Jayco Melbourne 24L starter battery discharging

[Lightning]

I have a brand new Jayco Sprinter chassis Melbourne 24L. I live in Montana and have taken only one trip this Fall before winterizing the unit and putting it under a cover. It is plugged in to shore power - so it looks like my coach battery is being maintained. However, the so-called starter battery is losing power even though, to my knowledge, all electrical systems in the cab are turned off. To my surprise, after about only 2 weeks I went to start up the engine and the battery was completely dead. So I put a trickle charge (2 amp)on the engine battery & after about 3 days it was fully charged and started up. But then after about another 2 weeks I tried to start up the engine and the battery was completely dead again. My question: has anyone else had this same problem? If so, what's the fix? I'm thinking about leaving the 2AMP trickle charger connected. Is there any danger in doing that? Also, is there any way to charge the starter battery from the shore power? You would think that Jayco would have thought of that??!!

[WinnieView]

We installed a Trik-L-Start which connects the coach charger and batteries to the chassis battery and it provides a maintenance charge.
It was easy enough since our motorhome has a Aux Start circuit and relay in the coach battery bay.

There should be no reason the 2AMP trickle charger cannot be left in place for extended periods.
Some owners would recommend fully charging the battery and disconnecting it, even bringing it indoors in some areas.

There can be many parasitic loads even when the key is turned off in modern vehicles.

The battery could also be on its last leg and perhaps should be taken somewhere and load tested.

Best of luck!

[Lightning]

Thanks. I think I will try the Trik-L-Start solution.

[Mustang65]

CONGRATULATIONS on the JAYCO!!!

...and WELCOME TO JOF!!! The members here are GREAT!!! There is a lot of GREAT information to be found here. I am sure that you will have information and pictures to share with us... so please do!!

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[Pfflyer]

Welcome to the forum from another Melbourne owner. I use a Battery Tender plugged into the coach and with a 12v cigarette plug I plug it into the 12v outlet under the so called cup holder/ashtray which is always powered. You can also disconnect the starter battery with the disconnect by the accelerator. Here is another post you can read.
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...rne-42254.html
And here
https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ies-43448.html

[nevadamelbourne]

I am also having this same battery problem and looking for a good fix. this is our second MB motorhome and we didn't have this problem on our forest river.

[WinnieView]

Install a Trik-L-Start solution and never again worry about it.
A couple of common wrenches and 30 minutes tops!

[nevadamelbourne]

Thanks for the info and I'm checking it out now. We do a lot of dry camping and I'm still wondering if this will work when not plugged into shore power. I did have my Jayco dealer add a second battery in the storage compartment next to the regular one and they feel that should help when dry camping but this didn't help the start battery from going dead

[WinnieView]

It will only work on shore and generator power just as the charger for the coach batteries does.

[jkaras7]

We experienced the same problem. Took the MH to our local Mercedes Sprinter shop since we are still under our original warranty. Mercedes monitored the motor home for over a week and was able to track down the issue in conjunction with a discussion with Jayco. Mercedes noticed a significant draw coming from the wiring under the driver's seat. According to Jayco, "It's a constant battery power from Mercedes we tap for the marker light relay located under the passenger seat and for a park brake relay located under the driver seat. The park brake is used by the dash radio and stabilizer jacks."

The recommendation we got from both Mercedes and Jayco is invest in a battery trickle charger.

[nevadamelbourne]

My MB dealer found something similar and provided me with their written report and recommendation. Their recommendation was for the outfitter, Jayco, to fix the problem and not via having to buy a trickle charger. They worked on my first sprinter, a forest river, for over 3 years and not once did I have a battery failure. I provided their report to my Jayco dealer and am waiting their response.

[jkaras7]

Originally Posted by nevadamelbourne

My MB dealer found something similar and provided me with their written report and recommendation. Their recommendation was for the outfitter, Jayco, to fix the problem and not via having to buy a trickle charger. They worked on my first sprinter, a forest river, for over 3 years and not once did I have a battery failure. I provided their report to my Jayco dealer and am waiting their response.

Thanks for your input. I will go to my dealer and see if I can work with them and Jayco to address this issue.

[jkaras7]

All attached is the corrective action for the battery drain on the chassis battery in some 2017 Melbourne's according to Jayco. We received this information from the motorized division of Jayco.

[nevadamelbourne]

update on my melbourne start battery. took it to my Jayco dealer who contacted the factory which sent instructions to fix. the following correction information is what I received today when I picked up the unit...."Inspected unit had relay on park brake and followed Jayco's instructions and tested for power at radio and park brake lever, all OK. removed 20/40 relay and disconnected wires & taped off, checked draw, OK. I'll update again and let everyone know how it works.

[jkaras7]

Originally Posted by nevadamelbourne

update on my melbourne start battery. took it to my Jayco dealer who contacted the factory which sent instructions to fix. the following correction information is what I received today when I picked up the unit...."Inspected unit had relay on park brake and followed Jayco's instructions and tested for power at radio and park brake lever, all OK. removed 20/40 relay and disconnected wires & taped off, checked draw, OK. I'll update again and let everyone know how it works.

Thanks for the update. We are taking our Jayco Melbourne 24L in this coming Monday to have the same thing done. Certainly hope it solves the problem.

[Dejarnra]

We are having the same problem with our 2919 Melbourne. The chassis battery is dead in a week
Our dealer says there us nothing wrong with our RV. Mercedes say there is unusual draw on chassis battery. Is anyone else having this problem with the 2019 model?

[Pfflyer]

Originally Posted by Dejarnra

We are having the same problem with our 2919 Melbourne. The chassis battery is dead in a week
Our dealer says there us nothing wrong with our RV. Mercedes say there is unusual draw on chassis battery. Is anyone else having this problem with the 2019 model?

Welcome to the forum. You are having the same problem as other years and while 1 week is worse than my 2 weeks the solution is going to be the same. Others had the dealer find issues with the way things are installed or defective parts. Others have found a bad starting battery because the dealer let the starter battery go dead a couple of times while sitting on the dealer lot. Might not hurt to get the starting battery load tested. There are a couple draws on the starter battery like the power steps and Co2 detector regardless. Not sure what the best case scenario is for days sitting not getting a charge but either way it wouldn't hurt to look at the links in post 5 this thread and find the best way to keep your batteries topped off that works for you and how you store your rig.
Good luck.

[jkaras7]

We too had this issue. Attached is what JAYCO sent us to resolve the issue. We took this document to our dealer, they spoke with JAYCO about this confirming it would alleviate the issue, which it did.


Also, it is a good idea to turn of the House Power when the vehicle is sitting unused.


All in all, we are very happy with our 2017 Jayco Melbourne 24L.


Good Luck

[Mellonracing]

Originally Posted by jkaras7

All attached is the corrective action for the battery drain on the chassis battery in some 2017 Melbourne's according to Jayco. We received this information from the motorized division of Jayco.

Just curious if the re-wire suggestion affects the operation of any components.

[jkaras7]

Originally Posted by Mellonracing

Just curious if the re-wire suggestion affects the operation of any components.

We experienced no issue with the operation of any other components when we had this done. It did resolve the issue of the engine battery draining all the time.