Dead Coach Battery

[TheMaloneyFam]

Help!!!
New to the forum and new to RVing and I have a major issue on first big trip.
2019 Precept 36A
getting gas, jump back into seat to start it up and Battery is COMPLETELY dead, not a hint of life after driving for 6 hours straight, have to use battery boost, and even then I have to keep Rev’ing the engine awhile to keep it from not dying. Check engine light is not on too....also the auto leveler is acting screwy. The coach drives fine and the battery issue only happens 50% of the time I try and start. It’s a Sunday and I’m trying to get to the in-laws, any help would be awesome! FYI I’m a complete novice on all things electrical.

[hawkster]

First I would look at the battery terminals and make sure they are clean and tight. They can be cleaned with sandpaper. If really nasty a solution of water and baking soda. You said you were and electrical novice. I would get someone with a digital volt meter, or buy one. Get engine started by any means possible. Meter set to d.c. 20 volts. Put leads across battery terminals. It should read about 13.6 volts or higher. If 13 or less your charging system has a problem. If good your battery has a problem.

Maybe stop at auto parts store they should be able to do this for you.

[TheMaloneyFam]

Ok, I’m in a Walmart parking lot now, I’ll see if they have one I can buy inside. Got coach started this morning (thank goodness), but once again battery was dead and I had to use the boost to crank him up.

[dgantz]

Originally Posted by TheMaloneyFam

Ok, I’m in a Walmart parking lot now, I’ll see if they have one I can buy inside. Got coach started this morning (thank goodness), but once again battery was dead and I had to use the boost to crank him up.

On our 36t levelers only work with engine running. I agree with previous guy that you have a charging or battery problem.

[1955farm]

Before you try to crank the engine check the voltage on the battery with the multimeter. It should be in the neighborhood of 12.4 to 12.6 with 12.6 being fully charged. Then do as Hawkster said to check your charging system. It's possible you have a bad battery. Advanced Auto/ Autozone or Oreillys can check the battery to see if it's bad and won't hold a charge. It might be covered by warranty if you are the original owner.

[Vicr]

Sounds like a bad alternator.

[Riverman]

Advance, Autozone, Napa and O'Reilly's should all test your battery and alternator for you.

[TheMaloneyFam]

Ok, sorry late with reply...been a long long day.... which included me smacking a deer just 30 min short of my destination and cracking my fiberglass in multiple places....:-/
So in the end it was a clamp on the battery post/terminal....I had checked it before visually and it looked fine, went back to it later and pulled it off the post with one finger....tightened it down, work 4-0 ever since.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU all who replied...even though it ended up being a simple fix, the wealth of knowledge here is incredible and I’m sure I’ll be making more desperate pleas for help in the future!!!
Merry Christmas!!

[JFlightRisk]

We're here for you! Sorry about the deer running into you! Here in New York state, on average there's over 80,000 deer strikes a year. We live in a medium size village, 5 blocks from the center of town, and they walk down the sidewalk, or middle of the street all the time. Sometimes in herds of 4 or 5. Scary!

[hawkster]

Glad you got it running with a cheap fix! Sorry about the deer hope your vehicle insurance is good.