Draining RV battery

[rhudson1111]

Hello everyone, I hope your all doing well. New to RVing and recently purchased a class A 1994 Ford Fleetwood Southwind. I'm full-time in the RV.

The RV was disconnected from shore power about a week ago. I don't drive it very much and it's often sitting parked for 12+ hours a day. I went to start it last night and engine would not start. I learned by accident what an Auxiliary Start button is for (thank God ??) and was able to start the RV.

The fridge runs AC & propane. Mostly using propane. I usually run generator each day to charge outlets (power laptop). Besides water pump, I'm not usually using much electrical power at all.

I have a few questions about my batteries being drained/charged:

Is charging my cell via cigarette lighter draining too much battery?

Will this emergency auxiliary start button work every time I need it?

Is battery having problems due to being parked all day?

If I turn off the LP Gas Detector to save some battery, will this cause the propane for fridge to stop working?

I've searched online and have not found answers to these questions. Any help/guidance you can provide is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Robin

[pianotuna]

Hi,

If boondocking is your desire, consider adding a trik-l-start to keep the chassis battery charged.

I'd add a solar charging system too.

[wa8yxm]

On my rig. I full time so the batteries are always on charge one way or another or almost
(Bidirectional isolator)

But from time to time the starting battery just don't crank it.
And then I go sit under it with some tools. Remove the connections.. Clean well, Restore and it works

About 3/4 of the time this fixes it

the 4th time I remove the battery. Install an new one, and it works.

[CA_Traveler]

rhudson1111 wrote:
Okay, thank you very much. Guess I'll need to investigate the condition of batteries, perhaps chassis battery is problem. Thanks for the information. Glad to hear I can still charge cell & can leave gas detector on, I don't wish to go boom. ??

First step: Most auto stores will load test batteries for free as it often results in a sale. They may/may not be able to test 6V batteries. The test can take time while the battery is first fully charged (if possible).

Second step: With known good batteries (new doesn't mean they are good) test the battery draws. Clamp on DC meter, battery monitor and a variety of other methods. With everything turned off there are still draws that can't be turned off like smoke detectors.

Third step: With this information determine how, when and how much to charge the batteries.

[dougrainer]

1. Your CHASSIS battery went dead. The AUX start uses the COACH batteries to engage and start the engine
2. 1994 Fleetwood. Go to the LP tank and look at the line where your LP regulator is mounted to the tank. see if there is a solenoid that has 2 wires attached within 6 inches of the regulator on the LP line. IF SO, your inside LP detector turns the LP ON and OFF. There is a switch on the Inside LP detector that you turn ON and the LP solenoid allows gas to flow. IF you have an LP leak and the detector sense that leaking LP, the detector will shut the LP off at the LP tank. IF you 12 volts goes too low the LP tank will shut off. Depending on the TYPE/Brand LP detector you have, some had 2 12 volt supplies. One from the Coach battery and one from the Chassis battery. Others just have the Coach battery connection. Also, if you have an ON/OFF switch on the inside LP detector, it will have that solenoid at the tank.
3. IF the dash Lighter is connected to the chassis battery, yes it will drain the chassis battery over a week. With the ground cable removed from the Chassis battery, see if the Phone charger is powered. IF it is NOT, then do not connect the charger when camped. Only while driving. "most", motorhomes have the dash 12 volt outlets connected to the Coach battery system, but some older RV's they do NOT.
4. Running the Geset each day will NOT really get a FULL charge to the Coach batteries. The Genset does NOT charge the batteries. It supplies 120 power to your Motorhome and the batteries are charged by your CONVERTER. Converter's are NOT fast charge appliances. HOW LONG DO YOU RUN THE GENSET?
5. 1994 Fleetwood DOES NOT have a charging system from the Converter Coach side to also charge the chassis battery. Your 1994 should have 2 Battery disconnects. One for the chassis and one for the Coach. Boondocking like you are doing it would be best to turn the chassis battery disconnect OFF.
6. If you do NOT have the Fleetwood owners manual, here is a link to download and print out. Doug

LP LEAK DETECTOR
A permanently installed LP gas leak detector is located
near the floor. The unit contains an alarm that will sound
alerting you to the presence of low levels of potentially
dangerous LPgas that may have been released due to a
gas leak. The unit will also disconneclthe gas supply althe
LP tank when it senses LP or similar gases such as hair
spray or cleaning solvent.
The detector unit is powered by the 12-volt DC system in
your motor home. A power switch is located on the panel.
Agreen light on the detector front panel indicates tha:tthi9
detector has power. If the power switch is OFF, gas flow
from the tank is cut off by a special solenoid valve located
at the tank.
Test the leak detector each time the motor home is
relocated and set up for use



https://big.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/revgroup/documents/southwind-1994.pdf?mtime=201908300925...

