Possible dead battery 2015 Flying Cloud

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Apparently different:

https://www.google.com/search?q=hydr...utf-8&oe=utf-8

Well, I looked at this site, and they say NOTHING about any differences.
The figures they quote are the same as with any battery.

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by chekmate99

Hi all,

Well this past weekend I checked in on my 2015 Flying Cloud and noticed that there is no battery power. I'm somewhat of a new Airstream owner and still learning the in/outs - please bear with me...

After checking few things I noticed that the black (negative) battery cable was unhooked from the battery. Most likely this was done by the owner of the RV storage lot as they moved my trailer from one spot to another earlier this year.

After hooking this cable back to the battery there was still no power after turning on the Battery Disconnect switch.

The power jack is also dead which leads me to believe the batteries are dead.

Few questions:

1) is there a relatively easy way to test or verify if the battery is dead without hooking or taking the Airstream to dealership?

2) if the batteries are dead, I assume I'll have to manually hook the Airstream to the towing vehicle (I'll call my dealership for this as I don't recall the steps for this) OR replace the batteries in place at the RV storage lot.

3) in the Airstream manual it indicates that the battery is replenished when connected to the towing vehicle (7-way connector). I take it that this will not help if the batteries are dead?

Any feedback or suggestions is much appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris.

I notice in your photos, that the orientation of your batteries are as the way that Airstream has put them.
This means that to check the fluids in one, you must remove a lot of heavy wires that ties them together. Phooey!

Following a poster's suggestion a while ago, I pulled the curbside battery out, turned it around, and re-installed it. All the wiring fit just fine.
Now, I can remove all battery caps and check the levels and specific gravity of the cells, without trouble.
Try it!

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

Regarding the issues that I have with my two batteries, and poor 'state of charge' with the PD4655 converter:
I have been in touch with CanAm RV Centre, and Andy and Marshall have come up with a curious question:
"Is my Hydrometer calibrated for Deep Cycle batteries"? Or just the standard ones?

I thought that ALL batteries used the same electrolyte, and the differences were in the construction of the plates.
Anybody know any different?

There is a battery shop in Chatham, ONTARIO, that specializes in all types of batteries.
They confirm that there is no difference in the electrolyte used in all flooded cell batteries. SG is SG.
They have put my Interstates on test, and I should get a verdict tomorrow or soon. Stay tuned.
(The differences in batteries is their construction of the cells, plates and internal 'stuff'.)
The query was absolutely not valid.

[Al and Missy]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

...

Or did the batteries, one year old, the other two and a half, give up the ghost prematurely?

...

General advice for batteries in parallel is to replace them in pairs. Charge the batteries to full again and then disconnect one of the jumpers connecting them in parallel. After some time to let them stabilize, measure the voltages and cell SGs. If there is much difference, you will never have better performance than the worst battery.

Al

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by Al and Missy

General advice for batteries in parallel is to replace them in pairs. Charge the batteries to full again and then disconnect one of the jumpers connecting them in parallel. After some time to let them stabilize, measure the voltages and cell SGs. If there is much difference, you will never have better performance than the worst battery.

Al

So Battery Boy DID recharge (Deep Cycle?) the batteries, and one was fully charged up, with Specific Gravitys' of 1.275-1.300.
The other one also had Five cells fully charged and a weaker cell at 1.225, not great but not bad.
Voltage on the panel was 12.9 when re-installed.

So it's obviously the converter that's not doing it's 'job'.
I have reason to believe that a way overpriced used unit was sold to me, as I did not want to wait for a day or two for a new one to be delivered..


Now it's up to the dealer to make it work right.

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

So Battery Boy DID recharge (Deep Cycle?) the batteries, and one was fully charged up, with Specific Gravitys' of 1.275-1.300.
The other one also had Five cells fully charged and a weaker cell at 1.225, not great but not bad.
Voltage on the panel was 12.9 when re-installed.

