Discharging battery

[Cromagnon1971]

I purchased a 2008 Melbourne 26 A last month. It has 21,000 miles and is in very good condition. I had the Ford truck guys check it out and received an excellent report card. Took a two day trip, all worked well... except! (1) Once home, I had the MH on shore power for a few days and the chassis battery was drained. The by-pass to use the house battery didn't work and I had to jumpstart it. Once running the system is charging great... (2) fast forward two weeks … after about four days sitting in the drive without shore power both the chassis and the house batteries were drained. I charged overnight and it started fine and it's charging the chassis and house battery. The generator works well at least for the house batteries. Any insight is appreciated. Any suggestions for RV service in the Portland OR area is also welcome.

[curver900]

Originally Posted by Cromagnon1971

I purchased a 2008 Melbourne 26 A last month. It has 21,000 miles and is in very good condition. I had the Ford truck guys check it out and received an excellent report card. Took a two day trip, all worked well... except! (1) Once home, I had the MH on shore power for a few days and the chassis battery was drained. The by-pass to use the house battery didn't work and I had to jumpstart it. Once running the system is charging great... (2) fast forward two weeks … after about four days sitting in the drive without shore power both the chassis and the house batteries were drained. I charged overnight and it started fine and it's charging the chassis and house battery. The generator works well at least for the house batteries. Any insight is appreciated. Any suggestions for RV service in the Portland OR area is also welcome.

This is a take it in or start pulling one fuse at a time while monitoring the draw on the battery... it is what they will do as well once you figure out what circuit is drawing power then you can figure out what is on it...


it sounds like you have someone who may have done some backyard wiring at some point... check the battery for additional wires that don't look factory... that may save some time.. especially between the start and house battery..

[KiwiBruce]

This sounds a little like what I am going thur at moment with my six year old batteries, you didn't say how old the batteries are. They may be getting to that stage where they are done. Even if they are not that old it might be they have been run down two many times.
Also how is the fluid level, if the plates are exposed they won't hold a charge.
Have you tried disconnecting the batteries once charged to see if they hold a charge?
Are the batteries isolated, chassis from house, this might help work out if the problem is in the house or the truck.

[Cromagnon1971]

I decided to bring it to a local RV shop and check it out. The prior owner installed a new radio (why I have no idea) and I'm suspect of the installation. The batteries appear to be fairly new but I hope to get more info later this week,will let you know how I make out. Thanks for your input!
jpl

[us71na]

Originally Posted by Cromagnon1971

I decided to bring it to a local RV shop and check it out. The prior owner installed a new radio (why I have no idea) and I'm suspect of the installation. The batteries appear to be fairly new but I hope to get more info later this week,will let you know how I make out. Thanks for your input!
jpl

I had this problem with my boat. The radio/cassette player was wired direct to the battery and the light in the radio was always on, so it would drain the battery even if the radio was off.

[WeRJuliian]

Originally Posted by us71na

I had this problem with my boat. The radio/cassette player was wired direct to the battery and the light in the radio was always on, so it would drain the battery even if the radio was off.

That's a common mistake... people do it because ...

a) they can't be bothered to make a connection on the fusebox, the battery is easier to find...

or

b) they don't want the radio to lose its pre-sets when the power is turned off (most radios , these days, either have non-volatile memory, a built-in backup battery, or an option to connect a small auxiliary battery to keep the memory alive.)

Ian, the electrical man from Scotland