Replacement Batteries

[wdk450]

I came to that conclusion as well and went shopping. Too bad for me I'm in southern Illinois and while there's a lot of nice folks there are no 27 AGMs between here and Chicago. Once I'm absolutely certain it's batteries I can use these wet cells in my boat and put in something more.

Thanks always for for all the great input from everyone. But Dan & Tony are da man.

How close is Southern Illinois to RV Central Elkhart, where you should be able to get ANYTHING RV?

 

[teasac69]

Oh Snap! Someone just got called out.

Yes I did!!! Lesson learned. Please forgive my sexist assumption.

Now on to my situation. Batteries fixed my problem. Inverter worked fine freezer stayed same temp for 360 mile drive. Appears my batteries were getting weak and could not provide the power to keep up.

I did learn quite a bit in this (other than a woman can possess the mechanical/technical knowledge as good or better than a man), that my truck can't keep up with the power used by the inverter to power the resi fridge. So if a long day is required be aware. Still want to know more about my charger.

As as always thanks for all the input, especially Ms Erika 😔

See those of you coming to Goshen. We're in South Bend waiting to go to Goshen tomorrow and finally get my rig weighed and experience the sights and sounds of the national rally.

 

[Lynn1130]

Oh Snap! Someone just got called out.

Happens to me a lot. I use my middle name which some assume is feminine. I get many responses that start out "Dear Ms ----. Lynne is the feminine spelling of Lynn but that seems to have fallen by the way side over the years. "A boy named Sue"

 

[NWILSON]

Trying to get an education before stepping up to a new Cyclone with a Resi. fridge. I'm thinking I may want to ask for a credit on the batteries ( Dealer isn't likely to install a set of good quality batteries) and install good ones myself. Electrical engineering isn't my strong suit so could someone please teach me the correlation between amphours and expected run time of the inverter during towing? I get that ambient conditions as well as contents of the fridge will cause variance. I guess my question boils down to: What size batteries will generally supply enough power to the inverter for 8-10 hrs in terms of amphours or Cranking amps or Reserve Capacity (why can't they just use one unit of measurement?) and still fit in the battery box?

ALSO.....When the inverter has shut off due to low batteries, is there still enough power to start the generator? Will a "Booster Box" be an essential piece of camping gear?

Thanks

 

[carl.swoyer]

I went with deka group 31 AGM. I have four wired together. They can be run down further and will charge faster than the wet cells. Plus no battery acid or worries of needing to fill the water.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[TravelTiger]

We have two group 31 AGM, they are Duracell brand, bought from Sam's Club. Made by Deka, but much cheaper.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NWILSON]

We have two group 31 AGM, they are Duracell brand, bought from Sam's Club. Made by Deka, but much cheaper.

Thanks for the input!
How long have you been able to run off the inverter with those?

 

[TravelTiger]

Thanks for the input!
How long have you able to run off the inverter with those?

Not sure, only has them about a month.

We have an inverter but don't use it for household use. Ours is for our air compressor only.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[carl.swoyer]

Mine are deka but I buy seconds. No Handel's or scratches. $100.00 each..

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[CDreadytogo]

I have had the AGM batteries for 11 years and they were still working. I just replaced them. I got Cabelas AGM and hope they work as well


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[southernlady5464]

It's not a trickle charger. It's an intelligent charger that has several modes, adjusting output to charge the battery quickly, and then maintain. If you have a voltmeter, or cycle the autolevel panel to read voltage, you can see the Power Converter output. When batteries are low, the Converter output is 13.6V. When fully charged, output is 13.2V.

Yes, one possibility is that there's a problem with the Power Converter. Or with the 12V DC mini-circuit breaker between Power Converter and batteries.

If you check voltage (with a meter or on the levelup panel) and it's less than 13V while plugged into shore power, and not plugged into the truck, there's a problem getting power to the batteries to charge them. The light charge you do have could be from the truck.

I'm attaching a couple of pictures. After checking the voltage, press the teeny-teeny-teeny-tiny reset button on the manual-reset circuit breaker. It's on a row of little circuit breakers located near the batteries. They're usually covered by a red rubber boot and are connected by a copper buss bar. One breaker, often on one end of the row, has the reset button. The rest are auto-reset.

If you check voltage before and then after pressing the reset button, and see a difference, that was your problem.

If nothing changes, and voltage is less than 13V, you may have a problem with the converter being unplugged, on-board fuses being blown, or a malfunction. You'll have to take down the rear wall of the pass through basement storage to get to it. If it's unplugged, after plugging in, tie the plug so it doesn't come out again.

And before taking the coach apart, check all of your 120V circuit breakers in the main panel in the coach. One of them powers the Power Converter so it can convert 120V AC into 12V DC.

Thank you!

We had an issue with ours AFTER leaving Goshen on Sunday. They were fine Sunday but we moochdocked Monday and Tues only to discover an issue yesterday. I happened across this thread and told my husband to read your post. Solved our problem. We still may need new batteries but we will be plugged into shore power for awhile.

 

[Gsxr130]

My batteries Excide 27mdcst (2014) are dripping out of the caps i guess they are junk, we never dry camp do we need 2 batteries? We have the residential refridge and electric 6 point level up. We sometimes travel 6 hours to camp and need the fridge cold.

Thanks
Jason

 

[LBR]

My batteries Excide 27mdcst (2014) are dripping out of the caps i guess they are junk, we never dry camp do we need 2 batteries? We have the residential refridge and electric 6 point level up. We sometimes travel 6 hours to camp and need the fridge cold.

Thanks
Jason

First thing I would check is the voltage your converter is charging the batteries at....if much over the nominal 13.4V, it may be the converter is overcharging rather than both batteries being the culprits.

 

[Gsxr130]

Thanks, where do i check it?

 

[LBR]

Thanks, where do i check it?

Right at your battery posts.

 

[Gsxr130]

13.4 volts.

Disconnected the cables all night and battery is at 12.2 conected goes to 13.4 volts

 

[LBR]

Also check the water level of the batteries...they may be so low on water that even if converter is at acceptable charging voltage, batteries are cooking themselves because lacking water in cells.

 

[Gsxr130]

At the beginning of the year I checked because the batteries were low and it was empty of water I filled them up with distilled water and then now a month and a half later they were empty again, and i notice the dripping out if the caps.

 

[LBR]

Check the voltage...your batteries are getting cooked to death from what you have said.

 

[Gsxr130]

Check the voltage...your batteries are getting cooked to death from what you have said.

13.4 volts.

Disconnected the cables all night and battery is at 12.2 conected goes to 13.4 volts8