With the proliferation of electronic devices and more and more accessories relying on them, storage batteries are essential for RVing. Many owners ignore their batteries until there’s a problem. Unfortunately, that may be too late to save the expensive items, so it’s worth taking a little time to understand the RV battery basics and how to care for them to get the best service.
RV batteries consist of individual cells inside the case that are connected together in series. Each cell produces about two volts. Therefore, three cells in series yields six volts, and six in series gives you a 12-volt battery.
Related video: Improving RV Battery Charge and Extending Battery Life
Types of RV Batteries
Batteries used to power the coach in an RV must be a deep-cycle design to withstand the frequent and deep discharges and recharging they typically receive. Engine-starting batteries won’t last long if used in place of deep-cycle batteries, so this practice should be avoided.
Deep-cycle RV batteries are made in three different common designs listed here in ascending order of price:
- Liquid electrolyte wet cells (conventional flooded-cell batteries)
- Gelled electrolyte (gel batteries)
- Absorbed glass mat (AGM or “dry” batteries)
Lightweight lithium-ion (li-Ion) batteries are starting to enter the market. Li-Ion batteries are maintenance free, extremely light, and provide far more power storage for a given size and weight, but they are still too costly for most RVers.
Flooded-cell batteries are often installed as original equipment and deliver good capacity at a relatively low price. These “wet” cells require periodic filling with water, which should be distilled to prevent mineral buildups. If batteries run low on water and electrolyte to the point where plates are exposed, they may be ruined. Wet batteries use more water in hot weather and when frequently discharged and recharged, so service them more frequently in these conditions. Wet batteries also need regular terminal cleaning.
Gel batteries contain a thick gelled electrolyte instead of liquid, so they don’t spill if briefly tipped on their side and don’t require refilling with water. They cost more and typically last longer than wet-cell batteries.
AGM batteries also don’t require water, as their electrolyte is soaked into fiberglass matting, which is wrapped around their lead plates. They can be mounted on their sides and are costlier than gel or wet cells, but last considerably longer and are maintenance free.
12-Volt vs. 6-Volt
Typically, smaller coaches will have one or two 12-volt batteries wired together in parallel to provide 12 volts to the electrical system. Some larger coaches have either one pair of large six-volt batteries wired in series, or even two pairs of six-volt batteries wired in series/parallel to deliver 12 volts with enough wattage when running the coach from the batteries.
Related video: RV Battery Maintenance Techniques for Extending RV Battery Life
Six-volt batteries must be installed in pairs wired in series so their combined voltage will be 12. When 12-volt batteries are used in pairs they must be wired in parallel. If 12-volt batteries are parallel-wired in pairs, there’s a problem called “cannibalism” where the weaker battery draws current from the stronger one. That’s why matching batteries should be replaced in pairs, even if only one dies. A significant advantage of six-volt batteries paired in series is they don’t cannibalize each other. Also, for heavy power demands, six-volt golf-cart type batteries offer the most storage for your money. Many RV owners upgrade to them when replacing batteries, especially those using solar panels.
Battery Ratings
Battery ratings are important to know. Ampere-hour (A-H) ratings are a way of rating how long a battery can handle a load. A-H ratings are determined by multiplying output current in amps by time (in hours) that the load is applied, until the voltage drops to 1.75 volts per cell (considered to be discharged). The higher the A-H rating, the more powerful the battery.
Reserve Capacity (RC) is how long in minutes (at 80°F) a 100% charged battery may handle a load of 25 amps, until it dips to 1.75 volts per cell (10.5 volts for a 12-volt battery, or 5.25V for a 6-volt battery). This is more for engine-starting use, where the engine may be off but lights and accessories left on.
Cold cranking amperes (CCA) is the amount of amps a 100% charged battery can provider at 0°F for 30 seconds while maintaining a minimum 7.2 volts (with a 12-volt battery). Marine Cranking Amperes (or MCA) is the same as CCA, only measured at 32°F, which makes it a less difficult test. Cranking ratings are only important for engine-starting batteries.
Charging Batteries
Discharging batteries deeply (below 50% capacity) shortens their life. Therefore, it’s important to have sufficient battery capacity, particularly if you dry camp. Charge discharged batteries as soon as possible. Use a maximum charging rate of 20% of the amp-hour rating (for example: with 100 A-H batteries, use maximum 20 amps charging rate). Don’t allow a battery to remain at a low state of charge for an extended period, even overnight. Leaving a battery discharged causes the cells to become “sulfated” and they lose their ability to receive and hold a charge.
