Battery losing charge

[buckdaddy]

Just bought an 04' Fleetwood Prowler & after a few days replaced the battery since it appeared not to take a charge. (drove 4 hrs before trying to open slide out) Installed a fresh battery the next day & it also drained after very little usage all the while plugged into a 110v outlet. The trailer plug to the truck had some fraying but I taped it. Is this likely a converter problem? If so what should I replace it with or should I start with the trailer plug? or is there some troubleshooting I can start with to diagnose?

Pete

[64thunderbolt]

I installed a 250a switch used for race cars. It is in the pos side of batt. When it is off everything but the solar is off.

[BarneyS]

Moved to Tech Issues forum from DIY.

[imadarling]

It sounds an awful lot like your converter fuse has blown. Before you start tearing into the wiring, locate the main fuse for the converter and make sure it's still intact. The main fuse is not usually among the bus fuses in the access panel, sometimes it's on the back of the converter and a few panels have to be removed to get to it. My dad's 5er had this happen last Thanksgiving and he couldn't figure out why his batteries were dead even after running the genny all day.

Additionally, you should shut everything off in the coach, remove the negative terminal on your battery, and connect the multimeter leads between the cable end and the battery post in the 10A current mode. This will show you exactly how much parasitic load you have. My coach is older and doesn't have fancy TVs or a stereo and my parasitic load is about 0.25 Amps. I have seen modern coaches draw up to 3 Amps with everything "off". Anything more than 3 Amps should be cause for alarm.

-B

[Dakota98]

I don't think that year of TT would have a factory disconnect switch & most new ones don't either from my understanding. What you're looking for would be an aftermarket switch installed by the previous owner, if he did one at all. Normally they are located at or very near the batteries & either connected to one or the other battery leads. I don't think you have one, since it's near impossible to miss seeing it. Google "battery disconnect switch" & you'll find many different ones. I would recommend installing one, it's purpose is to eliminate any drain, parasitic or not when in storage I simply used an "Anderson" single pole connector on the negative side of my batteries.

[tenbear]

My battery disconnect switch is near the door. It operates a latching relay near the power distribution panel. Not all RVs have a battery disconnect switch.

[buckdaddy]

westend wrote:
Anytime the battery is connected to the 12 V system of the RV, there will be parasitic draws from the fridge, thermostat, water heater, radio, and alarms.

Sometimes, connecting the 120 V shore power and hence, powering the converter, will blow fuses or a circuit breaker to/inside the converter because of the high amperage draw of a depleted/bad battery.

How are you measuring the draw on the battery, with the onboard idiot lights or with a meter? If the former, get yourself a cheap multimeter, it will help you from not spending money on things you don't need. With your new meter, measure the voltage at the battery and at the converter output. Report back.

Measured with a multimeter. My manual makes no mention of battery cutout switch & seller never mentioned it. Now I just have to locate the little bugger & remove it. I guess I should just follow the leads. Can I expect to find it near the c/b & fuse panel? or do they like to hide it elsewhere?

[westend]

Anytime the battery is connected to the 12 V system of the RV, there will be parasitic draws from the fridge, thermostat, water heater, radio, and alarms.

Sometimes, connecting the 120 V shore power and hence, powering the converter, will blow fuses or a circuit breaker to/inside the converter because of the high amperage draw of a depleted/bad battery.

How are you measuring the draw on the battery, with the onboard idiot lights or with a meter? If the former, get yourself a cheap multimeter, it will help you from not spending money on things you don't need. With your new meter, measure the voltage at the battery and at the converter output. Report back.

[buckdaddy]

Thanks guys; put the fully charged battery in after replacing some corroded leads just to be safe. With shore power battery voltage showed a slight decline. With truck power & truck running battery voltage showed slight increase. I guess the odds are my converter is bad. Is the battery being drawn down by anything in the background with shore power & a converter that appears not to be charging?

[RedRollingRoadb]

And if you have any questions about which converter to get http://www.bestconverter.com will promptly answer your e-mail. He was most helpful and saved me a few bucks and labor.

[Dakota98]

#1 "Drove 4 hrs before trying to open slide out" Did it function properly on battery power only, at that point ?

#2 "Installed a fresh battery the next day & it also drained after very little usage all the while plugged into a 110v outlet.If you were connected to shore power there shouldn't be any drain on the battery whatsoever. The new battery may not have had a full charge on it to begin with.

#3 "Is this likely a converter problem?" Maybe & maybe not. If the battery was not fully charged, chances are the converter would not put enough charge on it to make any difference, unless it was connected to shore power for a few days.

#4 "Is there some troubleshooting I can start with to diagnose?" Yes, as tenbear suggested, using a multimeter directly at the battery, first with no shore power connection & then with. Voltage with shore power should read higher, meaning it is "charging" & if it does read higher, there shouldn't be any problem with bad connections.

#5 If a battery disconnect is present & disengaged & you are not connected to shore power, there will not be any battery power going to the coach, IE: no lights etc.

#6 If the converter/charging system needs replacing, check here:

http://www.bestconverter.com/

[tenbear]

When driving, the converter is not a part of the charging circuit so the converter is not responsible for not charging the battery.

Have you checked the battery disconnect switch? If you have a voltmeter check the battery voltage when the RV is not plugged in and again when it is. The voltage should be higher when it is plugged in. Check the battery wires for loose or corroded connections and for blown fuses.

[ScottG]

I would check the converters output but after driving 4 hours the truck should have charged it enough to get the slides out.
You may just have a fried converter discharging the battery but you need to make sure the truck is charging too.