New 197MB owner...battery life??

[kcozzolino]

Hi all - I'm new to all of this - the forum and Jayco ownership so I hope I'm putting this in the right place.

Bought a 197MB a couple weeks ago - our first camper. One thing I already came across is I think I may have misunderstood the battery life. After I got it home and parked it in the driveway, less than 6 days and the battery was totally dead. Talked to some other owners (non Jayco campers) and some thought it was quick, and should take months. Is that normal?

If that is normal, I have bought everything to charge the battery from the house (30amp/15amp converter etc)....with these batteries, is it bad to let it die? Is that what I should let happen and charge up before we use it? In winter, should I store it drained or charged up?

I know this is probably basic - I'm a guy who has always been handy in the house, but vehicle related things have never been a strong suit. I obviously misunderstood something so this threw me off. Thank you in advance for any help or advice!

 

[Jayhawk 29]

What year is your camper for starters. This will tell us about some of the equipment that does create a trickle drain on your battery. This is fairly common. Your radio has a standby drain when off too. Most of the newer ones have a battery switch that kills the battery drain. But your monoxide sensor is normally always on, creating a drain. Take a look at your battery and tell us your AH .

 

[kcozzolino]

Apologies...that is pretty basic info I left out. It is a 2025 197MB. In the boatload of manuals I have for it, I have not found anything for a kill switch (other than the ESCO breakaway kill switch). The battery is an Interstate Battery dual purpose Marine/RV battery (HD-24-DP/505 MCA/64AH/100 RC).

Thank you for the help!

 

[dvspl]

So a 64 AH battery that lasted 6 days without charging means you were using roughly 10 AH each day or about 0.5 amp parasitic draw continuously. That's not out of the range of normal but might be very slightly high. Take a look around your new camper to familiarize yourself with things that might be inadvertently left on to draw power. For example, I have lights in two of my storage compartments that sometimes get accidentally turned on.

To answer some of your other questions: It will reduce the life of your battery to let it die completely. Many people say to keep it at least 50% charged (SOC) so that generally means to keep the resting voltage of the battery above 12.1 volts. You can leave it plugged in all the time, but be sure to check the electrolyte level monthly or so to make sure it doesn't get low. To store it for winter you should fully charge the battery then completely disconnect it (e.g. disconnect the negative cable).

The battery disconnect switch is often a red lighted switch that is just inside the door, near the status panel and other switches. Be aware that it doesn't disconnect all 12 V loads as it leaves some critical functions (e.g. propane detector) powered. It will reduce the parasitic loads but not eliminate them. For that you need to either physically disconnect the battery or add a switch that will do that.

 

[kcozzolino]

That all makes perfect sense - I did not find anything that seemed to be left on, and there does not appear to be a disconnect switch that I can find, but that seems to certainly be something I'll look into installing. And I will say, that six day window actually could have been 8 days - the six days is just from when I last knew it had power. And I honestly can't say if it was at 100% when we picked it up from the dealer either. I have it charged now, so I think my test at this point is to see how quickly it seems to drain now.

Thank you so much for all the info....so much to think about with these things!

 

[Jagiven]

Welcome Aboard!

I have not heard of a dealer installing such a small battery, but, it is a dealer supplied item, and they are available. That is a SMALL battery, and you will struggle boondock camping without solar or a generator. I 'm not sure that battery can power a 12V refrigerator overnight.

Only 50% of the amps listed on the battery are usable, so that is 32 amps, that is not much power at all. I do not recall what my parasite power draw is, but it is between 0.25 and 0.50 amps. With your 64AH battery that is 2.66 to 5.33 days, until dead.

You should never run your batteries down below 12.0 -12.1 volts. It is hard on them and will shorten their life. Before I had an outlet on the garage, I would just turn everything off, and pull the inline fuse at the battery (I have no disconnect switch). Now I just leave the TT plugged in 24/7, and leave the refrigerator on. If you have a disconnect switch (some TTs have them and some do not). Usually they are in the cargo hold closes to the tongue. It is also normal for them not to disconnect 100% of all the devices, so you still might have some parasites.

I can tell you leaving the TT plugged in between trips is good for the battery health. Your battery also requires maintenance. Periodically you need to pull the caps and make sure the fluid level is covering the cells. Never let the lead cells get dry. If you need to add fluid, ONLY add DISTILLED water, any other water will greatly shorten its life.

Good Luck and happy camping

 

[kcozzolino]

Thank you....I have to say whether the battery is appropriately sized is not something I thought about. I guess I'll have to see how well it serves us. And thank you for mentioning that you leave it plugged in...I kept meaning to ask about that. I assumed as much, but nice to have that confirmed. It does look like a disconnect is something I'll have to get put in, but the more I think about it, if we are using it regularly, and keep it plugged in, I guess it's less of an issue, other than dry camping. Thanks again!

 

[TMTEX]

The carbon detector is always on. It off the battery. I think even if you use the built in kill switch it still doesnt turn it off. Mine has a small light I see on when I am not plugged in.