Why did my batteries go dead?

[GeorgeandTheBear]

This is our first MH that we just bought in August. I put it in storage for the winter in late December. I was at the storage facility 2-3 weeks later and started it while I was there, no problem. I was there a few days ago and house and chassis batteries were both dead as a door doornail. I couldn't find anything I may have left on to run them down. I did NOT turn off the main breaker in the house electrical panel. Was I supposed to? I ran an extension cord to it and plugged it in overnight and it charged right back up. I did turn off that main breaker this time. Other than that, nothing else. Is this greenhorn missing something?

[890ken]

There are lots of parasitic draws in the MH. The engine computers will draw down the starting battery unless you put a battery maintainer on it to keep it charged. In the house portion, things like the Propane detector and the station memory in the entertainment system will draw down the house batteries.

The main circuit breaker is for the 120V systems. You need to find the battery disconnect switch for the house batteries. That should keep the house batteries from draining. If you can't locate one, then you can just disconnect the negative cable at the house batteries. For the starting battery, you will need to either show up and start the vehicle and let it run for a while to recharge the battery, or disconnect the negative cable there as well.