Quote:
Originally Posted by GravesFamily
Just along the lines of a Battery Question. We purchased our BH26 (2017) at the beginning of June. We've been on two trips and killed the battery twice.
The first question is how is your TT stored? Is it plugged into 110VAC while not being used? If not, do you disconnect your battery when in storage? Are you relying on the TV to charge or top off your battery while you travel to your CG? How far down was your battery drained?
The first trip was 1 night! We assumed the issue was that the battery really didn't have a full charge. The second trip was 4 nights. Within 24 hours the battery was dead again. We used the electric jack, awning open, (these 2 items use a lot of amps, do you leave the TT plugged into the TT when you use these items it will let your batteries last a little longer), lights minimally (we didn't even have the outside lights on at night), only turned on the water pump when needed and the radio was on for about 2 hours. (depending on the volume, the radio can use 5 amps, so if you use it for 2 hours that is 10 Amp hours of your 40Ah (approx. available).
Does that seem right? Even with the Carbon Monoxide detector on?
When the battery would get really low, we'd plug into one of our vehicles for 45 minutes to an hour. The charge would show full after unplugging from the car but within minutes would fall down to 3/4. And forget about if we actually use the charging station to juice up a phone. That killed the battery almost immediately. Do I expect too much from my battery?
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If you have a 85Ah battery you only can use 1/2 of the Ah, so you only have about 40Ah to use. The radio could have used 1/4 of the batteries power, the jacks and awning will account for additional Ah usage.. so you may only have 20Ah for lights (20Ah/8hrs night and sleeptime = 2.5Amps an hour left), water pump (another battery killer) or ceiling exhaust fan(s), stove light/fan.... so I would have to say that you are probably expecting too much from 40Ah.
The 45 minute charge from the TT is going to be minimal.
If you are referring to the battery meter inside the TT, it is about as accurate as the water tank(s) level after about 3-6 months of use, they are ALL useless.
A few recommendations:
- Get a Digital Display Voltage meter, it is your best friend and when your battery reaches 12.0 volts, turn everything off.
- Check your water level (replace with Distilled water only)
- You can not depend on your TV to charge your battery to a full charge.
- You will need to make sure your TT is plugged into shore power 3 days prior to your outing
- Install a battery disconnect switch or pull the main 30 amp fuse when not using TT and not connected to shore-power
What a lot of TT owners do not realize that your NEW battery starts out with what ever your battery rating is (say 85Ah), each time you discharge the battery the batteries Ah's are affected, not by very much, unless you drop it down to 10.5 VDC which is a DEAD 12 volt battery.
If you want to see the ACTUAL results of a battery test (using a 15Amp dump resister) I have one on the
RVing with SOLAR Social Group. Just scroll down to the Subject: The Results are in.
If your battery voltage has dropped to 10.5Volts or lower your batteries life cycle will be affected.. If it was totally drained the ability to hold a charge may have been affected.
Suggestions: It may be beneficial to pick up a small generator to help charge your batteries (unless you are like me and hate the noise, which made it easy to decide to go with SOLAR). SOLAR is not for everyone and if you always park under trees and do not have access to a lot of sunshine it would not benefit you.
Don
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