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Old 05-21-2011, 06:47 AM   #1
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I just brought my new 20ck home a couple of weeks ago. I've noticed that jus a couple of days after disconnecting power from house, the battery drains dead. Is this normal? The only thing I can see running inside the trailer is the Jensen radio sleep mode.



Should I be shutting off the circuit breakers when not in use?
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Old 05-21-2011, 07:15 AM   #2
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Your batteries should last longer than that. Try disconnecting the radio and see if you can find another drain, because that sounds excessive. If you were dry camping would you be able to run the water pump for a shower day 2? Sounds doubtful.
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Old 05-21-2011, 07:18 AM   #3
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Install a battery disconnect switch then turn it off each time you leave the trailer. The radio, CO2 monitor, etc. will drain the battery if not disconnected.
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Old 05-21-2011, 07:33 AM   #4
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Thanks will give that a try. The battery shut off can be found at Menards or Home depot?
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Old 05-21-2011, 07:37 AM   #5
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I bought the Perko switch I installed on our old Cruiser at Amazon.com.
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Old 05-21-2011, 07:42 AM   #6
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http://www.amazon.com/Perko-9601DP-Marine-Battery-Disconnect/dp/B00144BF9Q/ref=pd_sbs_auto_12



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Old 05-21-2011, 08:04 AM   #7
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Where does this install? At the battery or somewhere further down the line? Fairly easy?
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Old 05-21-2011, 08:08 AM   #8
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What Hunter said is true, there are things that will drain a battery even if the camper is not being used. However, two days is WAY too quick!!! You could put an amp meter in series with the battery to see how much current is being drawn. It should be only a few milliamps which should take many days to drain a battery. The battery disconnect switch is a great idea. When it is turned off there can be no external drain on the battery. If the battery still goes flat with the disconnect switch turned off then the battery is self-discharging internally. That means you need a new battery. You should have a warranty on the one you have. The Perko switch is a marine grade switch that has a proven track record. The link Old Farmer provided is the simple on/off switch. If you ever want to have a more elaborate battery setup such a two batteries, or two banks of batteries, you may want to buy the switch that has on/off/battery 1/battery 2/both. That gives you complete control of which battery you are using, or, in a pinch you can put them in parallel to get a little more life out of them. By the way, the switch should be installed on the positive side of the battery as close to the battery a practical.



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Old 05-21-2011, 10:17 AM   #9
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It seems like I remember reading on this forum about how the break switch could drain the battery if it happened to be pulled so the breaks areconstantlyon. Am I remembering correctly?
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Old 05-21-2011, 12:48 PM   #10
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KennyB- Your right,we were camping with friends and they left for a couple days and someone pulled the E brake cable and in one day we heard his gas alarm going off because of low voltage. It was later when we found the cable and than noticed the sitch box was burned because it was on so long I guess.
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Old 05-22-2011, 12:43 AM   #11
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How long should it take to fully charge a drained battery using home power?

It just occured to me that I've never had the home power plugged in for more than an hour. And the only time my vehicle was charging was the drive back from the dealer which was maybe a 40 min drive.



I do have a maintenance charger. Since the battery has filler caps that can be removed for addition of distilled water, is this consider a conventional battery rather than maintenance free?
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Old 05-22-2011, 02:10 AM   #12
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As the converter charges, it starts out with a high output (depending on how much the RV battery is depleted) and then cycles to a slower charge rate as the battery gets closer to a full charge state. I normally will allow 5-6 hours to get it charged up but even then it may not be fully charged as I have never actually measured it.

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Old 05-22-2011, 02:24 AM   #13
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You need to give the battery a proper charge. With a maintenance battery charger it takes quite a while because the charge rate slows as the battery nears full charge. I would charge it for at least 24 hours if I were you. The problem now could be that it was fully discharged which is hard on a battery. Some batteries come back from being fully discharged and don't seem to be harmed whatsoever. Others will never recover from being fully discharged. If the filler caps are the conventional, individual, screw on types then it is a maintenance battery. Even some maintenance free batteries have covers that can be pried off with a screwdriver to give access to the cells and allow adding water.



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Old 05-22-2011, 03:08 AM   #14
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The unit sat in the dealer lot all winter. When we came to pick it up they moved it inside for the walk-thru and just then plugged it in. So I'm guessing it hasn't had a full charge in months.

Hopefully the battery will still be able to hold a charge. I Will have it plugged in for 24 hours and then see what happens.



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Old 05-22-2011, 07:08 AM   #15
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Most units on a dealers lot will not have a battery in them and will only get fitted with one at the time of delivery.



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