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Old 01-27-2015, 09:40 AM   #1
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Red face Engine Battery Drain

I have a 2008 Winnebago Adventurer. I'm new at this. It drains my engine battery every day and I have the inverter on. Can u help me out?
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Old 01-27-2015, 09:52 AM   #2
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Sorry you're here with problems.
Are you dry camping and using the inverter? The inverter should only draw on the coach battery not the chassis battery.
Does the battery go down when you are not using the RV? or the inverter?
When the battery goes dead how are you charging it ? and for how long?
Is the battery original to the coach? Have you had the battery tested?
Sorry for all the questions but , to be of any real help , this is info we need to know.
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Old 01-27-2015, 09:52 AM   #3
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The inverter should not drain your engine battery.

The inverter uses your house battery to power 110v appliances when shore and generator 110v is not available. It could drain your house battery if high power heating appliances are on.

Look for chassis function components that might be left on inadvertently. Dash radio, running lights, etc.

How are you charging the engine battery and for how long while parked?

Many rigs are not wired to charge the engine battery from shorepower.
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Old 01-27-2015, 10:07 AM   #4
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Not dry camping. Hooked up to electricity. Been here for a month.
The battery does not go down when not in use.
I start the engine with battery boost for a recharge that does not last long.
I was told to turn the inverter on and that the shore line would charge it.
It's a new battery. and no it has not been tested.
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Old 01-27-2015, 10:10 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deandec View Post
...

How are you charging the engine battery and for how long while parked?

Many rigs are not wired to charge the engine battery from shorepower.
My 2006 Adventurer did NOT charge the chassis battery. I had to add a Trick-L-Start kind of device to do that. A very easy installation.

See these options.

Of course, as already stated, the OP should look for any power drains too. Also look into the overall conditions of the batteries while at it.
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Old 01-27-2015, 10:25 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Indio Rog View Post
..
I was told to turn the inverter on and that the shore line would charge it.
...
Sometimes folks confuse Inverter/Charger/Converter terms and equipment configurations.

If your 2008 Adventurer is configured like my 2006 was, you have a separate inverter and CONVERTER. The inverter only provides AC power (probably 600W range) via stored power in your HOUSE batteries to a few systems like the TV and a few AC outlets. You should have some kind of switch to turn off the inverter.

The converter is what converts AC power to charge the HOUSE batteries. You will find it plugged into an AC outlet and gets its power via shore or generator power. My converter was under the refer. It needed to be looked at regularly because the output power cables always seemed to have a problem staying solidly connected into the screw down connectors. I eventually had to to replace the converter because of those connectors.

See my previous post on Trik-L-Start. I did that to my 2006 and solved all chassis batter drain problems.

I never had a problem with the inverter so never had to find it. I don't recall where it was located.

If the 2008 model has updated electrical system changes then you might find a combined inverter/charger kind of device. It would then have some kind of remote control to allow you to control the charger and inverter functions separately.
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Old 01-27-2015, 10:27 AM   #7
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You would need to run the engine for 10hrs+ to charge a dead battery.
And if you have the inverter on while the engine is running, all the power will go to the inverter not the dead battery.
Without a charge system the engine battery will go down in a month due to draws from the engine and trans controllers.
Do you have a hand held multimeter ? Most important tool for electrical problems.
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Old 01-27-2015, 10:40 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Skip426 View Post
...
And if you have the inverter on while the engine is running, all the power will go to the inverter not the dead battery....
Sorry...I disagree with that.
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Old 01-27-2015, 11:16 AM   #9
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If you are talking about an inverter, I think someone hooked your inverter positive wire to the wrong battery.
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Old 01-27-2015, 11:21 AM   #10
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Quote:
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If you are talking about an inverter, I think someone hooked your inverter positive wire to the wrong battery.
HMMM...Given what I remember about my batteries back then, I'm thinking that might be a difficult thing to happen but not a bad idea to double check!

That could be tested by removing the + on the engine battery and see if the inverter still works. If the OP doesn't know what is on the inverter, the easiest way would be to remove shore power with the inverter switch on, find what works, turn off the inverter and see if they still work.
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Old 01-27-2015, 01:03 PM   #11
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If you are plugged into shore power, then your inverter should not be powering anything. The CONVERTER should be charging your house batteries, but probably not your chassis battery. The converter on my '06 Winnebago/Itasca product did not charge the chassis battery, so I added the Trik-L-Start which does charge the chassis battery any time you are plugged into shore power.

As stated earlier, check for parasitic draw from your chassis battery. Before I added the Trik-L-Start, I mistakenly left the map light over the co-pilot's seat turned on all day one day while camped assuming it was drawing from the house batteries. It drained the chassis battery instead and I had to use the battery boost to start. The TLS is an easy install with three wires to hook up; House Battery, Chassis Battery, and Ground.
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Old 01-27-2015, 04:00 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Indio Rog View Post
Not dry camping. Hooked up to electricity. Been here for a month.
The battery does not go down when not in use.
I start the engine with battery boost for a recharge that does not last long.
I was told to turn the inverter on and that the shore line would charge it.
It's a new battery. and no it has not been tested.

It sounds like you are not fully charging the chassis battery when you turn the engine on. So it runs down quickly.

You need to drive the rig for a couple of hours or put a battery charger on the engine/chassis battery for 8 - 12 hours.

The inverter will not charge your engine battery from shore power.

The previous posters have given the concepts that are in play here.
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Old 01-27-2015, 10:00 PM   #13
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On our 2007 HR Scepter the engine batteries would discharge in about 3 weeks because of the a fore mentioned phantom draws. I wasn't sure how the batteries were connected in relation to the invertor/charger. In the Monaco owners area there was a discussion on this very problem. Someone advised me to replace the battery isolator relay/solenoid. I ordered one on Amazon for $50, installed it and now my engine batteries stay charged at 100% while on shore Power. If it had'nt worked a Trick-L-Start installation would have been my next move.
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