Dead Batteries

[TBone55]

Hi - Newbie here...

We came home from a camping trip and closed the trailer down for two months. So I turned the power switch off. When we were ready to go out again, everything was dead. I hooked up to house power to use the jack. What am I missing? Is there something still running even when you throw the switch off?

Thanks!

Tim

[OTRA15]

Welcome to the forum, Tim!

You are at the very beginning of a long learning curve. Short answer -- yes you have missed a few things. Too many to summarize here IMO.

A good place to start would be your owner's manual, and the following Battery School, for general info about caring for your batteries:

http://www.batteriesnorthwest.com/ba...hool.cfm?TID=0

Yes, there are loads running in the background, like the propane detector.

The new search function in the blue box above works great, and these results would be another good place for more info:

"phantom battery loads" -- https://www.google.com/search?q=phan...=airforums.com

Also the various topics in the Batteries etc. sub-forum will help:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f449/

Lots of information to absorb . . .

We generally are able to store our 2014 FC20 for 7-10 days, without charging the batteries, with the batteries in "Store" mode. After this time, the battery voltage drops below 12.5 [90%], and it is time to charge again. If they go below ~12.3 volts [~50%], then more pronounced damage starts to occur.

Good luck,

Peter

PS -- FYI you have probably damaged your batteries somewhat by letting them go dead. What to do when you have charged them again is another long discussion -- for another time IMO.

[ROBERT CROSS]

"power switch" is a bit of a misnomer.
The use/store switch does shut down some of the 12v draws but not all.
Better to have a battery disconnect to completely prevent parasitic drain.

Bob
🇺🇸

[Caffeinated]

Originally Posted by TBone55

Hi - Newbie here...

We came home from a camping trip and closed the trailer down for two months. So I turned the power switch off. When we were ready to go out again, everything was dead. I hooked up to house power to use the jack. What am I missing? Is there something still running even when you throw the switch off?

Thanks!

Tim

When you say you turned off the "power" switch, I assume you are referring to the use/store switch. With it in the off position, your charger will not charge the batteries even if you are connected to shore power.

Mike

[TBone55]

Thanks guys! Guess I've got some research to do!

[68 Overlander]

Originally Posted by TBone55

Thanks guys! Guess I've got some research to do!

You do but it's not that complicated when the light comes on. For instance, by law, they are not allowed to turn off any safety devices such as the sniffers (LP and CO detectors) with the use/store or any other installed switch. Yes it probably happened somewhere where there was an incident with one of them and made it to court and then RVIA which certifies RVs at the factories.
Nothing leaves the plant without their approval badge or stamp.
That doesn't mean you can't modify it if you want once it's yours. Many have and simply pulling a couple low voltage 12 volt fuses is often all that is needed if you remember to push them back in when you use the Airstream again. If you always have shore power it's not an issue but if you have to store without power or solar, you have to know where your parasitic draws are coming from and decide how to manage them.