Related video: Testing RV Battery for Charge & Condition
Batteries lose charge over time, and most RVs also have small parasitic current draws that will kill a battery in days or weeks. Non-smart basic power converters damage batteries if left on for long periods such as during storage. That’s because they produce a steady current that overcharges and causes damage once the battery is fully charged. If you don’t have a “smart”-type power converter with a sophisticated multi-stage battery maintenance program, use a separate portable maintenance-type charger during storage (not a trickle charger, which can overcharge and damage a battery if left on).
Cautions
Battery acid is extremely corrosive. Wear rubber gloves and eye protection whenever working with batteries. Water and baking soda can neutralize the acid and should be kept on hand when working around batteries.
Related video: Simple RV Battery Maintenance To Keep Them Going Longer
Batteries produce hydrogen when being charged, which can explode if there’s a spark nearby. Connect the positive (red clamp) jumper cable to the positive (+) battery terminals first. Then to keep sparks away from the battery, connect the final negative (black/ground) jumper cable to a grounded unpainted metal portion of the chassis, rather than on the battery itself.
Closing Thoughts
To get the best service and longest life from your batteries, be sure to use the right type for your particular RV’s needs and power usage. Add distilled water to replace water lost during operation in conventional flooded-type batteries. Avoid discharging batteries below 50% of their capacity, and recharge them as soon as possible. Many RVs have monitor panels which display battery states of charge. This can also be measured with a voltmeter at the battery terminals.
A fully charged battery at rest (no load or charging being done) should read 12.6 volts or higher. A 75% charge should yield a 12.4 volt reading, 50% charge would be 12.0 volts, and a 25% charge 11.7 volts. Use a maintenance type charger (or smart-type power converter) during periods of storage.
With a comprehensive understanding of your RV batteries and proper ongoing care, you can add years to a battery’s life.
Have something to add to the story? Leave a comment below.
Two 12 volt AGM chassis battery replacement procedure
Wesley,
Replacing the batteries with AGM batteries would be the same as all batteries. It would just have the positive and negative terminals that need to be connected as the previous batteries. If you only had one battery and are now connecting two, they will need to be connected in parallel. AGM batteries can be stored anywhere and in any position, as long as not near any heat or something mechanical that could hit it. They do make additional battery mounts that can be put in if needed. Once they are in you connect the positive from the second battery to the positive of the first. The negative from the second battery connects to the negative of the of the first. This keeps it at 12v for the system. Other than that there is nothing special about replacing regular batteries with AGM batteries.
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
Need to know if I can use 12v DC batteries for my rv
Hello Joseph!
That’s a great question!
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Jessica
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I had to unhook the battery that starts the motor and am not if I’ve hooked it back up properly. Looking for how to hook it back up.
Hello Emily!
We’d love to help!
Could we have the year, make, and model of your RV?
Thank you!
Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
how do i get the coach battery compartment open just inside the living entrance.. Bought the unit used and getting it ready for use.
Hey Werner,
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Madeline
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I took the battery out to drain water from tray and charged it. When I put it back in I cannot get nothing to work except for the slides. Any ideas what I am doing wrong? I am new to the camping thing and hope I didn’t mess something up.
Hey Kevin,
Great question! I would be happy to submit this to our experts, but we need more info first.
What is the year/make/model of your RV?
What is the kind of battery you are using?
Thanks!
Madeline
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I need help with connecting my deep cycle batteries to the coach’s electrical system. There are 2 cables which come from different spots on the chassis and I am unsure what each one does and whether to connect them to the positive or negative terminal. I have 3 batteries in total with 1 begin the cold crank battery which is still connected as it was when I bought the motorhome. Recently I replaced the old lead acid batteries with 2 new AGM batteries and am in the process of building a solar setup to help keep them charged. Initially everything seemed fine, but in a short time the batteries were completely discharged to the point they wouldn’t take a charge at all and I had to take them back to the store. The guys there charged them back up for me and put them back in, but obviously did something wrong and one of the terminals was completely melted. The store owner replaced the battery with the melted terminal with a new battery, but wouldn’t reconnect them. Since I don’t want a repeat of the meltdown they have remained unconnected and I want to be sure everything gets done properly.
