House battery drainage

[nancyo]

After charging the house batteries using shore power or solar with the batteries off .....
once turned on the battery's drain quickly, any ideas? Thank you in advance.


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[HowieE]

Get a hygrometer and test them. All cells should be equal. If one or more cells are lower than the rest they will pull the system down.

This is something you can do if you know how to get to the batteries.

A common problem when batteries are grouped.

[iaqstuff]

Originally Posted by nancyo

After charging the house batteries using shore power or solar with the batteries off .....
once turned on the battery's drain quickly, any ideas? Thank you in advance.


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I'd suggest you read Lifelines Technical Manual regarding your sealed AGM batteries . It can be found at www.lifelinebatteries.com/manual.pdf
It should answer your question, along with the many more that you're likely to have as you consider how to resolve your issue.
Mine were sulfated and swollen to the point that I had to trim the molded casing in the area that held the carrying straps to get them out of the
sealed battery compartment. Two new batteries cost me about $300 each from a non-Airstream dealer (the dealer wanted $450 each plus $240 installation).

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by HowieE

Get a hygrometer and test them. All cells should be equal. If one or more cells are lower than the rest they will pull the system down.

This is something you can do if you know how to get to the batteries.

A common problem when batteries are grouped.

Nancyo - your profile says you have a 2013 Interstate, which should have Lifeline AGM batteries unless they have been changed since new. HowieE's suggestion to use a hygrometer won't work on Lifeline AGM batteries as they are sealed. A RV or battery dealer that is familiar with AGM batteries can test them for you.

If you can give us more history on your Interstate and the typical use the group here may have more suggestions. What do you mean by the statement that the batteries drain quickly. What length of time are you indicating with what equipment turned on? Have you ever drained these batteries totally flat? Have you had this van since new?


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[lewster]

The latest, most accurate method for battery testing is a device called a 'conductance meter'. The good ones are not cheap ($650+) but once programmed with the particular characteristics of the battery in question, it will provide a useful and accurate answer to whether the battery is good or not.....and by how much!

If you don't have the time (many hours usually) to perform a draw-down test at the stated 20 amp rate, then a conductance meter will provide you with a definitive answer.

Be sure to ask the tech looking at your batteries if the facility uses one. If not.......find one that does!

[nancyo]

This forum is awesome . Thanks all for responding.
Mike
We bought it used, previous owners used it once or twice and decided it was not for them.
We started with a full battery, drove 5 hours, with battery on using nothing but fridge, left over night again with battery on. Next day battery was at 0. We tried to plug in to shore power to charge or just start generator and got nothing. Thank you again for replying



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[Boxster1971]

Previous owner probably didn't keep the batteries charged if they didn't use it much. The batteries will go flat in 3-4 days if the van isn't plugged into show power.

Full charged battery should be able to run the refrigerator overnight. Sounds like you do have bad batteries and need to get them checked. You van start the Sprinter engine and then have enough power to get the generator started. That a nice feature of having the Battery Isolation Module (BIM) that connect the two battery systems together with smart electronics. The Boost switch in the lower dash under the steering wheel on left side will force the relay connecting the two battery systems together.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[73shark]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

The batteries will go flat in 3-4 days if the van isn't plugged into show power.



- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

If everything is turned off, then the solar should keep the batteries @100%.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

If everything is turned off, then the solar should keep the batteries @100%.

Assuming you park in direct sun, of course…

[73shark]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Assuming you park in direct sun, of course…

Not necessarily. I've seen a charge rate on overcast days.

[Boxster1971]

Since nancyo has the same model, 2013 Interstate, as mine with only a 50 watt solar panel it would have to be in direct sunlight all day for the batteries to stay charged. Yes it will get charged with overcast sky but not so much in a shaded area. I park my van in the driveway behind my tall townhouse on the north west side. It only gets direct sunlight about 5-6 hours a day. That was not enough to keep my batteries charged. It needed to be plugged in after 3-4 days. With my upgraded 400 watt solar system the batteries stay charged.


- - Mike
2013 Lounge EXT on 2012 Sprinter

[felixkagi]

Originally Posted by nancyo

After charging the house batteries using shore power or solar with the batteries off .....
once turned on the battery's drain quickly, any ideas? Thank you in advance.


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Open the battery compartment, pull out the tray and you will likely see that the batteries are swollen. Get yourself an electronic battery tester like a Solar BA5. Good chance your batteries can no longer hold a charge. They appear to be charged but go down quickly.

