Battery or something worse?

[Click_here]

We have had our 2017 Greyhawk since just before Christmas, 2017. We take it out nearly every month, at the least, to a state park here in Texas and once a year, we head up north where it is typically cooler, to Colorado and New Mexico.

After about one year or so, we had to replace our house battery. I'd moved the RV into our street, unplugging from our 30amp outlet, in order to change the oil. When I tried to use the lifts, just heard a rapid clicking and nothing. Started the engine and magically, the lifts worked. Changed the oil and took the unit over to a battery place who checked and told me the house battery was 'dead'.

Still under warranty, I called my dealer in Ft. Worth and the service guy told me we should *never* keep the rig plugged in all the time as it would 'ruin' the house battery. I asked how people who are full-time and parked for a month at Disney (or wherever) mange not to 'ruin' their batteries and he didn't have an answer.

Replaced the battery with a Walmart one and just the other day, about 18 months later, went out and tried to retract the lifts and got the same rapid clicking noise. I was also unable to start the generator, same clicking noise. Started the engine and of course, worked fine.

Checked the water level and it seemed low so added some distilled water. Drove over to a battery plus dealer who came out and put their tester on the battery and the manager was astonished. He said he had seen batteries that were either bad or good or needed to be charged but never one where his meter told him there was a bad cell.

Ended up replacing it with an AMG, fully sealed battery and will hopefully not have to worry too much, however I am wondering if I have a charging problem somehow. It seems hard to believe that two different (both wet) would go bad in 3 years, almost each hitting 18 months of life or so.

Any thoughts on the matter? Have I alleviated the issue with a sealed battery? Should I really turn off the RV an unplug when at home in the driveway? Since both of use are WFH, we do use the RV for conference work calls and to get away for a while when working.

Comments and advice appreciated as always from the knowledgeable folks on the forum.

[Screwby]

Ignore the service tech at the RV dealer, he’s an idiot, most are. Of course you leave your camper plugged in if possible, how else do you keep the battery from dying as it sits there with nothing keeping it topped off. It’s no different than a car that sits for a year never being started and driven so the alternator can put energy back into it. All batteries left unhooked from any power source for long enough will discharge and if left too long can be damaged. This applies especially to batteries in an RV/Motorhome because there are always parasitic draws that will slowly drain the battery to death. You can purchase a battery disconnect switch to stop the parasitic draw but your still going to want to trickle charge the battery so it doesn’t slowly go flat over time.

You most likely have a charging problem if you’ve gone through two batteries already. You need a multimeter so you can check the voltage on your battery with the camper unplugged should be anywhere from 12.7-13 volts if it’s new and charged. Now plug the battery in and you should see the voltage jump up on the meter (somewhere between 13.2-14.3 or so) as the onboard battery charger starts to keep it maintained. If you see no change once plugged in your not getting power from the charger to the battery and there’s your issue.

Do that quick test to see if the charger in the camper is working. If it isn’t then let’s troubleshoot from there.

[Route 66 Traveler]

Our trailer is 3 years old. I have kept it plugged in for the last 2 1/2 years and the batteries are just like new. I check the water level once a month...seldom need to add water. My Progressive Dynamics converter has a "Full Function Charge Wizard" that keeps it from over-charging the battery.

With the RV plugged in check the voltage at the battery terminals.... it should read somewhere around 13.6 if the converter is properly charging the battery.

I think your dealer in Fort Worth probably has never owned an RV...

[CAG]

Over the years I have had 2-6 volt batteries, 3-12 volt AMG and now one 12 volt AGM, only because there is no room for more. When I had 120 available I used a BatteryTender hooked to all of the different setups and now have a 25 watt solar cell hooked to the battery. I have never had a charge issue with batteries except when they have aged out with our brutal summers. Usually at 3-4 years. I also see no reason why hooked up and using the internal electrical system for the RV would kill a battery that fast, or at all. The only thing that comes to mind is if your battery disconnect is not set and you have more parasitic draw that they system can put back but that would be pretty unlikely.

[Screwby]

Could also be a wonky factory converter that’s overcharging the battery and cooking the water off and killing them. Test the system and get back with us