RV Battery Charge

[the_c_s]

We have a 2015 Zinger TT that was purchased from Camping World about 2-1/2 months ago, and the problem I'm having is the battery won't hold a charge for more than a few hours once it's unplugged from the house.

I had the unit back at Camping world a little over a month ago to take care of a few warranty issues and I asked them to check the battery and charging system while it was in the shop. When I picked the unit up, I was told the battery load test and the charging system both checked out OK. It was a new unit, so I assumed I was leaving something on inside.

I spent this past weekend cleaning and winterizing the unit, so it was plugged in from Saturday morning, until about 10AM today, (Monday). When I unplugged it, It showed a full charge on the inside monitor panel, and I even checked it with my volt meter and got 12.4 volts(after it was unplugged). I got 13.9 volts when it was plugged into the house, so I'm guessing it's being charged. Less than four hours later, the battery is almost dead. There was nothing on or running inside the camper. The voltage reading when I checked the battery was a little over 10 volts.

I called and spoke to one of the service guys at Camping world, and he said that it's normal for the battery to be 100% dead withing 6 - 8 hours after unplugging from shore power. He also said that the battery wasn't covered under my warranty. Keep in mind, I bought this camper NEW at the beginning of September.

Can anyone tell me if what I'm being told is accurate before I call back tomorrow and lose my cool? I have not had pleasant dealings with these people, and if it wasn't for the fact I love the camper, I would have told them to shove it long ago due to other issues to numerous to mention.

** I traded in a 2005 Hornet TT with a 4 year old Walmart battery that would hold it's charge for almost 2 weeks before I would need to plug it in.

Thanks all!

[4x4van]

the_c's wrote:
...one of the service guys at Camping world, and he said that it's normal for the battery to be 100% dead withing 6 - 8 hours after unplugging from shore power.

Wow, I guess that means that every one of us has completely dead batteries in our automobiles every morning after going to bed at night? That service guy should be fired; he's obviously in the wrong job! My RV will hold a charge for more than a month if disconnected, as will any car or truck sitting un-used. Even if connected, the few parasitic drains (CO2 detector, etc) will NOT drain a battery 100% in 6-8 hours.

Glad CW "eventually" stepped up and did the right thing.

[hawkeye-08]

Glad you got it resolved. I sometimes ask, why do customers have to turn into a$$holes to get things taken care of... seems I have become cynical in my later years...

[the_c_s]

I ended up getting a better response from Camping world when I called back today. They said bring in the old one, and if it tests bad, (which it did) they'll swap it with a new one. I think I was talking to a "new guy" yesterday.
New battery for the camper today and problem solved, thanks all!

[mbopp]

The battery itself should have a manufacturers warranty, maybe a year?

[the_c_s]

I took the battery to AutoZone last night, they load tested it and confirmed it was bad. Now I have to call our Camping World dealer and fight with them. The guy I spoke to in service yesterday told me that the battery isn't covered under the warranty. This is a NEW camper that was bought about 2-1/2 months ago, and I find it hard to believe it's not going to be covered.

[JoeTampa]

Concur. You were given a bad battery.

[RedRocket204]

Something else to consider... it is possible the battery was originally good but where the charging circuit destroyed the battery, i.e. malfunctioning charger ruined a cell or two in the battery. You may want to consider having a quality technician look at the charging circuit.

[bobndot]

CW gave you a bad battery. The detectors and possibly the radio memory draw about an amp , it would take days not hours to drain the battery.

[westend]

When the battery has been fully charged, put a load on it (a light will do). If it drops to 10.*V, you have a bad cell in the battery.

[the_c_s]

It's disconnected and has been sitting in the back of my truck for about 30 min, I just checked it and it's reading 10.87 volts. I'm 90% sure it's a bad battery, but I'll take it to AutoZone later to see what they come up with.

[opnspaces]

the_c's wrote:
I doubt they ever tested it. I'm taking it to AutoZone tonight and having them test it to be sure.

Even better, if it tests good have them keep it overnight and test it again in the morning.

[opnspaces]

the_c's wrote:
When I unplugged it, It showed a full charge on the inside monitor panel, and I even checked it with my volt meter and got 12.4 volts(after it was unplugged). I got 13.9 volts when it was plugged into the house, so I'm guessing it's being charged. Less than four hours later, the battery is almost dead. There was nothing on or running inside the camper. The voltage reading when I checked the battery was a little over 10 volts.

Camping world is feeding you a line.
13.9 volts sounds a bit low for being on the charger, I would think it should be in the 14's. But even assuming that 13.9 is normal for the charger, you battery is not normal.

12.4 volts is a battery at only 50% charge. A fully charged battery will read 12.67 - 12.75volts. So your battery is not accepting a full charge. To add more to the case for a bad battery,

Your 12 volt battery has 6 cells of 2 volts each in series which equals 12 volts. If you are reading 10 volts at all in your battery you have a dead cell.

I've unfortunately been down this path many times in my frugal life and I can tell you that your battery is dead and needs to be replaced. A battery with a dead cell on the charger may ramp up into the 12v range. But it will drop to the 10 volt range within hours when taken off the charger.

Here's your easy test. Plug the trailer in and let the battery charge for a few days, heck let it charge until Friday. Then unplug the shore power cable and disconnect the negative cable from the battery so it is isolated from the trailer.

With a multimeter record the voltage charge at the battery immediately after you disconnect, you should see around 13.9 volts as this is a surface charge.

After a few hours take another voltage reading, it should be around 12.6x volts. If it's lower you have a suspect battery.

Let the battery sit disconnected overnight and check it sometime the next day. The voltage should be the same as the few hours check above (12.6x volts) if it is significantly lower 12.5 or lower you have a bad battery. My guess is that within a night or two the battery will drop to 10 volts as it has a dead cell.

Have Camping world or the dealer charge and test the battery. When they call you up and say it is fine, ask them if they will let it sit off the charger and disconnected and check it again in the morning. I'll bet it reads dead when they do so. Batteries have a warranty and your dealer should be replacing this one, but if they wont you might have to just bite the bullet and spend the $100 to replace it.

[the_c_s]

I doubt they ever tested it. I'm taking it to AutoZone tonight and having them test it to be sure.

[the_bear_II]

If you can't find a reason for the battery drain....

It's possible the battery has gone bad. The newer batteries have thin plates which can break due to road vibration or bad bumps. I had a battery go dead and took it in for testing. The load test showed the battery was good. I charged to full charge and the next day it was dead again. I took it back to the same place for testing and this time it tested bad.

Is it possible they may have given you an older battery ? One that had been sitting on the shelf for a year or more. Most RV dealers take off the batteries and propane tanks while the RV is for sale on the lot to prevent theft. It might be possible someone grabbed one from the warehouse without paying attention to the condition or date.