Community Forums

Gypsies2 · 01-09-2008, 12:15 PM

Discovered this AM while preparing to travel on Thursday, the coach would not start. AFter going through all the necessary steps, i.e. battery bost, etc, I called my roadservice they will be out tomorrow AM to start the coach. Then onto the dealer to have a load test on the batteries. I just went through the forum to see if the subject of new batteries appeared. Could not find any entries. Sooooo, my question is, if needed, "what kind of batteries"?? Any input will be greatly appreciated. Happy New Year to all.

Gypsies2 · 01-09-2008, 12:15 PM

Discovered this AM while preparing to travel on Thursday, the coach would not start. AFter going through all the necessary steps, i.e. battery bost, etc, I called my roadservice they will be out tomorrow AM to start the coach. Then onto the dealer to have a load test on the batteries. I just went through the forum to see if the subject of new batteries appeared. Could not find any entries. Sooooo, my question is, if needed, "what kind of batteries"?? Any input will be greatly appreciated. Happy New Year to all.

Freemn2 · 01-09-2008, 03:22 PM

I've been researching this a lot lately. When mine need replacing I am going to go with the Lifeline or Trojan AGM batteries for chasis and house. They are a little pricey but NEVER need maintenance.......

Sixpack98 · 01-09-2008, 04:52 PM

There are a lot of variables in determining which battery to choose. If cost is not an issue and little needed attention desired than AGM would be a good choice, expecially for the house batteries. They are also a good choice for frequent boondocking. Lots of opinions on AGM for chassis battery. To be sure, flooded lead acid need frequent care and feeding, don't like sustained discahrge and out gas.
3(?) years seems a little short of a lifetime for batteries. You could have a charging issue or may need to install a maintainer which keeps the batteries desulphated fully charged without overcharging. I've seen standard lead acid batteries installed in a battery bank last for 10+ years and sometimes a lot more. True, they are in a much better environment than a MH but they are also very well maintained.

I don't boondock all that much but am leaning toward AGM because they don't mist acid all over the battery compartment which requires a lot of service. Also, I tend to forget to check the water level as often as I should.

You may want to visit RVNet, there's all kinds of opinions, good and bad.

Andy M · 01-09-2008, 05:32 PM

Lately I have been concerned with my batterys as well. I heard that the costs of new batterys can be quite costly. I store my motorhome outside in the winter and I have shut the switch off that feeds power to the inside of the coach in order to prevent any draw when the motorhome sits. Once a month I have been starting the generator because I figured it would be good for the coach and it's batterys. I usually let it run for about 6-10 hrs. The last time I tried to start the gen it was very tough to crank and I had to link the batterys together by depressing the switch on the dash, and then it fired up. I found this to be very odd since the batterys are all fairly new (less than 9 months old). I soon have come to find that in speaking with a tech at Monaco, I am going about this all wrong. I was informed that I should be turning off the master battery cut off switches (my coach has two in the side of the rear electrical panel) which will completely kill all the power and no draw can be had what so ever. I was informed that by not cutting the master switches that there are a multitude of slight draws that can add up over a period of time to slowly kill the battery. I was even informed that when my solar panel doesn't see sun it actually draws down slightly on the batterys as well.

P.S. Unfortunately I do not have the option at this time to keep the coach plugged in.

I find that the techs at Monaco are very helpful. I think the more direct the questions are the better the help and assistance is. They soo far have been able to assist me with answers to my problems.

Always looking for helpful ideas.

Robin_M · 01-09-2008, 07:01 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Andy M:
I was informed that I should be turning off the master battery cut off switches (my coach has two in the side of the rear electrical panel) which will completely kill all the power and no draw can be had what so ever. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Andy,

Cutting the two master switches is certainly better than just the inside switch, but there will still be some small risidual draw. The computer for the engine will still be powered from the chassis batteries, and I seem to recall that the house batteries still have a small draw on them as well, although I cannot remember what that is at the moment. You should still charge your batteries at least every couple of months during the winter.

Also, while you don't say what model coach you have, it may be helpful to note that the generator will not charge the chassis batteries on the Camelot on down, unless you have installed an aftermarket means of accomplishing that (like the Xantrex echo~charge).

Gypsies2 · 01-10-2008, 05:51 AM

Thanks to all your inputs. I will be near camping world if I need to replace the chasie batteries. I will take a look there an also see what the the dealer has to offer. Again, thanks for your inputs. I will also look at
RV 'net/ Ya all have a great day.

Phrog Driver · 01-10-2008, 07:01 AM

I have the original interstate batteries in my Camelot with an Echo Charger. I recently found my Chassis batteries drained to 10.5 volts after being in storage for a month. I found out that I had two problems. #1) an in-line fuse on the echo charger burned out. #2) My water/acid level was way too high. I took my discharged batteries to a Interstate wholesaler that I know and he recharged both batteries over a 4 day period with a heavy duty charger. Before he charged the batteries, he removed over a coke bottle of water/acid from my batteries. He explained that the correct level was between the bottom of the fill holes and the plates. I have always filled my batteries to within 1/2" of the top of the fill holes. The Interstate batteries have an overflow slot on the top side of the batteries and I was leaking out fluid that caused corrosion to build. Still learning the basics.