Cathy,
The only way to know for sure where the wires go are to test them with a multimeter or trace where the wires go. The negative wire will connect to the chassis metal at some point. The positive will never connect to metal. The positive will go to a fuse or resettable breaker. The easiest way to distinguish between the two is to use a multimeter. Check for continuity from the wire ends to a piece of bare metal in the area, usually a screw head works great. The wire that has continuity to the ground will be the negative wire. Unfortunately I can’t tell you colors of the wires and where they need to be as they are always different. Black wires can be positive and negative, there is no set color code. The only true way of finding out how they are supposed to connect is to test the wire connections and trace where they go to. You also did say that you are in the process of installing solar. If you have already connected wires to the system you have to double check everything and make sure the wiring is correct. There could be a short in the wiring or the panels that were installed.
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
I can start the motor home and plenty of light power however no power to start the generator
Hello Lewis!
Oh no! Let’s see what we can do about that generator.
The ‘Ask an Expert’ section is currently for members to our online community. We do have a promotional offer if you are interested. This would include access to expert advice (like this), plus discounts, hours of Premium videos, etc. Please feel free to take a look. You can message us right back with your question if you decide to become a member and you will have a response within 1-2 business days from our experts!
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Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I purchased this 2006 Puma 27 RLS used and the kitchen and bath had been removed. We are refurbishing it but I have no idea where the battery is supposed to go. I have looked in every cabinet and cubby hole and cannot find a battery or connections for a battery. Please help.
Hello Ken!
That’s a great question and we’d love to help out!
The ‘Ask an Expert’ section is currently for members to our online community. We do have a promotional offer if you are interested. This would include access to expert advice (like this), plus discounts, hours of Premium videos, etc. Please feel free to take a look. You can message us right back with your question if you decide to become a member and you will have a response within 1-2 business days from our experts!
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Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
What are the best Batteries for my RV
Hello Don!
That’s a great question!
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Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Which of the 3 batteries under the hood is the main car battery?
Hello David!
We’d love to help! Would you be able to let us know what year, make, and model your vehicle is? I will then forward this to our expert!
Sincerely,
Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
where would battery be located
Hi there Adele!
We’d love to help!
Would you be able to provide us with a bit more information? We will need the year, make, and model of your RV to answer this question. We also recommend getting in touch with your local RV Dealership in case of an urgent issue.
Sincerely,
Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
My Triplite 750 Inverter charger keeps craping out on me and won’t come back online. All Im running is the TV, a computer and the surround sound. Do you think I need a stronger inverter and if so then would I also need new batteries as well (right now I have two AMG 6v 220a. Note – everything works perfect with shore power as well as with the generator.
Hello Will!
We’d love to help you out!
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Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I have to start my engine and generator during winter storage. Does this also charge the in home batteries? I have the power switch to off , does this need to be on for charging?
Sharon,
It will charge the batteries while it is running but depending on how low the batteries are it might not fully charge it. Typically if the battery switch is set to off during storage, you could recharge the batteries within a few hours of running the generator but it is typically best to charge the batteries for 24 hours once a month to unsure they are fully charged. If you have a charging system that indicates when they are full you can get a better idea of how long to run the generator each month. If you were to just run the generator a little bit, maybe a few hours each month, it should be fine to prevent the batteries from getting too low but don’t expect a fully charged battery at the beginning of the season unless you were to run it at least all day once a month. I hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
I have a 1992 allegro bay. 3 batteries. It seems to have 4 positive cables and 2 negative cables. I’m really confused on how to hook these up. Please help.
Hi there Steve!
That’s a great question! We’d love to help!
The ‘Ask an Expert’ section is currently for members to our online community. We do have a promotional offer if you are interested. This would include access to expert advice (like this), plus discounts, hours of Premium videos, etc. Please feel free to take a look. You can message us right back with your question if you decide to become a member and you will have a response within 1-2 business days from our experts!
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Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
How do I charge house batteries?
Tony,
They should be charging from the on-board charging system at the converter when you are plugged into shore power. They should also charge while traveling as well from the alternator of the chassis or the tow vehicle. Many systems are equipped with battery shut off switches, make sure these are in the “on” position when using the RV so the batteries receive a charge. If they are not charging you want to inspect all of the fuses and the battery connections then check output voltage of the converter if needed. I hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
HI, I have a C Class 2012 Ford E 450. I have no information on the fuse panel found in the aux battery compartment? I would like to know what the fuses do so I can check if any are blown. I’ve lost power from the aux batteries for lights, fridge and so on. On shore and generator power everything works. So I know the relay works and the inverter works, but when not plugged in and no generator running, I have no power. It happened the other night and I can’t find what blew. Im down to the aux battery fuse panel but I have no schematic for it?
Hi Kenny!
That’s a great question!
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Jessica
Physical Location of auxiliary battery’s on motorhome and how to access
Larry,
We’d love to help!
