|
|
08-03-2010, 07:53 AM
|
#1
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Loudon Tn
Posts: 1,140
|
I'm hot !!!! Need to vent
I called Wal-Mart and sounded like a young girl answered the auto dept phone. Told her I needed 6 six volt batteries for my motor home. I told her twice to make sure they were six volt!! Went to pick them up and no markings about voltage on them. The model # did have a -6 in it. Installed them and went to look on my voltage system in the coach to find out there was 24 volts!!! not 12. After several calls to Monaco and checking wireing (several hours gone by) I checked the voltage of a single batery. 12 volt not 6!!!!! Thank God the inverter stopped EVERYTHING from frying. The Trac Vison TV would not work-again several hours on phone and was able to hot wire it but it will not have any futher protection. NOW I found out the HWH air bag system will not work. I called them and tech told me the board was fried $1200. We may have it hot wired so it will level trying to get 2000 miles back home. Went to Wal-Mart and filed a claim but manager didn't think I had a case!!! Like I said I just need to vent. Headed to FMCA ralley and hope I can get hooked up with a HWH tech to maybe look at it???
|
|
|
|
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!
iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!
|
08-03-2010, 08:22 AM
|
#2
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 402
|
How many caps on the battery? Six caps = 12v Three caps = 6v. Have taken this to be universal, but there are usually exceptions. Hope damage is not more severe.
__________________
Richard
|
|
|
08-03-2010, 08:58 AM
|
#3
|
Senior Member
Alpine Owners Club
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Sisters, OR
Posts: 203
|
I sure hope this all works out ok with no further damage. When you went to the store, did you deal with the same person who answered the phone? Was there an auto technician around who could have verified the voltage of the batteries? Unfortunately, since they didn't do the installation, I doubt you have a case against Walmart.
__________________
John and Lori
2005 Alpine Coach 40FDQS
|
|
|
08-03-2010, 10:41 AM
|
#4
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: somewhere in the west
Posts: 1,168
|
This should probably be under the heading "Mistakes I have made", and heavy on the I.
Ed
|
|
|
08-03-2010, 11:11 AM
|
#5
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 402
|
If there is a mistakes "I" made club, I would be a charter member. Most amazingly, I have only damaged things and not myself..............yet.
__________________
Richard
|
|
|
08-03-2010, 11:15 AM
|
#6
|
Community Administrator
Pond Piggies Club LA Gulf Coast Campers Outdoors RV Owners Club Entegra Owners Club Skyline Owners Group
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 40,775
|
Wow, how unfortunate. As usual, dealings with Wal-Mart aren't dealings with product knowledgeable people. WM isn't liable for this situation & I'm sure they have a policy, somewhere, that states that. I hope you are able to get your systems fixed for a reasonable fee.
Lori-
__________________
Lori (& Dave, my spirit guide) - RV/MH Hall of Fame Lifetime Member | My iRV2 Photo Albums
2016 Phoenix Cruiser 2350S, 2018 Phaeton 40IH,2006 Bounder 36Z, 2004 Cougar 285EFS, 2000 Aerolite 25FBR
There is great need for a sarcasm font.
|
|
|
08-03-2010, 05:29 PM
|
#7
|
Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club iRV2 No Limits Club
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Sarasota,FL
Posts: 455
|
WOW, that hurts. When it's time for me to change batteries I will pay closer attention.
__________________
Lynda & Ronny Sarasota, Florida
2005 DutchStar DP 3809
Bailey (3lb Teacup Poodle)
|
|
|
08-03-2010, 07:24 PM
|
#8
|
Senior Member
Appalachian Campers
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Dixie !! (north Georgia) USA
Posts: 4,114
|
YOU put them in? and WalMart is to blame? Hmmmmm!!
|
|
|
08-04-2010, 03:37 AM
|
#9
|
Senior Member
Thor Owners Club Nor'easters Club Mid Atlantic Campers Ford Super Duty Owner
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 2,098
|
Just because we're able to do things our selves doesn't mean we should. And if we do, we should be willing to accept the consequences of our efforts. Live and learn, not act and blame.
