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03-23-2012, 12:38 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 130
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Battery not holding a charge
Seems that after taking full charge it takes only a night for the battery to be down to 1/3. Battery is one year old and came with the Greyhawk. Battery is full of water and all the connections area tight and clean. Is this just bad battery?
The Hawk
__________________
Jim and Sharon
Jayco 2011 Greyhawk SS31
Stockton, CA
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03-23-2012, 01:42 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Secret Cove
Posts: 10,701
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Does there appear to be material adhered to the plates in the battery?
Hey Hawk, hello and welcome to the group.
Dave
__________________
2010 Jayco Feather Sport 22'6" (sold)DrawTite,12,000 lbs. 2017 Jayco 212 QBW BAJA (bought)
2011 Ford F-150 XLT SCab 4x4 Tow Package
"If you can't be smart; be stubborn.". DG.
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03-23-2012, 01:45 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,526
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Hawk
Seems that after taking full charge it takes only a night for the battery to be down to 1/3. Battery is one year old and came with the Greyhawk. Battery is full of water and all the connections area tight and clean. Is this just bad battery?
The Hawk
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Jim, pick up a hydrometer and measure the battery. They're cheap... it will give you an accurate reading on whether or not the battery is good or needs replacing.
__________________
Mike, Sue, Sissy and Little Man
2015 Ford F350 Lariat FX4 6.7 CC DRW
2015 Eagle Premier 351RSTS
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03-23-2012, 02:12 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 130
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Nothing on the plates and off the the auto parts store to buy a cheap hydrometer.
The Hawk
__________________
Jim and Sharon
Jayco 2011 Greyhawk SS31
Stockton, CA
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03-23-2012, 02:22 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Dallas, Texas
Posts: 788
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The Hawk
Nothing on the plates and off the the auto parts store to buy a cheap hydrometer.
The Hawk
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Buy a new battery while you are there....
__________________
Russell
'13 Excel Winslow 34IKE
'12 GMC Sierra 3500HD
Previous RV's: '03 MobileScout Titan 29DBS; '01 Sunnybrook Lite 2708 SLE; '99 Coleman Utah
Previous TV's: '02 Chevy Suburban 2500 8.1 4.10; '99 Chevy Express 1500 5.7
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03-23-2012, 04:29 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Germantown, TN
Posts: 4,923
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Hard to tell without knowing how much you are pulling - that could be correct if you pull too much or something is draining it. If you are in the market for a multimeter, get a good AC/DC clamp meter -- they are great for this sort of thing. The DC ones are harder to find, so look close. Got mine at Sears...it was a pretty good model for about $50.
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03-23-2012, 06:32 PM
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#7
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Site Team
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: James Island, SC
Posts: 22,858
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Most auto parts stores have a battery tester that can tell you in 3 minutes if the battery is bad.
Take it with you.
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Moderator
2011- 351RLTS Eagle, MorRyde suspension/pin box,
2017- F350 6.7 PSD Lariat FX4,SRW, SB,CC
Hughes PWD SP-50A, TST TPMS
Gator roll-up bed cover
B&W Turnover ball, Companion Std hitch
Can't find what you're looking on JOF? Try Jayco Owners Forum Custom Google Search
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03-24-2012, 03:02 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Where ever the boss says we're going.
Posts: 16,101
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If you bought it new remember you have a 2 year warranty on everything.
__________________
DISNEY LOVERS
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03-25-2012, 06:01 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Shoreview, MN
Posts: 123
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy
If you bought it new remember you have a 2 year warranty on everything.
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Actually, most batteries are warranted for much longer than that...
__________________
Joe & Barb
Shoreview, MN
Navarre, FL
2006 Granite Ridge 2900GS
2015 Montana High Country 345RL
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03-25-2012, 02:56 PM
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#10
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 261
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I know this is a Class C forum, but this applies across models. My trailer (see below) had 6 guage wire run from the battery, all the way to the back for the power distribution panel - probably 20-30' of pretty narrow guage wire.
A few things about batteries - for a float charge you need to be getting 13.4 V @ the terminals....that should give you about a 1AH charge rate (VERY SLOW). So, lets say my factory 2 stage converter is doing a good job and putting out 13.6V for trickle charge. The issue now is cable loss.
I used http://www.nooutage.com/vdrop.htm to calcualte how much voltage drop I get across that long cable run. Assuming 25' of 6awg and only 1 amps of draw, I don't do well with .2% voltage drop. That sounds like a small number, but it means I'm only putting 11V on my batteries. IE: My batteries had NEVER had a good charge off the converter.
Even if my converter was putting out a much better 14V, at .1% drop over that cable I'm only getting 12.6V at the terminals - IE: getting what a fully charged battery has - and as I'm not putting more voltage on it than the battery has itself, I am getting no charge!
No matter how much I ran the generator, I could not make it through more than a night with no heater!!
My fix was replacing the 2 stage with a good 3 stage converter, and relocating the converted to the front of the trailer. I ran larger gauge wire back to the power distribution panel and a nice 4G wire the ~5 feet from the new install location to the batteries. I also replaced the now shot 2xGroup 24's with 2xGolf Carts. I'll try to get around to doing a proper write up on this mod as I suspect MANY more people out there need to consider doing something similar.
