Battery Issues or more?

[sizzle]

I started the RV this weekend and drove to a dump station and back to my house to close for the winter, nothing out of the ordinary. Ran generator, slides, etc. to clean / close for winter - all worked fine.

I went to take the RV back to storage and would not start, I used the aux button to start RV to take back to storage. Once in storage, nothing worked to start the RV - the house or chassis battery.

I opened the hood and did hear a hissing / sizzling battery.

May I assume the chassis battery is dead or is this a bigger issue? What worries me is why did the alternator not charge the house battery as I drove back to storage and the aux button did not work.

Again, is this only a battery or may this be something more?

The RV is a 2017 Redhawk 31XL

Thank you.

[RogerR]

You should have the charging system checked before throwing a new battery in the engine. If you are way overcharging the battery due to a bad charged controller on the alternator you will just fry the new one anyway.



Before alternators were standard generators had a separate controller of voltage output. Now it is built into the alternator or computer system. But they still go bad.


Your battery could have gone bad but the frying sound is a symptom of to high a charge voltage and a boiled dry battery. Check the house battery and see if it is fully charged and full of water. It may need care also.

[RetiredOne]

Suggestion... start with a digital volt meter (your best friend). Take a voltage reading of both batteries when sitting idle. They should both be OVER 12 volts, at least 12.6 if they are good.

Then start the rig and take a second reading. The voltages should be over 13 if the alternator is charging and doing it's job. This will be the first test. Then, if the voltages seem low, a load test should be the next step.

Don't forget to check water levels in all batteries. Low water can fry/short out cells.

[Trapper2020]

I have had car batteries fail just like you described. Test with a meter if you have one and see what you get. After my last trip the car I left behind showed 26. On the meter. Really dead but it did take a charge but lost 30% over night. I replaced it. Try to jump ofF car. Good luck

[JFlightRisk]

You can also take it to an Advantage Auto, or Auto Zone store, and they'll check both your battery and alternator for you for free. Batteries aren't suppose to make noise. That's a sign something's wrong.