I never stop learning!

[trvsdad1]

I learned this summer that the reason my new Alpenlite came with two deep cycle batteries instead of one (like our old Lance 1150) is because electric (Atwood/ with remote control) jacks will not operate without two batteries installed in parallel. You can only operate two jacks at a time with one battery installed. (we had a battery short a cell and eliminated it from the system until we got home to replace it.) Also I learned that while plugged into shore power, or generator power neither has an effect on the jacks. They only run off two functional parallel batteries. I read many years ago on this forum that shore power superseded the batteries, that is not the case. I also learned this summer that my shower drains into the Black tank not the Grey. Only Bathroom sink and Kitchen sink drain into Grey. Black is Toilet and Shower. I never stop absorbing knowledge!

[dakonthemountai]

MARKW8 wrote:
My Atwood jacks have always worked off a single battery.

Mark

As do mine..

Dak

[MARKW8]

My Atwood jacks have always worked off a single battery.

Mark

[Super_Dave]

My opinion would be that one of the 2 batteries was so weak that it needed to borrow from the other to make the jacks work. If you removed a bad battery from the system, the other battery may have been drawn do to very low charge. If you buy a new, second battery, buy 2 new ones. Pairing batteries of different age or sizes is a bad idea according the experts.

[Tripalot]

In our B+ the bathroom sink also drains into the black. We like this as both holding tanks now fill more evenly. It used to be the grey was full and the black only l/4. This system is an improvement in our opinion,

[amandasgramma]

HAH! We just learned a couple of weeks ago that our bathroom sink drains into the black water tank!!!! Who'd've guessed! Sure explains why that black tank was filling up so fast (and no, DH isn't all that full of XXXX)

[JumboJet]

languiduck wrote:
If your shower drains in to the black tank then I think something is wrong.

My jacks run off one battery. They will also work without a battery. Your observation sounds unique.

x2 - but do not run jacks from inverter. The load is a little heavy for the inverter unless you have changed yours out to a higher amperage model.

[languiduck]

If your shower drains in to the black tank then I think something is wrong.

My jacks run off one battery. They will also work without a battery. Your observation sounds unique.

[K_Charles]

My grandpa said "you'll learn something new every day, if your not careful"

[bjbear]

Interesting tidbit about having to have 2 batteries in parallel to run the jacks. Since 2 12 volts batteries in parallel should look exactly the same to the jacks as 1 battery (i.e. 12 volts), not sure why this would be. Does one battery just run down and the jacks stop working on low voltage?? My jacks will run several up/down cycles on a single battery. You may want to check your fully charged voltage on the batteries to make sure your charging system is working OK.