It wasn't a simple job - and a fair understanding of cabling/wiring is recommended. However, now I can boondock with confidence.
To really see how your batteries are doing, get an inexpensive 12V meter and a hydrometer. Should be out less than $30 for both and be able to KNOW where you sit.
This is a long read - but very good info and where I started. 12V Side of Life Then when I got serious about the mod, I got involved over at the Wind Sun Forums. Those wind-sun guys are solar, but the concepts are the same and that is where I learned the most.
-Good luck!
-Chak
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03-25-2012, 03:05 PM
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#11
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Houston
Posts: 2,526
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Excellent post, Chak. I'm getting ready to replace my Grp 24 12V with two GC2's (6V) that I picked up today at Sams Club. On Roy B's advice, I picked up a 25' spool of 4AWG wire, lugs, grommets, bus bar, fuse, etc. Over the next week or so, I hope to complete this mod installing the two new batteries in a front mounted toolbox.
Thankfully, my converter has "Charge Wizard" technology built-in. I want to do this incrementally (as I can afford to) but eventually, I will add a 1500-2000W pure sine wave inverter to the mix. Maybe someday, solar panels....
__________________
Mike, Sue, Sissy and Little Man
2015 Ford F350 Lariat FX4 6.7 CC DRW
2015 Eagle Premier 351RSTS
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03-25-2012, 05:19 PM
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#12
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 14
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We have a 31 FS. If we use the furnace at all the battery is always at 1/3 in the morning. I changed the battery and it is still at 1/3 in the morning. IMHO just not enough battery for the motorhome, Jayco should of made room for a second battery.
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03-25-2012, 08:21 PM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 261
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Riplin
We have a 31 FS. If we use the furnace at all the battery is always at 1/3 in the morning. I changed the battery and it is still at 1/3 in the morning. IMHO just not enough battery for the motorhome, Jayco should of made room for a second battery.
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Riplin - keep in mind that the meter built into the camper is not accurate by any means. It can come close, but will never be a good indication. Most importantly, when you check the battery, make sure ALL loads are turned off. Preferably, leave them off for an hour or two (but I realize this isn't practical when camping).
Those built in meters are especially bad for telling when the battery is full. Are you camping, running a generator for a few hours to charge (checking the meter as to when to quit charging?) Sadly, this won't work out well as you get higher readings than reality right after/during charging.
Check your battery, with a cheap volt meter and hydrometer. This will give you an idea if it may just be bad.
31 foot is a big space to heat - it may take quite a battery bank to do better. That said, optimizing what you have may help. How far is your converter from the batteries? I ask because many models have WAY to much wire between the 2. This prevents the batteries from taking a charge without 10's of hours of generator time.
Also, look at your converter. If you are re-charging with a generator, a 2 stage converter will take 10+ hours, whereas a 3 stage can get you to 90% in a couple of hours. (lots of variables here, but in general)
Hope this helps...
-Chak
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03-26-2012, 06:04 PM
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#14
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chakara
Riplin - keep in mind that the meter built into the camper is not accurate by any means. It can come close, but will never be a good indication. Most importantly, when you check the battery, make sure ALL loads are turned off. Preferably, leave them off for an hour or two (but I realize this isn't practical when camping).
Those built in meters are especially bad for telling when the battery is full. Are you camping, running a generator for a few hours to charge (checking the meter as to when to quit charging?) Sadly, this won't work out well as you get higher readings than reality right after/during charging.
Check your battery, with a cheap volt meter and hydrometer. This will give you an idea if it may just be bad.
31 foot is a big space to heat - it may take quite a battery bank to do better. That said, optimizing what you have may help. How far is your converter from the batteries? I ask because many models have WAY to much wire between the 2. This prevents the batteries from taking a charge without 10's of hours of generator time.
Also, look at your converter. If you are re-charging with a generator, a 2 stage converter will take 10+ hours, whereas a 3 stage can get you to 90% in a couple of hours. (lots of variables here, but in general)
Hope this helps...
-Chak
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Thanks for the input. We dry camp about 50% of the time. I checked the battery voltage at the battery with the gen running and found it to be 13.2volts. Way too low to put a real charge into the battery. With that being said we can drive all day and spend a night with the furnace on still have the battery at 1/3 or below. I know the gauge in the command centre is cheap, not the greatest. But when there isnt enough battery to start the gen it is 1/3 or alot lower. I bought an external battery charger and 2 2000w champion inverter gens as well as a second battery to hook up when we camp in cold weather. The single battery is along way from the converter. But I have no desire to change that. I will add a permanent 2nd battery this summer in an outside storage compartment. I still believe that Jayco did a disservice by only providing one battery compartment on such a large RV.
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03-28-2012, 08:12 AM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 130
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Well took the greyhawk back to the dealer to find out what was draining the battery over night. The tech found that a solenoid was not closing and was causing the draining. Battery checked out OK.
The Hawk
__________________
Jim and Sharon
Jayco 2011 Greyhawk SS31
Stockton, CA
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