Batteries

[Borntowade]

Went to pick up the 3670 after have it sit for a couple of weeks. I have NO DC power at all. Baateries are flat as can be. Hooked up to the truck and still nothing. Tries a little porta power pack to the batteries, cannot even get a kight to light. I am wondering if I have lost the 12 volts from the truck as well as having dead flat batteries. GOt awful dark quick so had to quit as I was at the storage area. Am trickle charging at least one battery. Ay suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[jbeletti]

George,

Sounds like the batteries are dead. Likely from parasitic loads, like the carbon monoxide detector. You may have also left a couple things on, like the TV antenna booster.

They may or may not come back from the brink of death with a charge. Regardless, I suggest you either add a battery cut-off switch or disconnect the battery when in storage.
If you add your own battery cut-off switch or otherwise disconnect the battery for storage, DO NOT forget to reconnect it for towing. Need that extra power for the trailer brakes - as I understand it.

Jim

 

[ziggy]

When our batteries went dead this spring, it tripped the DC breakers which are manual breakers. They are tiny little buttons on the side of the breakers under the little red rubber caps. Its hard to feel the little buttons unless you carefully run your finger along the side of the breaker, if you can feel the button, its tripped. Just push it back in and hook up new batteries.

Someone here (branson4020 ??)told us about it after it happened to them and now we are passing on the info.

Good luck,
Kristy

 

[Borntowade]

DC Breakers

Ziggy where are these breakers located?

 

[skyguy]

Look in the compartmentwhere your battery is stored. It is also the place where the slide valves are.

Just above the battery are a bunch of heavy guage wires tied into a vertical mounted panel. This panel has quite a few red rubber caps on it - those are the breakers.

 

[RnRCycloner]

If I don't turn off battery disconnect switch, my battery will discharge within two days... I have only one battery in the 3950..

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

Another thing that causes battery discharge are 2 functions of the refrigerator. These are the ambient temp control and another one that I can't remember what it's called. there are 2 switches on the fridge that are accessed when you open the freezer. Look up in the right hand corner of the door opening. They should be off if you leave you rig unplugged for any length of time. If you have the owners manual for the fridge there is more info in there on the function of these switches.

 

[mrcomer]

When I had a new 7-pin connector added to the inside of the bed of my truck the technician showed me that in order to get a charge from the truck to the camper I needed to add a fuse. It was a 40 amp fuse installed under my hood in the fuse block. For many years I hadn't realized that the truck wasn't supporting the camper with 12 volts. Now I know.

Hope this helps,
Mark

 

[JohnDar]

I don't think the CO detector drains the battery, since it runs on 3 AA batteries (good to remove in storage, same for the smoke detector). The thing with the green light near the floor is the LP gas leak detector. If you're in long term storage, why not just disconnect the battery cables? With our TT, I pulled the battery and kept it in the garage over the winter. Put the charger on it every few weeks to keep it fresh.

 

[Arkansas1]

Hey George,
Sky Guy and Ziggy are on track,lost power on my rig and re-set breakers and power back on...
good luck.
Mike

 

[Uncle Rog]

If you are able to check the charge of the batteries here is a helpful chart

If you let them get below to far below the green zone they might be wasted........
Here is a link with more info, some of it is pretty simple but a refresher is sometimes a good idea.............

http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

 

[ziggy]

Look in the compartmentwhere your battery is stored. It is also the place where the slide valves are.

Just above the battery are a bunch of heavy guage wires tied into a vertical mounted panel. This panel has quite a few red rubber caps on it - those are the breakers.

Borntowade.
Skyguy is talking about the ones I meant. You have to take the red caps off and feel along the sides of the breakers to see if any little pins have popped up.
Kristy

 

[cookie]

George, one more thing to look at. If you had your battery out in the near past, and may have inadvertantly reversed the polarity, even for an instant, you will take out the three 25 amp fuses on the power converter. If that happens, your battery will go dead and you will not get any 12 volt item to work with or without shore power. That includes charging your battery.
Please let us know what the final fix turns out to be.
Peace
Dave
Oh, need I say don't ask how I know this?

 

[sunbeam246]

I bought a 3500RL in January and I am having trouble getting the slides to work. They will only work when I jump the battery with a pickup. Is this a bad battery? I've tried charging the battery and it will not take a charge. Is there some switch that I have accidentally hit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!