How to prevent draining Chassis battery

[Mimi8]

I haven’t been able to use my motorhome & don’t know how to prevent the chassis battery from draining. The RV is stored outside next to my home. My son-in-law has charged it more than once. He even attached a battery tender hoping this would prevent the problem. The tender stopped working & I am presuming this happened because it continually stays outside.

Due to this miserable virus, I will not be able to use it for a while. Is there something that can be attached to the battery to prevent this from happening? Also, since I am a 76 year old with limited physical capabilities it would need to be easily accomplished.

Thanks for any help possible.

[Skip426]

Welcome to iRV2 .

I notice this is your first post.

Could you add more info about your coach .

At the moment all we're sure of is Winnebago , motorhome .

Chassis battery disconnects are available ; but disconnecting usually results in , issues when the coach is next started ( stalling / rough shifting as the controllers do a re-learn).
For coaches that don't charge the battery when plugged in many owners install one of these to deal with the draws the memory systems put on the chassis batteries.
If plugging into power isn't possible , then a small solar panel dedicated to the chassis battery .

[Switchflicke]

Trik-L-Start or Amp-L-Start are the way to go. Installation takes a bit of time and electrical expertise but in the long run it's worth it
Stan

[l1v3fr33ord1]

Mimi8-

Welcome to iRV2!

Has your coach's battery been checked to make sure it is healthy and fully-charged?

A healthy, fully-charged battery will keep its charge for months, if you remove the ground lead(s) from the negative battery post. That is the most sure way to eliminate battery drain.

There are other valid ways to reduce battery drain, or improve battery charging, for sure. Some of them depend on what year and model of Winnebago you have.

[Mimi8]

The motorhome is a 2009 Access 31C.

[Mark_K5LXP]

In my view this is "long term storage" vs "intermittent use" so I would go the path of disconnecting vs trying to maintain it in standby mode. The simplest and most direct is to just pull the negative cable, or spend the few bucks for a terminal disconnect device. I would back that up with an active maintainer as well, whether it's plugged in or solar. That minimizes the chances of "forgetting" and letting it self discharge too far. Batteries self discharge faster in warm weather than cold so what would normally be a safe recharge interval in winter storage would be too long a gap in summer months.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[youracman]

Mimi8- My installation conforms with the good advice given by the other posters. The chassis battery disconnect was a piece of cake; the TrikLStart install was a bit tougher due to limited access. So the TrikLStart charges the chassis battery when on shore power; I pull the knife switch if I am going to be in storage (or just not using the MH) for a week or more. Got both items from Amazon several years ago. You may want to click on the pics to enlarge them.

I am 89 in a couple of weeks, so I "get it" re the limited physical capabilities; but the knife switch is easy peasy.

Good luck with the fix, and safe travels.

[Mudfrog]

I've mentioned this a few times on here.

My chassis battery will stay up for about 2 weeks. Tried various methods such as pulling fuses, solar charger, and disconnecting the battery. Out of those 3, disconnecting the battery worked best to save the battery. But as mentioned above, I grew concerned that I might cause troubles for the electronics (ecm and such) with the ongoing connectings and disconnectings.

Because I'm not one to just throw money away, I decided to use a timer to power up the rig. This not only helps keep the electric bill down, it saves wear and tear on the converter/charging system, lessens the chance of overcharging a battery, and saves time and effort of maintaining battery water levels.

I experimented a little and found that setting the timer to come on once a week for 12 hours works great for my situation. Going on a couple or three years now and can say without a doubt, it's worked out great. The chassis battery is over 8 years old now and still seems to be going strong.

[2cyber71]

Run a 15 amp 100 ft extension cord out and just plug it in a 15 amp circuit, it should work for the house batteries.
Next get a battery tender, cheap. Plug it into the chassis batteries. Or put on a battery disconnect right on the chassis batteries, they are cheap.

[bobmac]

I had a 2008 class C and found I had to disconnect the ground wire at the battery. It would discharge in 7 to 10 days if not disconnected. As I recall, there were no adverse effects when it was reconnected and the coach started and ran fine. A cheap solution to boot.

[campgeek99]

I have had the same problem. I am now trying a battery disconnect, like the one pictured above. I thought that this would solve my problem, but am now worried about the electrical issues listed above. *sigh* If I have electrical issues when I connect the battery again, what do I need to look for to know that there are electrical issues?

[happy2rv]

For my trailer batteries, I have a battery disconnect and have a battery tender quick disconnect permanently installed directly to the batteries. When I go to the covered storage, batteries get disconnected and battery tender gets hooked up. For your motorhome chassis battery, I would agree disconnecting the chassis battery isn't always the best idea. Some manufacturers have a chassis battery disconnect from the factory that I believe leaves "critical" loads connected but disconnects most things, but this would be difficult to impossible to implement after market.


My son has had various sports cars that all seem to discharge the battery in a matter of a few days to a week for some reason. He has a Porsche branded battery maintainer that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I believe Battery Tender sells a quick disconnect plug that works the same way for their line of battery maintainers. If your cigarette lighter is "hot" when the ignition switch is off, this might work for you. If not, I would look at adding the quick disconnects directly to the chassis and coach batteries and install a battery tender for each bank.



It sounds like you probably have a "parasite" load on your chassis battery. However, even if you have disconnects for the coach and chassis batteries, they will eventually self discharge just sitting there.


I don't recommend just plugging the coach in to let the stock on board converter/charger keep them charged for a variety of reasons. The biggest reason is that almost every stock converter/charger I've ever seen will overcharge the batteries boiling the electrolyte out and ruin the batteries far before their useful life would otherwise be up.

[happy2rv]

Originally Posted by campgeek99

I have had the same problem. I am now trying a battery disconnect, like the one pictured above. I thought that this would solve my problem, but am now worried about the electrical issues listed above. *sigh* If I have electrical issues when I connect the battery again, what do I need to look for to know that there are electrical issues?

Any issues from being disconnected should usually resolve themselves over time. The issues tend to be jerky transmission shifts and less efficient engine performance. Basically, the computers "forget" the "learned" performance information and have to relearn. It shouldn't cause any permanent damage, just less than optimal performance.

[Pappion]

This could help. The controller prevents overcharging.
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende...302373665&th=1


Others do not have a controller. Go low watts on those.