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Old 07-27-2020, 11:47 AM   #1
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Battery danger

We have a new 5th wheel Eagle 317 RLOK. We have enjoyed the few trips we have taken, but the learning curve is killing me. Like many of you we have been struggling to keep the battery charged in between trips. I have spent countless hours reading forums and Facebook postings to find a way to keep the battery charged. I used a trickle charger but the draw on the battery, (even though the battery shut off is “off”), still drains to the level that the battery is not functional. I share this with you as a learning experience and a design flaw on Jayco’s part. I had to remove the battery from the RV to trickle charge in my shop. The battery compartment is in a tough spot to disconnect and remove, and then to reinstall and connect. The terminals are right up against the side of the battery compartment. Which means you must be careful not to let the wrench touch the side. Well, when I tightened down the positive side, the wrench contacted metal side of the battery compartment and I had fireworks. I was not injured but will never get the stain out of my shorts!
I have damage to the RV, my tools and my sanity!
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Old 07-27-2020, 11:57 AM   #2
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I suggest you connect the positive battery cable first that way there will not be an arc situation if you accidentally touch the frame. When disconnecting a battery take the negative off first for the same reason.

As for why your battery won't hold a charge, I'm not sure. Have you taken a voltage reading when you return to the camper? My battery stays topped off by me plugging my trailer in when I get home from a trip. The converter has a built in smart charger.
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Old 07-27-2020, 12:14 PM   #3
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Thanks for the reply. The way that the battery is situated, there is not a safe way, or room. If they had mounted the battery the long way, with both pos and neg facing out, it would be much safer and better engineered. The learning curve is not being nice to me!
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:16 PM   #4
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Thanks for the reply. The way that the battery is situated, there is not a safe way, or room. If they had mounted the battery the long way, with both pos and neg facing out, it would be much safer and better engineered. The learning curve is not being nice to me!
Trust me - The learning curve is never ending...
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:25 PM   #5
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You're not keeping the trailer shoreline plugged in to keep the battery charged? You have power to use a maintenance charger, why not use that power source to let the trailer charge the batteries?


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Old 07-27-2020, 01:31 PM   #6
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You should probably have your battery "Load Tested" at a battery shop. It might be dead and all the trickle charging in the world will not bring it back.
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:37 PM   #7
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Welcome and a couple thoughts . . .

More than likely your battery was abused while at the dealer lot. It may not be in new condition.

Have you considered installing a batter disconnect switch like this?
https://www.amazon.com/Disconnect-Ve...NsaWNrPXRydWU=
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:37 PM   #8
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We were having the same problem with the battery not holding a charge when the switch was off. The dealer found the the switch was not wired properly. There have been other posts here stating their switch was wired improperly also. You may want to check . Now, if I can only get the dealer to turn the switch off when they finish working on it, my batteries will stay charged.
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:38 PM   #9
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On some Jayco models such as yours, the battery off switch doesn't get rid of all parasitic draw. Not sure why Jayco does this. If you store your camper where there is no electricity, installing a battery cutoff switch at the battery itself will prevent any draw down. I have a small 7.5 watt solar charger to keep my battery topped off while not in use.
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:50 PM   #10
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We are still working out some environmental "rabbit" and other critter issues. They chew on the connectors..and that is another story
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:51 PM   #11
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We are taking it in today. Two weeks ago the same battery drain issue happened. We were not aware of it and when trying to close the slides it created some issues with the slides now. So today we are taking it in to have that resolved.
I know this will be fun eventually
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:52 PM   #12
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What kind of solar set up is it? I'm looking at all options
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Old 07-27-2020, 01:54 PM   #13
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We have a battery disconnect....that does not disconnect! I have one on my boat and it works great. I see a lot of folks having the same issues.
I will get it worked out, thanks for the suggestions
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Old 07-27-2020, 03:36 PM   #14
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We have a battery disconnect....that does not disconnect! I have one on my boat and it works great. I see a lot of folks having the same issues.
I will get it worked out, thanks for the suggestions
Pretty sure the battery disconnect from the factory does not shut off power to the propane leak detector so there will always be some draw.
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Old 07-27-2020, 03:47 PM   #15
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Quote:
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You should probably have your battery "Load Tested" at a battery shop. It might be dead and all the trickle charging in the world will not bring it back.
Exactly what I'm thinking. If the battery has been killed a few times, that might be why it doesn't hold a charge. All the guessing in the world won't fix it. Time for a load test.

Quote:
More than likely your battery was abused while at the dealer lot. It may not be in new condition.
I had to replace both the chassis battery and coach battery on my rig when it was brand new, due to Ford, MoRryde and the dealer abusing them.
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Old 07-27-2020, 04:06 PM   #16
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I had the same issue. I added another disconnect switch in the battery compartment to make sure it kills all power. I looked at the disconnect switch Jayco installed and they do have wires bypassing the switch. So the Jayco disconnect switch is worthless.
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Old 07-27-2020, 04:17 PM   #17
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You may look at using wing nuts on the terminals. Then you don't need a wrench.
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Old 07-27-2020, 04:40 PM   #18
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I am gonna add a ground disconnect. Leaving for an almost three month trip i went to disconnect wife’s Jeep battery. How cool they have a push button release on the battery ground cable. Never seen that before.
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Old 07-27-2020, 04:54 PM   #19
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Battery Disconnect Switch

In most RV's there is a "battery Disconnect Switch" that is a toggle switch that uses a control circuit to open a relay that disconnects most of the loads on the battery but not all such as the LP Leak Detector as previously stated. Pictured is my battery disconnect. Battery cable goes from the battery post directly to the switch and then back to the relay. When wired this way the battery disconnect prevent any load on the batteries.
Attached Thumbnails
Battery Bank 8.jpg   Battery bank 7.jpg   Battery bank 6.jpg  
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Old 07-27-2020, 06:19 PM   #20
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Just like my all my boats I owned. Did the same to last RV. Just gonna do simple ground disconnect switch for the FW
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