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Sincerely,
Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
wiring isolator on firewall, chassis battery and coach battery
Tom,
We’d love to help!
The ‘Ask an Expert’ section is currently for members to our online community. We do have a promotional offer if you are interested. This would include access to expert advice (like this), plus discounts, hours of Premium videos, etc. Please feel free to take a look. You can message us right back with your question if you decide to become a member and you will have a response within 1-2 business days from our experts!
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Sincerely,
Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I have a Generac Q-55g generator, any one can tell me if there is a particular way to take the spark plug boot off? I don’t want to damage the cables and don’t want to force it until I know how to properly remove the boot. I’m new at this and want to do it my self.
Ernesto,
They just pop right off. When they are installed, they snap over top of the spark plug so it does take a little force to come off so you want to wiggle the boot back and forth a little bit while lifting it up and it should pop off. Make sure that when you install the spark plug you just put it on hand tight and then use a wrench and turn it 1/8 more to make it snug. You do not want to over tighten a spark plug.
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
We just purchased our motor home and can not locate the house batteries. We contacted the dealer and they have no clue. I have searched everywhere. Any ideas???
Hello Mike!
Congrats on the new motor home!
The ‘Ask an Expert’ section is currently for members to our online community. We do have a promotional offer if you are interested. This would include access to expert advice (like this), plus discounts, hours of Premium videos, etc. Please feel free to take a look. You can message us right back with your question if you decide to become a member and you will have a response within 1-2 business days from our experts!
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Jessica
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Hi I just installed a brand new battery and I cannot get it going I have a battery disconnect button on the entry wall is this my auxiliary switch? How can I get this working? Desperate in Ohio
Shannon,
You will want to make sure the disconnect switch is in the “on” position when using the RV. The switch should only be turned off when the RV is in storage. There is sometimes a separate switch labeled “aux” to select the house batteries for use. You will want this on as well. A lot of times the only switch is the disconnect. If the switches are correct and still no power, you will want to check the connections and the battery that was installed. If it was just one battery, make sure it was a 12v battery. Also check for any in-line fuses and the fuses at the control panel. If this still doesn’t help, you will have to trace the wires from the battery and see if there is a break in the wire or loose connection. The most common thing to cause a problem is the chassis ground breaking, this is what the negative from the battery connects to. I hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
How does one go about getting a maintenance type charger or smart converter for our batteries when our RV is in storage? The dealer is no help at all.
Dear Linda,
We’d love to assist you! Would you be able to provide the year and make of your RV so we can assist you further! Any details you can provide is appreciated!
Sincerely,
Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Put in a new battery and it died in two days what would cause this our lights and fridge stopped working
Hey Beverly!
In regards to your issue, we’d love to help! Could you please supply us with the following information:
-Year
-Make
-Model of your RV
-What you’ve already done to attempt to fix the issue
Once we have those bits of information, we’d be more than happy to forward your issue onto our experts!
Sincerely,
Jessica
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I need new engine batteries. what kind do I need and where do I get them?
Hi Lynne. You just need standard starting/cranking batteries. They can be purchased at any local auto parts store. Make sure to take the old batteries in so they can get you the same size and they won’t charge you a core charge either. You can get better upgraded batteries like AGM but the original batteries and ones that can replace them are just standard starting batteries, not deep cycle like the house batteries.
Thanks
Dan-RV Repair Club
Hi is it better to have 2 batteries in your rv? Dose it help with anything? What is the purpose of having 2 batteries? Thank you for your time
I need the 2 batteries for my Itasca Sundancer – i bought it an there are no batteries sin the compartment –
I have a FLA battery and like to replace it with an AGM type. 12 volt Rig is used appx once a month short trips to campgrounds with power. WHat type of AGM battery do you recommend.
When I purchased my rig in 2013 it had a Sharp Microwave/Convection Oven (800watts);
which is on a dedicated 20Amp breaker. It has since died.
I would like to replace it with an Oven Only unit. My concern is that most of the Convection Ovens I have looked at in a similar size range are 1200 – 1500 watts. Will a 1500 watt appliance work? And if so will I then need to monitor usage of other appliances such as AC at the same time I’m using the oven?
When I purchased my rig it had an 800watt Sharp Microwave/Convection Oven in it. There is a dedicated 20amp breaker for that appliance. It has died and I want to replace it with an Oven Only; however they are all high wattage 1200 – 1500 watts. Will a higher wattage appliance work there? And would I then have to monitor using other high wattage drawing appliances, like AC at the same time…..if the higher wattage oven is an option for me?
