Bad Battery

[Chugman]

On our last trip we encountered a bad smell that at first we thought was a sewer smell, but it turned out to be a battery with a bad cell. It had a sulphur or rotten egg smell to it and it was worse around the steps where the batteries are. We found an RV dealer that replaced our Interstate battery, but didn't offer to replace it under warranty even though the motorhome was only two months old. He said we would have to take it back to the dealer where we bought the MH.

So we did and our Winnebago dealer said that the other dealer should have replaced it and that they weren't an Interstate dealer and couldn't. We would have to take it to an Interstate dealer. When we got back home I took it to an Intertstate distributor and he said that the battery was 18 months old and only has a 1 year warranty! (We bought the 2005 MH new from the dealer in Sept of 2005 and apparently between them and Winnebago it has been 18 months since it was built or Winnebago used old batteries?) Anyway, the battery dealer couldn't help me. He said that happened a lot with RV batteries.

[Chugman]

On our last trip we encountered a bad smell that at first we thought was a sewer smell, but it turned out to be a battery with a bad cell. It had a sulphur or rotten egg smell to it and it was worse around the steps where the batteries are. We found an RV dealer that replaced our Interstate battery, but didn't offer to replace it under warranty even though the motorhome was only two months old. He said we would have to take it back to the dealer where we bought the MH.

So we did and our Winnebago dealer said that the other dealer should have replaced it and that they weren't an Interstate dealer and couldn't. We would have to take it to an Interstate dealer. When we got back home I took it to an Intertstate distributor and he said that the battery was 18 months old and only has a 1 year warranty! (We bought the 2005 MH new from the dealer in Sept of 2005 and apparently between them and Winnebago it has been 18 months since it was built or Winnebago used old batteries?) Anyway, the battery dealer couldn't help me. He said that happened a lot with RV batteries.

[troth]

Art, I'll offer this advice:
I think you should contact Winnie Owner Relations
at 800-537-1885, or OR@winnebagoind.com
I see no reason why your Winnie dealer should not have replaced the battery. And as a general courtesy, they also should have put a load tester on the others to ensure they are good.

Believe me, customer service and goodwill may not always be what we think it should be, but on a brand new coach, your local dealer and Winnie corporate have to keep your satisfaction and best interests in mind.

Please keep us posted on what pans out here. Who was the local Winnie dealer anyway?

[Thudman]

You did not say which battery: House or Chassis. Being an Interstate, I suspect it's a house batt.

My thought is to have BOTH House batts replaced. Replacing only one may provide an imbalance problem (electrically). A battery expert will hopefully opine here.

I just had to replace all three of mine at only 2 1/2 years of ownership, and very careful maintenence (including Battery Minder).

My next MH will have ALL batts replaced with NEW ones regardless of how "new" they were at delivery. Non-negotiable.

Thudman

[MrTransistor]

Hi Chugman,
I agree with Thudman, battery banks should be treated as a set. One battery with a shorted cell can cause a severe drain and undercharge condition on the remaining batteries in parallel, or overcharge the good battery if you have two 6 Volt batteries in series. Either way it's not good to mix new and old batteries in a bank just because of the difference in chemistry between old and new. Almost guaranteed to shorten the life of both.