[theoldwizard1]

Lets start with basic basic for chassis/start batteries.

• All connection must be clean an tight. The outside of the battery needs to be clean (dirt attracts moisture and you can lose charge through the damp dirt).
• You need a meter. Even the cheap (sometimes free) meters from Harbor Freight are better than nothing. For around $50, you can buy a "clamp meter" that will also read amperage.
• Anyone who owns an RV needs a battery charger. You should be able to buy a "multiple stage" charger for under $80.

Quick check on chassis/starter battery health.
• Charge the battery. Either with a battery charger or drive for at least 30 minutes.
• Let "rest" for at least 10 minutes. Make sure all lights and accessories (cell phone charger) are turned off.
• Check the voltage AT THE BATTERY POSTS ! Write it down. It should be about 12.8V.
• Turn on the headlight including the brights for about 10 minutes.
• Check the voltage at the battery posts. It should be above about 12.4V.
• Another 10 minutes of lights on.
• Check the voltage at the battery posts. It should be above about 12.2V.

If you numbers are lower, it is probably time for a new battery.

[time2roll]

It sits 12+ hours a day??? If you drive it every day the chassis battery should charge fine from the alternator. I would assume the chassis battery is worn out and needs replaced.

If the RV is plugged in and does not move for extended periods you may need to add a combiner to keep the chassis battery charged. Such as a Trik-L-Start combiner.

[Lwiddis]

“If I turn off the LP Gas Detector to save some battery,...”

This is not a good idea.

[rhudson1111]

Okay, thank you very much. Guess I'll need to investigate the condition of batteries, perhaps chassis battery is problem. Thanks for the information. Glad to hear I can still charge cell & can leave gas detector on, I don't wish to go boom. ??

[navegator]

There are a number of items that can drain a battery, old battery, improper or no battery maintainenance, radio, instant on tv, engine computer, dirty or corroded terminals not just at the battery but at the chasis (ground cable).

The emergency button will work as long as the house battery has enough charge to turn the engine.

navegator

[DrewE]

I agree with 2oldman--it sounds as though you probably have an old/weak chassis battery, or an unexpected draw on that battery. It ought to go a week parked without much trouble at all; after all, an ordinary car or truck or van can sit parked for a week and star aftewrards, and this isn't really any different.

The LP detector, fridge control board, interior RV lights, and indeed basically everything other than the actual vehicle stuff are powered by the house battery, and the converter typically charges only the house battery (of course only when the generator is running or you're plugged into shore power). The emergency start switch connects the house battery to the chassis system so you can start if the chassis batteyr is run down. There's also some system to connect them somehow to charge the house battery when the vehicle engine is running, often but certainly not always using the same contactor as for the emergency start system.

If you continue to have trouble after replacing the chassis battery, or verifying that it is in perfectly good condition, it's time to figure out what's consuming power from it. Maybe you have a (chassis) light left on somewhere, such as the cockpit dome light, or possibly if you have automatic power steps you're operating them frequently--they often are powered by the chassis rather than the house system. It's also possible to hook up some sort of a charger to keep the chassis battery up to snuff when you have AC power, either a small battery maintainer connected to it or something like the Trik-L-Start which "steals" a little power from the converter when it runs. But neither one ought to be needed when parking for a single week.

Disconnecting the LP detector is not a wise idea, for rather obvious safety reasons, doubly so when you're actually making use of propane appliances. You don't want to make Marvin the Martian very happy with an earth-shattering kaboom in your RV.

[Gjac]

Could be bad batteries as 2oldman said, bad or corroded connections,not charging the battery fully before you disconnect, something draining your battery etc. Start by posting the type, age and number of batteries you have in the MH. What type of charger do you have and how many amps does it charge at? Is it just your starting battery that goes dead or your house batteries also? If you answer these questions you will get more help in narrowing down your problem. Charging your cell phone is not your problem or being parked all day. Will good batteries you should be able to go 5 -7 days with just refer and water pump. Your aux start switch will work if your house batteries are good and fully charged or closed to being fully charged.

[2oldman]

Having this kind of battery problem means you likely bought old batteries. LP detectors use a miniscule amount of juice. No, it won't affect the propane.