Community Forums

reubenray · 08-12-2019, 09:10 AM

I need to remove all 6 of my batteries to figure out where I am getting corrosion from. I plan on numbering them and taking pictures of the cabling.

What I don't know is what do I need to do with the electrical system prior to disconnecting and removing the batteries?

vettenuts · 08-12-2019, 09:19 AM

I unplug the coach (no charger) and then put the battery bank in “store” mode on the battery panel after making sure all items are off or unplugged.

gpounder · 08-12-2019, 09:22 AM

Unplug from shore power and disconnect any solar system. Do not run the engine either.

Turn off any disconnect switches including chassis batteries.

Always remove the ground wire first and that should do it.

gpounder · 08-12-2019, 09:26 AM

And while the batteries are out you should do a close inspection of them cell by cell to look for signs of weakness. Before adding water do a specific gravity test. Check the static voltage of each battery too.

**pasdad1** · 08-12-2019, 09:34 AM

I believe it has been mentioned before that if you have a magnum inverter, you should disconnect the positive lead from the battery bank first....before negative. If you do it in reverse it can cause some circuit board damage I have heard.

NWIP · 08-12-2019, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pasdad1

I believe it has been mentioned before that if you have a magnum inverter, you should disconnect the positive lead from the battery bank first....before negative. If you do it in reverse it can cause some circuit board damage I have heard.

This is the most important step!

reubenray · 08-12-2019, 09:57 AM

OK - let me double check on what to do.

1) Disconnect shore power
2) Turn off 12 Disconnect
3) Turn off chassis disconnect
4) Turn off inverter
5) Remove positive lead from battery bank first

I will need to get new straps/clips and a battery strap first. What confuses me is the strap metal clips are the only thing that has corrosion. I am leaning toward only using the straps instead of using the metal clips. One clip is gone and two more are eaten up bad.

Dutch Star Don · 08-12-2019, 11:02 AM

"reubenray"......Can you show us a photo of your battery bay. If it's like most Newmar battery bays, high walls, you probably don't need the straps. By the way, the metal clips are always first to go.

Why the corrosion....if you don't have it, buy the ProFill/FlowRite battery watering system. The caps seal the batteries and filling them is a snap, just connect the squeeze bulb and dip it into a bottle of distilled water.

Lastly, if you've never adjusted your inverter settings, this can also cause excessive battery acid. Determine what batteries you have, brand and amp hour size, call Magnum (I think the Ventana uses Magnum), and they'll walk you through the setup procedure for your battery bank.

reubenray · 08-12-2019, 11:39 AM

Here are some pictures.

doc · 08-12-2019, 12:19 PM

Sketch battery layout with the positive and negatives clearly marked (

I hear mistakes have happened that can be costly)

reubenray · 08-12-2019, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by doc

Sketch battery layout with the positive and negatives clearly marked (

I hear mistakes have happened that can be costly)

I am doing that plus I have pictures taken. I also plan on securing the cables together when multiple cables are bolted to the same post.

I am still confused about removing positive cables first. Do you mean to remove the positive cable on each battery before the negative cable.

rlott2k · 08-12-2019, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reubenray

I am doing that plus I have pictures taken. I also plan on securing the cables together when multiple cables are bolted to the same post.

I am still confused about removing positive cables first. Do you mean to remove the positive cable on each battery before the negative cable.

Remove positive cable from RV ( invertor) the negative to body.
I had a fuse just in side the tray compartment with a junction. Tape the end of your ratchet (if you use one) so you don’t accidentally touch it to metal while loosing the nuts.

reubenray · 08-12-2019, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlott2k

Remove positive cable from RV ( invertor) the negative to body.
I had a fuse just in side the tray compartment with a junction. Tape the end of your ratchet (if you use one) so you don’t accidentally touch it to metal while loosing the nuts.

Now I understand with the pictures that I took.

NXR · 08-12-2019, 03:52 PM

NEVER disconnect the battery positive cable first.

If you accidentally touch the metal wrench to the chassis while disconnecting the positive, you just threw a dead short across the battery. Several hundred to maybe a thousand amps will flow through the wrench, potentially welding it in place. Fire, explosion, lots of bad stuff.

After you have the chassis NEGATIVE disconnected that cannot happen.

But you still accidentally could short out an individual house battery with a wrench so guard against that with tape on the terminals, caps on the terminals, tape wrapped around the wrench, whatever it takes.

And definitely take a picture of the cables before you remove anything.

Ray