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biggesttoys · 06-29-2011, 08:36 PM

I recently purchased a 1996 Fleetwood Pace Arrow and have experienced problems with the chassis battery going dead within one week, I had the disconnect swith/es to off. The chassis battery is new and date coded Dec 2010. The ignition switch does not function unless the "main switch" is activated to the on position. I cannot find anything on this in the manual however thought I found this as normal operation on the web. I cannot find again

Is this normal operation for the Pace Arrow? If not, what would you suspect?

ahicks · 06-30-2011, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biggesttoys

I recently purchased a 1996 Fleetwood Pace Arrow and have experienced problems with the chassis battery going dead within one week, I had the disconnect swith/es to off. The chassis battery is new and date coded Dec 2010. The ignition switch does not function unless the "main switch" is activated to the on position. I cannot find anything on this in the manual however thought I found this as normal operation on the web. I cannot find again

Is this normal operation for the Pace Arrow? If not, what would you suspect?

Even if you were to leave the chassis battery connected, assuming only that the battery is good, I would think it should go longer than a week with no usage.

Is it possible that you have improperly wired the battery, installing a hot lead that should be going to the house batteries by mistake?

To troubleshoot, I generally will remove the negative cable at the battery, then attach a test light from the negative battery terminal to the cable end you've removed. With a draw on the system, the light should come on, but may be pretty dim so look closely at the bulb filament if necessary. The brightness of the bulb indicates the size of the drain, so it may be pretty dim. Now start pulling fuses and checking to see if the light is still on. Start with the radio, it's almost a given, but that's so small it should go several weeks minimum. Leave the radio one out while checking further. Then when the light goes out, you found the circuit the draw is on. From there, it should be easy... Holler if not.

biggesttoys · 07-02-2011, 04:55 PM

Thanks. That helped. I used a DVM and had a 300 mA draw on the battery. The previous owner installed a transmittion cooler and wired the fan wrong. When I pulled the fuse the draw went to 14 mA which I assume is the radio. I pulled the wiring diagram for the fan relay and found the error. Changed the wiring and no longer have extra current draw with the fan off. FYI - The previous owner installed the battery this spring. It is a Die Hard but smaller then what I would have expected. Cranking Amps is 540. Walmart recommends 780 cranking amps. After camping for July 4th I may end up going to Sears and upgrading that as well. At lease now I feel comfortable I can last the four dayswithout a dead battery. Thanks again!!!!

wa8yxm · 07-04-2011, 07:12 PM

Cranking amps is how well it can start your engine..

AMP HOURS is how long it can deliver that 14ma and still crank your engine (Ok, so it's not that easy but the more the amp hours the greater the time it can provide that 14ma and still crank your engine)

OPTIMA (the sprial cell batteries, I'm sure Sears sels it with their name on it) do cranking amps rather well but have only 3/4 the amp hours for the same size, AVOID THEM for Rv use. They have their place (Vehicls that get driven very hard, slamming over ruts, ditches, rocks, waves, and the like, but if you are driving your RV like that you'll never need to replace the battery anyway.... Just the whole RV)

biggesttoys · 07-05-2011, 08:05 AM

I must say that I am very impressed with the close net of the RV community. Being a newbie with this it is great to have the ability to share in the vast knowledge of the community.

OK - I see the point on cranking amps and amp-hours. I work in the power field for AMETEK Power Instruments www.ametekpower.com which sells equipment to measure power (unfortunately AC power). By amp-hours I assume you mean capacity rating. The chassis battery is a Autocraft (Not Diehard) and has 585@0 CCA, 731@32 CA and 110 capacity. I am not sure what the 110 capacity is? Does this mean I have 110 Amp hours reserve and still crank the engine?

The auxiliary batteries are old and may need to be replaced. With load they consistently show in the red/yellow. I have checked this after being on AC service for a week and also after a 60 mile trip assuming the alternator would charge the aux. batteries. These are qty(2) Workaholic Interstate U2200 batteries. They are wired in series as expected thus the wiring is not an issue. What is the typical time I should expect to be able to remain on auxiliary batteries for lighting, water, etc?

Can I get recommendations for the best chassis battery and the auxiliary batteries as well.

Once again, thanks for all of the great information and advice.

DAN L · 07-06-2011, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biggesttoys

I must say that I am very impressed with the close net of the RV community. Being a newbie with this it is great to have the ability to share in the vast knowledge of the community.

OK - I see the point on cranking amps and amp-hours. I work in the power field for AMETEK Power Instruments www.ametekpower.com which sells equipment to measure power (unfortunately AC power). By amp-hours I assume you mean capacity rating. The chassis battery is a Autocraft (Not Diehard) and has 585@0 CCA, 731@32 CA and 110 capacity. I am not sure what the 110 capacity is? Does this mean I have 110 Amp hours reserve and still crank the engine?

The auxiliary batteries are old and may need to be replaced. With load they consistently show in the red/yellow. I have checked this after being on AC service for a week and also after a 60 mile trip assuming the alternator would charge the aux. batteries. These are qty(2) Workaholic Interstate U2200 batteries. They are wired in series as expected thus the wiring is not an issue. What is the typical time I should expect to be able to remain on auxiliary batteries for lighting, water, etc?

Can I get recommendations for the best chassis battery and the auxiliary batteries as well.

Once again, thanks for all of the great information and advice.

plz update your signature block info to include the particulars of your rv.
imho the best rv batteries are agm batteries made by lifeline. they are not inexpensive but the house batteries that i have are built to last approximately 10 years if not deep cycled often.

lifeline makes starting batteries also.

Lifeline GPL-6CT Battery

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