How long should my battery last (when not in use)?

[ricks99]

The title says it all.... I returned from a weekend camping trip about 5 weeks ago. I was fully charged when I pulled into my driveway, unhitched, and put everything away.

Today, I went into the trailer to get ready for our next weekend trip, and had no power. The battery monitor in the power panel showed 1 light (out of four). But none of the lights would turn on (although all the indicators on my panel for water, black/gray tank, etc, all work.)

This is the original OEM battery. We purchased our HTT new in Oct.

I know there are some parasite drains, even when everything is turned off and I'm planning to install a battery disconnect.

DW and I are complete newbies and have no point of reference.... Is it normal for a battery to last only 5 weeks when parked?

[MrWizard]

The TT is not your car or truck
Unless you disconnect the battery or include some type of near constant charge Trickle, shore, solar
The various control board circuits will suck it dead

I'm not sure you could leave your tow vehicle sitting for five weeks and still have a good battery, maybe.. maybe not

But you sure cannot do that with a modern RV

[azrving]

Get a Blue Seas or similar four position battery switch. It will let you select OFF, batter 1, battery 2 or both batteries. This four position switch will give you the ability to add another battery and select between the two or use both. Also add an inexpensive digital volt meter near the battery and one inside where it's easy to see. They do glow at night so consider that if it might bother you at night. You want to stay above 12 volts and many of us like 12.2 or so.

[DutchmenSport]

Your experience is perfectly normal. Battery will drain because of the parasitic draw. I have my camper plugged in at home 24x7x365. But there are occasions I unplug, specifically when severe thunderstorms are approaching. A couple times I've unplugged, I forgot to plug back in. I discovered that something in my camper will start beeping when my battery reaches a certain low level. First time I heard the beeping, I thought the camper was going to self-destruct. :E

When I finally turned on the lights and saw the lights were very, very, very dim it finally hit me what the beeping was. Plugged back in and the beeping stopped. This happened a couple times. Time frame? about 2 weeks for me!

So now, I've careful to flip the battery kill switch when if I unplug because of bad weather.

I have no clue how long my battery would stay charged with the kill switch active. Never tested that out. But, if there is absolutely no parasetic draw, it would probably hold a charge for quite a long while.

Your experience is perfectly normal!

[j-d]

Agree with those who say it won't hold a charge more than a week or two without a disconnect. You can get a simple switch for $not$much$ or go high dollar with a latching solenoid type. For a trailer, I'd go Switch. Not just less expensive, there's no wiring to be done, and you aren't asking for a lot of amps as if starting a generator.

The good news is that with a disconnect, a good battery will stay "up" for months. I can leave ours off for 6-8 weeks and still crank the generator when I turn the battery back on.

[korbe]

BTW, I purchased a $5 volt meter to test at my batteries. I do not use the monitor panel with the lights to tell me anything.

[bob213]

I would guess less than 2 weeks without a complete disconnect. Keep in mind that if your battery takes a charge at this point it has been comprimised. It won't take many more complete drains before it will be no good at all. Either get that switch installed or disconnect the negative battery cable when not in use. Good luck.

[RoyB]

I completely disconnect my fully charged battery bank when parked here over the winter months... It starts out reading around 12.6-7VDC and usually only drops down to around 12.4-5VDC over NOV DEC and JAN...

During the winter months I can read my batteries with only my Battery monitor meter connected and I usually check on it ever two or three weeks...

Sometimes when it gets down to 12.5VDC I will hookup my trickle charge for a day or two... This next winter season I will have my 10WATT small solar panel hooked up all the time giving the batteries a slow continuous trickle charge.

If you let them set you have to pull one of the battery terminals otherwise the parasitic drains will run them down in just a week.. Its best to install a disconnect switch as removing and replacing the battery terminal may or may not keep you with a good solid connection depending how tightly you install the terminal each time...

Hopefully your batteries are not damaged. Once they go below 12.0VDC it is like driving a nail in their coffin... Do a slow long charge on them using a smart mode charging mode charger. Do it two or threes time in a roll...

Got to take care of the batteries as they are your lifeline for trailers.

AT least once a month when sitting here between trips I do a walk around and read the sitting battery voltage. I like to always read at least 12.5VDC or more. Then I switch in the batteries to the trailer and hook up to my garage receptacle which turns on the converter/charger unit and then I look at the battery terminals DC VOLTAGE again and I want to see it jump up to the 13.6VDC or higher depending what smart mode the charger jumps up to. If I don't see the DC VOLTAGE jump up then that tells me my Battery charging system is not working...

Roy Ken

[time2roll]

ricks99 wrote:
Is it normal for a battery to last only 5 weeks when parked?

No, actually much less than 5 weeks. Probably 100 to 500 milliamps or 5 to 15 amp/hrs drain per day. Battery holds maybe 90 of which you should only use 50 percent or 45. So you need to plug in every 3 to 9 days. Or disconnect a cable and you are good for 3 to 6 months. Even disconnected you need to start tip-top 100 percent charged.

The 12 Volt Side of Life

[ScottG]

Sounds about right. There are parasitic draws all over the RV. Install a battery disconnect or plug it in are the only choices.

[bdpreece]

Never leave my rig for more than a day or so unless I disconnect the battery.

[2oldman]

yep.