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Old 01-04-2013, 12:49 PM   #1
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Angry Still having battery trouble

2007 34' Excella w/slide
No inside electric. Batteries dead. Batteries practically new. Sears HD Deep Cycle marine, Series 27.

So, I got my generator working, hooked it up to my trailer and sure enough the power came back inside. Everything is working. So I left the generator on for about 2 or 3 hours. That was Wednesday. Yesterday, I turned on the power and the light came on inside, but very dim. Only lit one of two flourescent bulbs, barely. Well, I said, they've been down awhile so I got the generator working again and let it run some more. This afternoon, I went in and I now have no power inside. One light did barely blink and that was it. No power. The main power switch is off when I'm not there. Should be no drain.

I want to take the batterries out to check them. Yes? No? I have a charger so I can charge them overnight.

Does anyone think I might have some sort of a short that is draining the batteries? How can I find out. Easy now, because me and electricity have never been friends.

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Old 01-04-2013, 01:02 PM   #2
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You need someone with a meter and the knowledge to use it, to help you diagnose the problem.

Obviously you have a low battery voltage problem, but is it because the batteries are bad, have an excessive current drain, bad connections, or a bad converter.
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Old 01-04-2013, 01:18 PM   #3
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I was getting 2 years out batteries with my old Paralax single stage battery frier. If yours are two or more years old, batteries may be shot.
The way to test them is to disconect them from the coach, charge them with an automatic battery charger until it shows they are fully charged and then load test them with a load tester. A load tester can be purchased reasonably at an auto parts store. My guess is batteries are your problem because they went dead even though your main power switch was turned off as I understand your post.
If you have good batteries and still have problems, you have a short or a large current drain upstream from your battery turn off switch.
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Old 01-04-2013, 01:31 PM   #4
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Battery Charging and Maintenance

In your other thread, you stated that health issues had forced you to ignore your Airstream for a while, and that the batteries were dead.
This means you need to remove them from their compartments and check the water level in each one.
Add distilled H2O as necessary.
Then you need to do a serious, deep charge on both batteries.
The symptoms you describe sound like dead batteries that have not been fully recharged.
Once deep-cycle batteries have been allowed to completely discharge, it takes a full 24 hours to recharge them.
Odds are there is nothing wrong with your coach, nor is there likely any "short" you just need to charge your, darn batteries.
Follow handn's instructions.
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Old 01-04-2013, 02:14 PM   #5
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Sounds like bad batteries to me, but you may also want to test for a draw, I learned the following test from a mechanic neighour when I was a kid.
Draw test:
1) Turn all electronic equipment off (battery disconnect switch off)
2) disconnect one of the battery cables
3) connect a test light between the battery cable you disconnected and the battery terminal you disconnected it from.
If you have a draw the test light will light up.
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Old 01-04-2013, 02:23 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PhiDor View Post
The main power switch is off when I'm not there. Should be no drain.
That is NOT a foregone conclusion. Question: Is it possible to charge your battery with the main power switched off? If the answer is "Yes" then it's also possible for your inverter to send AC power to your appliances even while the DC side is shut off, because the inverter/charger bypasses the main power switch.
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Old 01-04-2013, 03:12 PM   #7
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Parasitic Battery Drain

Don't forget, your 2007 Excella is wired with propane detector "hot wired" to the battery. So, there will always be a parasitic drain caused by the propane detector.
The only way to really isolate and protect your batteries in long-term storage is to disconnect them and remove them.
I bring mine home and hook them up in parallel to a Battery Minder.
Batteries require maintenance and owner involvement.
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