So it's obviously the converter that's not doing it's 'job'.
I have reason to believe that a way overpriced used unit was sold to me, as I did not want to wait for a day or two for a new one to be delivered..


Now it's up to the dealer to make it work right.

So, having blamed the converter as being at fault; I spent several days testing the batteries under various conditions,; and observing the performance of the converter. Well, guess what!

The converter is doing it's job, the Wizard works as advertised, and the batteries are still 'pooched'!

So I'll have to go back to the dealer, (100 Km. away) and get the 'one year old' batteries replaced under warranty.
I suspect that the dealer will not be comfortable with that, and I'll get a 'spirited discussion' on the subject.

Damned! I hate these situations; that I have to go through too many times.

[JMynes]

Batteries in parallel like to be closely matched, same age, manufacturer, etc.
My Interstates have a one year warranty. You say yours are that old, presumably out of warranty.
Rather than travel 200 km for a "spirited discussion" which may or may not go your way, I think I would buy two quality batteries locally and be done with it.

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by JMynes

Batteries in parallel like to be closely matched, same age, manufacturer, etc.
My Interstates have a one year warranty. You say yours are that old, presumably out of warranty.
Rather than travel 200 km for a "spirited discussion" which may or may not go your way, I think I would buy two quality batteries locally and be done with it.

You may just be right.
There are some locally sourced 'deep cycle' batteries that range in price
from $115 (Maxcharge ??)to $195 (C) [Trojan] before taxes.
Stay tuned, we'll see what happens next.

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

You may just be right.
There are some locally sourced 'deep cycle' batteries that range in price
from $115 (Maxcharge ??)to $195 (C) [Trojan] before taxes.
Stay tuned, we'll see what happens next.

So I went to. the dealer today; and he REPLACED the two 'pooched' batteries with two NEW "RV TRAVELLER 'CHOICE' " DC-24s. (Warranty)
Never heard of them; could be some 'Walmart' type of thing; but if they work for a couple of years: GÒOD!
My wife has stated that this will be her last year of RVING, so I just might have to sell an almost new Flying Cloud.
Damn! Such a nice cabin too.

[chekmate99]

Hi all,

Just want to thank everyone for your feedback... I ended up replacing the batteries and everything worked as new. Lesson learned not to leave them hooked up while in storage or invest is some solar panels.

Thanks again.

[gypsydad]

Many of us have posted about getting bad batteries with our new units. I talked with warranty dept. yesterday in Jackson about another issue, and mentioned my buddy just picked his 2017 23D with bad batteries. We could not get the batteries to hold charge above 11.9v when we disconnected from his truck. Also, could not get my generator or solar to charge properly. He had dead cells when we took to Interstate dealer. They replaced for free, no questions asked.

The warranty department said this is the number one issue they hear; that the service departments "short cut" during delivery, and many times they do not do a cell check prior to delivery. Pays to see this being done she said. unfortunate, but that's life in the big city today.

[OTRA15]

Jackson Center may have some plausible reasons for a new Airstream having bad batteries, but it is absolutely shameful for a major corporation like Thor to permit this to happen.

It sullies the Airstream name, and is a major black eye and insult to new owners who are often newcomers to the RV lifestyle.

Staggering that the powers that be don't exert more control over the dealers IMO.

[lsbrodsky]

Peter, what is more amazing is that the dealers demonstrate little pride. You would think they would be proud to represent a hallmark name in RV's. This is not an issue of hidden construction flaws or shoddy factory workmanship. I have been at upscale auto dealers and seen them moving their trickle charger cart from vehicle to vehicle, clearly some pride in delivering a working car to the customer. Shouldn't require control from Airstream, Inc.

Larry

[OTRA15]

Agreed!

[Rocinante]

I suspect that most bad battery conditions are created by dealers as the units sit on their lots with discharged batteries. They don't seem able to keep up with maintaining a good state of charge across the entire fleet as it sits on their lot.