Interstate Battery in the Seneca

[jim.moore]

From my Jayco Owners Guide:
"Some equipment in your motor home will draw small amounts of electrical current even
when turned “off”. To prevent house battery discharge when the motor home is not connected
to power through the shore power cord, it is recommended you shut “off” the 12-volt battery
disconnect solenoid and disconnect the battery negative cable at the house batteries.
During storage, it is important to check battery voltage at least every two weeks and to
recharge them as needed."

[Mustang65]

Is this for real????

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by Mustang65

Is this for real????

Don

My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

Don,
If you are wondering if the amount of dirt on the batteries is unusual, it is not on many of our Senecas. Where the battery tray is located it doesn't take too much driving on wet, dirty roads to turn mine into the same picture! I try to clean mine after every trip but it isn't practical at many campgrounds while on a trip.

I have considered fabricating some type of cover but just have not got to it yet. Maybe 2019!

[Dancingqueen]

When I changed out my batteries , the service guy took a picture of the connections. A picture told a thousand words. I’ve never had a problem w them.

[Mnwelsh]

I use numbers tape to ID every cable to every battery post.

[Mustang65]

Originally Posted by Mnwelsh

I use numbers tape to ID every cable to every battery post.

GREAT IDEA!!!
Don
My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[Rick-in-Houston]

So I decided to replace all four batteries. The battery that exploded discharged the other 3 batteries to no return. I tried to charge them but could only get them back to around 40 - 50% capacity. Took them back to Interstate and they said that the batteries were around 2 years old and the life expectancy is only 2 - 3 years. So I negotiated a deal with them and went ahead and replaced all four at $100 a battery.
I cleaned the battery tray with baking soda and repainted the tray and installed the new batteries.
Now, not knowing what caused the battery to explode and having to leave town in 2 days for the Christmas holidays in the Seneca I was still concerned. Plug in the Seneca and everything worked fine. I look at the converter display and its showing 14.4 Volts (boost charge mode) I just figured they need to have a top off charge. Left it plugged in overnight. Next day I go in and see that the display is still showing 14.4 volts then I began to start thinking that maybe the converter is stuck in boost charging mode and that is why the battery exploded. So I finally decided I'm just going to leave it plugged in and see what happens. Good news is that towards the end of the 2nd day it finally went into trickle charge at 13.2 volts.
The Christmas holiday went great and everything worked as it should.

Thanks to all you guys with your help and assistance during all these battery issues. This forum is unbelievable.

Rick

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Mustang65

Is this for real????

Don

Sure is... right after a 6-month trip and the last leg of the trip was in Moab Ut and San Rafael Swell UT. 23miles inboud to camp on dirt roads and 23 miles out of camp on muddy roads before 200 miles on pavement in the rain. The bottom of these compartments are open to the road, right behind the front steer tire. The batteries did not need to get cleaned, as they were being replaced after that trip.

[cosmo]

Take a photo and or label each cable.

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Rick-in-Houston

So I decided to replace all four batteries. The battery that exploded discharged the other 3 batteries to no return. Good news is that towards the end of the 2nd day it finally went into trickle charge at 13.2 volts.

The Christmas holiday went great and everything worked as it should.

Thanks to all you guys with your help and assistance during all these battery issues. This forum is unbelievable.
Rick

Glad the Seneca is back in good working service!

[Rick-in-Houston]

SloPoke, thank you for your help.
Have a Great New Year!

[johnboy]

I save this thread for the future with interstate batteries.

So.... 3-4 weeks ago I cleaned my 4 house batteries and refilled with of course distilled water. Today I went to my indoor storage area to do some minor work and I notice this sediment under the battery area. After close inspection it looked like dry up battery acid. I opened the B-compartment and I could not pull the try out. I had to have my wife pull in the 2 locks while I force-able pulled that tray out. All batteries looked good so then I started to feel them. One of the batteries was super hot. So at that point I decided to take the Seneca home because I needed to wash out the tray and the rails. Once the battery was out (the back left one, as look at it from the front of the tray) What a mess, acid looked like white crystal. The battery showed no damage just hotter then hell. After the battery was removed for 30-45 minutes it was still very warm. I ended up replacing the battery and took it with me to Lazy Days RV as they were the only closest place that had them. So now 2hrs had passed and the battery was still warm not hot just warm. The sales person told me that they just had 3-4 this week alone replace their Interstate batteries due to different issues. What the HELL interstate!!! I've never had issue in the past with them.



Question I keep my RV plugged in while in storage is this good, bad or indifferent?

Thanks
John
Boy