Seneca coach battery's

[Longtimenosea]

Hello all,
New owner of a 2016 Seneca RB, traded in my Melbourne 29 D.

Question? How long can one expect the four coach battery's to last when the unit is parked and most 12 volt systems are off? I park this RV, leaving on only the basics (refrigerator, CO 2 alarm, etc), all lights off, and overnight the 4 battery's are so low they can't start the generator.

My Melbourne 12 volt system would last for 2, maybe three days on just one coach battery.

Also, as a side note, I have the "lo dc" warning light flashing on the refrigerator but have been told that is a norcold problem.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Grumpy]

Sounds like a bad battery (batteries). I used to leave our 08 sit for a week with fridge on and still had plenty of juice for the geny.

[Mr.Oz]

My original batteries were bad, within 15 minutes of shutting the coach off the low voltage warning would start beeping. Jayco replaced them with Interstate deep cycle and no more problems.

[Robbbyr]

When I got my coach (new) it had Harris batteries, I suspect they went dead sitting on the lot and froze before I bought it. Very poor performance, so I changed them out for four 6-volt Trojan T-105 true deep-cycle batteries. Now, using minimal loads as you describe, I can go a week or more and still crank over the generator. Like Grumpy and Mr. Oz, I also believe you have a bad battery or batteries. One bad battery in a bank can cause the other decent batteries to discharge. In my case I had one that was the worst, just sitting with the master switch "off" and not on shore power it would be warmer than the other 3 batteries. It had an internal problem and was being fed current from the other 3 causing it to heat up!

I would have the dealer do a load test and check the specific gravity of all 4 batteries. I would hope they would also rule out some other parasitic drain you are unaware of that might be causing them to get so low so fast. If they find a bad battery, be wary of them only changing one. I would recommend you insist they swap out all 4 for fresh batteries.

[Longtimenosea]

Thanks for all of the replys. I too suspect a bad battery or battery's but am away on my initial road trip. Will contact dealer when I return.

Thanks again.

[Mr.Oz]

When tested, one of my 4 was completely dead. The others were bad.

[Shultz01]

I was having the same issue when dry camping. If I didn't run the generator in the AM and PM the batteries would go dead. When I got home I checked all the batteries specific gravity. They were all good, but all were overfilled. There was a lot of corrosion built up in the tray and on the batteries from leakage due to them being overfilled. So I corrected the levels, cleaned the tray and batteries.

Would the overfilling and heavy corrosion have been causing the quick discharge?

I haven't been dry camping since, so it would be nice to get an opinion or two.

Or should I replace the batteries?

[Mr.Oz]

Originally Posted by Shultz01

I was having the same issue when dry camping. If I didn't run the generator in the AM and PM the batteries would go dead. When I got home I checked all the batteries specific gravity. They were all good, but all were overfilled. There was a lot of corrosion built up in the tray and on the batteries from leakage due to them being overfilled. So I corrected the levels, cleaned the tray and batteries.

Would the overfilling and heavy corrosion have been causing the quick discharge?

I haven't been dry camping since, so it would be nice to get an opinion or two.

Or should I replace the batteries?

Learned something when I had the batteries replaced. On our model there is a fuse block under the bed in the rear and a indicator for the battery charger. When the batteries are discharged it switches to fast charge mode and the green indicator light is on solid. The charging voltage is 14.5 volts with max amps to fast charge the batteries. Once the batteries are charged it does not stop, you have to reset the charger. The indicator light flashes once reset and has a max voltage of 13.2 which is maintenance mode so you don't boil the batteries. There is a small button under the light you push with a pen and hold for 10 seconds. The Tech at the Jayco factory showed me this and said to make sure the green light is flashing. Just another thing to keep a eye on!

[Mr.Oz]

Originally Posted by Shultz01

I was having the same issue when dry camping. If I didn't run the generator in the AM and PM the batteries would go dead. When I got home I checked all the batteries specific gravity. They were all good, but all were overfilled. There was a lot of corrosion built up in the tray and on the batteries from leakage due to them being overfilled. So I corrected the levels, cleaned the tray and batteries.

Would the overfilling and heavy corrosion have been causing the quick discharge?

I haven't been dry camping since, so it would be nice to get an opinion or two.

Or should I replace the batteries?

Oh, yes the corrosion causes the batteries to discharge right across the terminals. On a dirty battery you can take a DVOM and go from the terminal and touch anywhere on the battery and read a small voltage. This is draining your batteries.

[Shultz01]

Thanks Mr. Oz. I'll report back on the battery performance next time we are dry camping.

[Shultz01]

Had some warm weather this weekend with 40's and 50's so I replaced the coach batteries. Sam's Club had Optima AGM's for $135 each so I went with those. The old/original batteries were still leaking after lowering the fluid level. I had cleaned the batteries, battery tray and lined the battery tray with truck bed liner. Today I had to pull out the battery tray again, clean it and re-coat it with truck bed liner. This time there will by no leaking with AGM's.

[Shultz01]

All cleaned up and ready for Spring!

[javamon]

Since mine is being built new and will be driven 1100 miles from Indiana to Tampa for delivery, I'm hoping I will have very new batteries with a healthy charge. I definitely will check them closely during my walk-thru/orientation. Good thread!

Can't wait for lithium batteries to get us out of the lead-acid stone age. It's not far off and it's going to revolutionize the RV industry as well as many others.

[Robbbyr]

Looks good Andy!