Battery drain while in storage

[jbaltimore]

Hello All,

I've got my 2021 Fuel 362 in storage. Outdoor. Uncovered. Mild weather. Lows in the 30s, highs in 50s.

The battery is a 5-month old AGM. I store the rig with the main power cutoff set, so I believe there should be no power being drained from the battery to the rig.

I've noticed that within only 4-6 days, my battery drains down to 1/3 full according to the inside battery gauge. I fire up the genny for about 5-10 minutes and the gauge says full again.

I suppose it could be that the gauge is FUBAR. When we were deployed for 3 months and hooked up to 50A, the battery gauge never went below full. I intend to get over there with my multi-meter next time to test the battery.

Curious if any of you have seen this and what you did to resolve it.

Cheers!

 

[southernlady5464]

Get a batter tender.

 

[jbaltimore]

Get a batter tender.

No can do, friend. No AC power where it's stored. Solar would be an option, but I am not wanting to invest in that right now.

 

[danemayer]

If you have a residential refrigerator, there's likely another cutoff.

 

[jbaltimore]

If you have a residential refrigerator, there's likely another cutoff.

Absorption fridge. Powered off inside as well.

 

[Dahillbilly]

radio, /CO detector will drain down battery. I disconnect the battery by removing the cables at the battery & it will hold a charge for quite awhile month or two

 

[jbaltimore]

radio, /CO detector will drain down battery. I disconnect the battery by removing the cables at the battery & it will hold a charge for quite awhile month or two

Will those items draw power with the main power supply shut off in the basement storage area? I have the main power switch turned off.

 

[jbaltimore]

Will those items draw power with the main power supply shut off in the basement storage area? I have the main power switch turned off.

The only thing I can see draining power would be the genny. How is it that it drains 2/3 of the battery in under a week, though? Somethings up, I just don't know what yet.

 

[southernlady5464]

No can do, friend. No AC power where it's stored. Solar would be an option, but I am not wanting to invest in that right now.

Have you considered taking them home?

 

[cookie]

Once the batteries are fully charged just disconnect the neutral battery cable.
No chance of any parasitic draw.

Peace
Dave

 

[danemayer]

The generator start cable usually bypasses the cutoff, but shouldn't draw any power except when starting the generator. The emergency breakaway switch for the brakes also bypasses the cutoff, but also shouldn't draw any power. You probably will need to measure amp draw with the cutoff OFF, and then disconnecting the genny start cable, and the breakaway wire to see if amp draw goes to zero.

 

[JohnDar]

The LP leak detector is connected directly to battery and will drain it. The only way to get around parasitic draw is to disconnect the battery terminals. I had to do that with a TT we had some years ago. For long storage of the BH we had, I did the same or pulled the battery out completely for the winter.

 

[MTPockets]

Hello All,

I've got my 2021 Fuel 362 in storage. Outdoor. Uncovered. Mild weather. Lows in the 30s, highs in 50s.

The battery is a 5-month old AGM. I store the rig with the main power cutoff set, so I believe there should be no power being drained from the battery to the rig.

I've noticed that within only 4-6 days, my battery drains down to 1/3 full according to the inside battery gauge. I fire up the genny for about 5-10 minutes and the gauge says full again.

I suppose it could be that the gauge is FUBAR. When we were deployed for 3 months and hooked up to 50A, the battery gauge never went below full. I intend to get over there with my multi-meter next time to test the battery.

Curious if any of you have seen this and what you did to resolve it.

Cheers!

Disconnect battery cables - AGM battery will hold charge for many weeks.

 

[sengli]

My rig has two 12 volt cut off switches, one for the fridge and one for the rig itself. I know for a fact that with the cut off turned off there is still something drawing power. Cause as soon as I un-plug from shore power the batteries start dropping. Short of dis-connecting the cables on the terminals your battery is going to drain rather quickly especially in the cold.

 

[david-steph2018]

A couple of other items that could draw from your batteries while cut off switch is off is, if you have these installed, and how these are connected:
a backup camera, our camera is hooked to the battery,
a tire monitor system repeater, same thing hooked to the battery,
and the break-away switch for your brakes.

 

[wdk450]

How about a solar panel battery tender?

 

[RVFun4Us]

I also have my Big Horn in storage 70 miles away with no available electric hookups. I currently have my two lead acid batteries on battery tenders here at home. When I reinstall the batteries closer to camping season, I don't want to continue to pull them out. With my battery disconnect off, can I just disconnect the negative cables to save the parasitic drain and if that works, how long can I expect the batteries to remain fully charged? Starting in April, we will have about 3-5 weeks in between trips. Will the batteries hold up? They are 18 months old, Interstate batteries.

 

[cookie]

If your batteries are fully charged when the camper is put in storage and you remove the neutral battery cables I would expect the batteries to be just fine after 5 weeks.
I am not an expert.

Peace
Dave

 

[taskswap]

Unless the battery is bad (you can take it to an auto shop to have it tested) you have a drain, as the others are saying. The math proves it.
Take a 100Ah (example) battery and drain it (let's say to 70% which is "mostly drained" for an AGM). That means you lost 30Ah of capacity. If you do that in 5 days you're losing 6Ah a day or 0.25Ah per hour. 250mA is just about right for a carbon monoxide detector, or, in my last camper, it was the stereo/clock system believe it or not. Crazy what some of those can draw.

I'm with the others above. Put in a disconnect or a solar tender. Even a small 20W panel will do wonders for you. I personally favor the solar charger because disconnects do work... but why have the guarantee be "you'll come back to it just as discharged as you left it"? I kinda prefer "it'll be fully charged when you come back!"

Given how low cost these things are it's insane to me that it's not standard in the industry by now. I've seen them on Amazon for $50-$80. It would be a no brainer.

 

[CoveredWagon]

I've done this for several years. Never removed the batteries. RV is in storage for 6 months or so. Battery cables remain attached. Both disconnect switches are turned off.