[nancyo]

Thanks all for info

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by felixkagi

Open the battery compartment, pull out the tray and you will likely see that the batteries are swollen. Get yourself an electronic battery tester like a Solar BA5. Good chance your batteries can no longer hold a charge. They appear to be charged but go down quickly.

Only the EXT models have a pull-out battery tray. The non-EXT sofa/lounge models require disassembling the sofa to perform a battery-ectomy. Kind of like pulling teeth through the sinuses…

[nancyo]

That was my next question, how to get to battery..... We do not have ext. thanks prot


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[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by nancyo

That was my next question, how to get to battery..... We do not have ext. thanks prot

Remove the back of the sofa. There are four bolts accessible through the rear doors with the seat upright.

Remove the seat of the sofa. Two nuts, accessible through the rear doors with the seat upright, then two machine screws accessible from inside after the seat has been partially reclined. This means with dead house batteries that you need to be plugged into shore power to operate the recline mechanism.

Once the seat is removed, recline the frame the rest of the way. Disconnect shore power. Open the battery box. Disconnect the wires from the top battery, negative side first, and wrap the positive terminal clamp (on the wires, not the battery post) with black electrical tape before you let go— it's still energized by the bottom battery so you can't let it touch metal.

Lift out the top battery. Then lift out the wooden divider, which will reveal the bottom battery. Repeat the process with the bottom battery. Again you want to tape the positive terminal clamp before letting go of it, because it might still be energized by the solar panel.

Lifting out the bottom battery can be more difficult because you have to get it past the lip that holds the divider in place.

Since the batteries are heavy, the safest way to lift them is to stand in the rear door with your feet on the door sill so you can position your feet as close to the battery box as possible and lift with your back. This is why I had you remove the seat back as well as the seat bottom.

[73shark]

nancyo: You might try to find a battery lifting strap/tool.

http://www.amazon.com/K-D-Tools-Batt...battery+handle

http://www.amazon.com/E-Z-Red-S520-B...battery+handle

They definitely will make it a lot easier. Most of today's vehicles have stuck their batteries in almost inaccesible voids necessitating one of these.

[nancyo]

I have another issue, went to empty my tanks, everything seemed to work black valve opened and closed gray valve opened and closed, reel retract worked..... Waste pump did not!
I checked fuse and it had blown put another fuse in and it blew again
Any suggestions?


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[gmillerok1]

On the street side side of the macerator pump, there is a rubber plug. Remove it. There is a place to take a flat bladed screwdriver and try turning the motor underneath the plug. The motor can get "stuck" with dried muck and hair, and if it does, it will pop the fuse. Once you turn it, it should then clear any resistance, and stop blowing the fuse.

[felixkagi]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Remove the back of the sofa. There are four bolts accessible through the rear doors with the seat upright.

Remove the seat of the sofa. Two nuts, accessible through the rear doors with the seat upright, then two machine screws accessible from inside after the seat has been partially reclined. This means with dead house batteries that you need to be plugged into shore power to operate the recline mechanism.

Once the seat is removed, recline the frame the rest of the way. Disconnect shore power. Open the battery box. Disconnect the wires from the top battery, negative side first, and wrap the positive terminal clamp (on the wires, not the battery post) with black electrical tape before you let go— it's still energized by the bottom battery so you can't let it touch metal.

Lift out the top battery. Then lift out the wooden divider, which will reveal the bottom battery. Repeat the process with the bottom battery. Again you want to tape the positive terminal clamp before letting go of it, because it might still be energized by the solar panel.

Lifting out the bottom battery can be more difficult because you have to get it past the lip that holds the divider in place.

Since the batteries are heavy, the safest way to lift them is to stand in the rear door with your feet on the door sill so you can position your feet as close to the battery box as possible and lift with your back. This is why I had you remove the seat back as well as the seat bottom.

Depends ......................., on the later 2013's no need to lift any seats or such, remove the carpet piece (velcro) under the seat, looking at it on the right. You'll see the black box with a steel cover, 4 Philips screws. Remove those and you see the batteries inside a tray.

Disconnect the negative from chassis battery below the drivers seat first before pulling out the tray carefully. Then remove the pos & neg cabels (2 because you have two 12V batteries in parallel). I usually slip a piece of clear nylon tubing over the positive cables so they don't short out anything against the ground because you might still have some power from the solar panel

Then do your battery test.