I've done some pretty dumb stuff but I understand if I need to assign blame I first need to find a mirror.
|
|
|
08-04-2010, 06:15 AM
|
#10
|
Senior Member
Texas Boomers Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: DFW Area, TX
Posts: 2,040
|
In project management, there are a couple of key phrases that we live (or get burned) by.
"Trust but verify"
"Expect what you inspect"
First, I'm very sorry for your problem. MHs and other RVs manage to break enough on their own without our doing things which further complicate matters.
In general, I make a habit out of directly and carefully comparing anything that I'm replacing. Does the old one look like the new one? If not, why not? I suspect that you would have found a difference in cap configuration between your old and new batteries. When I bought new tires, I was there during the installation and physically and personally checked the DOT code on each tire before it was installed.
On anything electrical, and especially since you knew there were different voltage batteries, I recommend having a meter and knowing or learning how to use it. Why the engineer types scoff at it, Harbor Freight sells a small VOM for less than $4 that would have been fine for you to verify the battery voltage on your new batteries. I isolated a start failure on our Cummins yesterday with my HF meter.
If it is any consolation to you, a friend of mine had a beautiful Dutch Star. He took it to a professional shop to have the batteries replaced and they did the same thing as you did. Unfortunately, he didn't check his jack system right away and had to pay the bill for the repairs himself.
Mistakes can happen. We all make them. The easiest way to prevent most mistakes is to have some sort of a quality check of what is happening. If you think about and then try to prevent the most common mistakes for any given situation, you should be able to prevent repeating those common mistakes like this one.
__________________
2000 Georgie Boy Landau 36' DP
2018 Equinox toad
KF5-NJY
|
|
|
08-04-2010, 06:25 AM
|
#11
|
Senior Member
Newmar Owners Club Texas Boomers Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Don't mess with Texas
Posts: 3,118
|
Flying Butch, I hear your frustration and I'm glad you got to vent.
I also read that you never specifically blamed WM even though you filed a claim that you are pretty sure will be denied. We all have made mistakes and usually its out of inexperience rather than ignorance.
I'm sure you've kicked yourself multiple times about this so I don't think we need to continue with you should have known advice.
__________________
Jim with Judy
2017 Newmar Ventana 4369, 2005 Jeep Wrangler (Rock Crawler), 2016 Jeep Wrangler (Mall Crawler)
|
|
|
08-04-2010, 08:57 AM
|
#12
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Loudon Tn
Posts: 1,140
|
lets see-I called and asked for 6 volt-asked are you sure, got there and again was assured they were 6 volt NO markings on the batteries at all as to the voltage NO different filling areas (TWO) on each battery, same as my 6 volt. how in world would ANYONE know how they were not 6 volt? does everyone get a volt meter and check voltage of battery before installing?? I really doubt it
|
|
|
08-04-2010, 09:20 AM
|
#13
|
Senior Member
Vintage RV Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 312
|
Sucks so bad. I would be mad at the world & myself.
__________________
fkloster = Fritz, Erin, Sadie, Bo (& Lucy the Weim)
1991 Beaver Marquis 40' (1,225 ft. lbs. torque)
2011 JGC Overland Summit Toad / U.S Gear Brake
|
|
|
08-04-2010, 09:32 AM
|
#14
|
Administrator in Memoriam
Appalachian Campers
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Buladean, NC
Posts: 8,126
|
The two caps on a 12 volt battery would each cover three cells, hence a total of 6 cells which is a 12 volt battery. Pull them off and you'll see. A six volt battery would likely have three caps on it, each covering one cell or one long cap covering all three cells.
I don't understand why your old 6 volt batteries would have two caps on them, you might want to elaborate on that one.
__________________
'11 GMC Acadia SLT AWD
'11 GMC Sierra 1500 4x4 Extended Cab
|
|
|
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
» Recent Discussions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|