Mercedes Sprinter Chassis Battery Discharge

[AussieBuff]

Good morning,

I purchased a 2018 Jayco Melbourne Prestige about 10 months ago and store it on the military base I work at. After a few weeks in storage, the chassis battery is always dead and I need to use the bypass button to use the house batteries to start it. This has always worked to date but I was wondering if this is normal? If I store my car at the airport for a few weeks it always starts. Is there someway to disengage the Sprinter battery to stop it from discharging during storage?

Thank you...

[WinnieView]

On ours there is a disconnect next to the gas pedal. There is a clip to push and then pull to disengage.
It is recommended that you wait at least 20-30 seconds after turning off the ignition to allow all systems to power down.

[Midnightmoon]

Sprinters are inherently hard on chassis batteries. I highly recommend that you use the disconnect under the dash if you are going to let it sit for a week or more.

I just changed the factory battery on my 2015. For those of you who have never looked in the battery compartment under the floor, here is the factory battery.

I replaced it with an Interstate MTX-49/H8

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/mtx-49/h8

[Pfflyer]

There have been a couple of other threads about this as well but if you are plugged into shore power to maintain your coach battery you can get a trickle charger and plug into the 12v outlet under the "cup holders" in the dash. This outlet is always hot. If you don't plug in disconnect the chassis battery like described above.


Welcome to the forum by the way and thank you for your service.

[Pfflyer]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

Sprinters are inherently hard on chassis batteries. I highly recommend that you use the disconnect under the dash if you are going to let it sit for a week or more.

I just changed the factory battery on my 2015. For those of you who have never looked in the battery compartment under the floor, here is the factory battery.

I replaced it with an Interstate MTX-49/H8

https://www.interstatebatteries.com/products/mtx-49/h8

Good find. My 2013 battery is still original and no issues but I suspect it is just a matter of time. Did you find that locally in stock or did you have to order it?

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Pfflyer

Good find. My 2013 battery is still original and no issues but I suspect it is just a matter of time. Did you find that locally in stock or did you have to order it?

I had to order it. I gave my Vin# to the Interstate dealer and this is what they came back with. It took 2 days to come in.

[WinnieView]

Originally Posted by Midnightmoon

I had to order it. I gave my Vin# to the Interstate dealer and this is what they came back with. It took 2 days to come in.

We have not verified but thought we heard at one point Costco has the battery, or at least can order it too.
But it may have been our previous diesel with two parallel starting batteries we are remembering they usually always had on the shelf.

[AussieBuff]

I now know how to disconnect the Sprinters battery. Cheers!

[thirdktm]

Six months after buying our 2017 Melbourne 24M, and after repeated battery rundowns, I bought a new battery. It cost about $90, I seem to recall, so it was not a top of the line battery. It still seems to lose charge more rapidly than I wish...
My RV was manufactured in the summer of 2016. It sat on the lot at Camping World, Albuquerque, for 12 months before I bought it. So the battery probably had little use for a year. And that might have contributed to its condition when I bought it.
Since then, I start the generator every two weeks, unless I forget, just so that we can keep the battery charged and use the generator, which the owner's manual says is important.

[campaholix]

Moon,

Is yours a Melbourne? I need to replace mine (long story but won't hold a charge) and getting into the compartment is ridiculously difficult to just check the size. Of course, the owner manual doesn't mention what group size the battery is...

[Midnightmoon]

No. Mine is a standard Sprinter 2500.

[Pfflyer]

If I was a betting man my money is on same battery as a 2500.

[WinnieView]

Originally Posted by Dnbgould

Moon,

Is yours a Melbourne? I need to replace mine (long story but won't hold a charge) and getting into the compartment is ridiculously difficult to just check the size. Of course, the owner manual doesn't mention what group size the battery is...

Copied from another forum and this applies to the Sprinter 3500, not sure about the 2500;

Chassis battery access and removal...

*Remove the ground disconnect at the gas pedal before beginning.

**Do not use the battery hold down as a wedge for removal, it is very brittle and will break.

Pic 1: Battery location under mat in front of driver's seat.
Pic 2: Cover removed (cover has 'keyholes' for the hold downs....just loosen Torx screws enough to slide cover off ) Remove neg cable. Unplug the vent tube under the neg cable and blue tape it out of the way. The red cover hides the positive terminal and there is an attached multi-point connector along side the battery See Pic 3. Remove the pos cable. Remove the hold down.
Pic 3: New battery installed. Pos cable shows the terminal box that slides down beside the battery.
Pic 4: You MUST reinstall the vent tube. It goes in to the side of the false 'cap'. Replace the hold down. It's fussy.... Reinstall the neg cable. Replace cover.
Pic 5: The hold down. Clever design. But don't pull, bend, push, it will snap and break.

The DURALAST AGM battery weighs about 52 lbs, others may have a replacement as well such as INTERSTATE (Costco). It may be easier to bring the battery in thru the coach door with an assistant guiding it into place from the drivers door.

[Midnightmoon]

Procedure is the same for the 2500.