). Any more than a handful of micro amps and it’s a problem.
to bad they wouldn't let you pick the brand, If you have the choice out of thoes two I would go with the go power, even though I wouldn't recomend them to some one spending their own money. not the same company they were when they were Canadian owned.
