Help - jacks are draining my batteries
My 2020 camper came with HappiJacs which consume a ton of power from my 2 deep cycle batteries. Once the batteries are drawn down after removing the rig (3000 lb dry weight) from my truck, it's nearly...
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3 tons wrote:Dupa wrote:3 tons wrote:
Regardless of the seemingly recent shelf date on your batteries or the voltage readout (at best, a marginal estimator of true battery condition…) using only the principle of Occam's Razor (from afar…) I’d say (from same issue past experience…) the root problem is that your batteries are near dead, yet ostensibly appearing satisfactory per voltage readout - Try as you might, wet-cells can act like this - this very situation is NOT unique or uncommon, and is a precursor to an internal cell or post connector failure.
The fact that the batteries ‘appear’ satisfactory yet are not (“say it ain’t so”!!) is from my perspective the true source of your dreaded frustration…JMHO
3 tons
This would certainly be the easiest solution, but I can't help thinking (perhaps because I'm a little out of my element on some of this) that if they were "near dead" this would/should somehow show up, at least a little bit, on either the load test or the specific gravity (both were fine)?
Specific gravity no, carbon-pile load test ‘maybe’ but not always - this is why in my previous I suggested (assuming you are slightly handy…) acquiring a clamp-on ac-dc type meter of sufficient amperage capacity (say, from HD or similar)…Note that not all clamp-on meters are dc capable, and ‘for dc’ service be sure to follow the meter’s clamp-on directional orientation instructions…Clamping it around one of the battery cables (while under load…) will tell the tale - but first try to locate jack motor amperage specs…Worse case scenario is that you’ll end up with a relatively decent meter for future use, yea!! (or maybe return it - I donno??)…
Note: the meter can also be used to determine receptive charge amps into the battery…No substitute for solid data…
3 tons
Having thought about this over night, an alternative to using the aforementioned clamp-on meter would be to obtain a Victron Smart-Shunt (w/ Bluetooth - installs in NEG batt cable) which would provide the same information (and much more!) via Smart phone - this would also provide you information on an ongoing basis with SOC (state of charge in %), volts, amps available and consumed and history.
3 tons