Dear Lynne,
Thank you for your patience. In response to your question-
If the breaker only goes to the microwave and nothing else it should be able to handle that. 1500 watts uses 12.5 amps at 120v and if the voltage is lower like around 110v it could be around 14 amps. If the breaker is rated for 20 amps, it should be fine though. A 20amp breaker will already have the 12 gauge wire going to the breaker so there shouldn’t be any issue upgrading to the oven you want. You do want to limit other things as well when running appliances like this though. If you have a 30 amp system for the RV, it can only handle up to 30 amps total at once. The air conditioner can pull around 14 amps when running so if you had the AC and oven on at the same time and nothing else at all you would be fine. But if your fridge is on, water heater, other things in outlets like chargers, coffee makers etc you could easily trip the main breaker. Even with the standard microwave you would want to be careful but with this oven I would be more cautious of what else you have running as well. I hope this was helpful!
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
You might consider mentioning that during battery charging, hydrogen is generated, so some ventilation should be provided when charging.
which type of battery is better for the house side and 6 or 12 volts I have 4 12 volt batteries liquid in there now
Add on to my previous comment ,my coach it plugged in to shore power 24/7 ,and has a solar charger.
My battery tray,which was corroded when I bought the motor home,continues to corrode from battery acid,which is also starting to corrode the Chassie.How do I prevent the corrosion? How can I treat the surfaces affected to protect them. tried rust converter paint ,and covering with truck bed liner,but it just chipped away.
33 yr Automotive Teacher here & life long rv’r …to greatly extend the life of your flooded cell batteries, as you maintain them with adding distilled water to the cells, use 50% distilled and 50% white vinegar. This mixture should be used only to fill a depleted cell to the maximum fill level. The max fill level is 1/8″ -1/4″ below the fill extension tube. This allows the battery to function/breathe. The 50/50 mixture greatly inhibits sulfation/calcification and can easily double the life of a flooded cell battery!
33 yr Automotive Teacher here & life long rv’r …to greatly extend the life of your flooded cell batterys, as you maintain them with adding distilled water to the cells, use 50% distilled and 50% white vinegar. This mixture should be used only to fill a depleted cell to the maximum fill level. The max fill level is 1/8″ -1/4″ below the fill tube extension tube. This allows the battery to function/breathe. The 50/50 mixture greatly inhibits sulfation/calcification and can easily double the life of a flooded cell battery!
Hi. I have a 200 watt solar panel on my roof. And I have had. 4 x 6 volt agm batteries in series parallel to make 12 volts. I have disconnected two of them as on was a bit weak. But have just realised that they are actually 225 ah. Not 110 ah that I was told. I have a 30 amp controller from jay car. With just two batteries connect in series. Will this work or do 8 need to up the solar panels and or the controller
Dear Garry,
Thank you for your patience. In response to your question-
It really depends on how much amperage you are using throughout the night and times when the batteries can’t get a charge. A 200 watt will typically produce around 8-10 amps per hour. If you get a full 8 hours of charging throughout the day, you could recover 64-80 amp hours. If you use more than this throughout the day, your battery will never full. If you use less than this then you will be fine with that set up. The controller is rated for 30 amps so you could always step up to another panel if you wanted to but I would first see if that is necessary. A 30 amp controller can handle 360 watts of power from panels so don’t add another 200 watt panel without upgrading the controller. A lot of times 200 watts is fine but you would want to figure out how much amp hours you are using to be able to tell what is needed to be recovered. I hope this helps!
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Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
Make sure the top of the battery is clean, free of contamination, tracking between negative & positive terminals can slowey discharge your battery.
why 2 6 volt? Why not two or three 12 volt in parallel?
Where do invertors fit into the energy supply?
I have two conventional 12V batteries connected in series (giving 24V) for the motor and two 12V 120 ah AGM’s in series for house duties. I recently had a 24V 265 watt solar panel and a Thunder brand battery charge indicator fitted. There is an existing sophisticated (so it seems to me as a novice) Xantrex charge controller, and all works well with one exception. The Thunder, which was intended to monitor the state of charge of the AGM’s, shows a reducing level of charge overnight, as it should with the fridge running, but when a charging current is applied in the morning, from either a generator or 240V powerpoint (and even from the alternator, although I’m unsure on that point), the Thunder reading will suddenly jump to read 100%/120 ah – i.e. fully charged. The obvious fact that this is a false reading can be confirmed by reading the charging current going in, which can be briefly over 700 watts in the morning, and remains in the hundreds despite the erroneous fully charged indicator.
I hope I have explained this clearly, and that you can throw some light on the matter.
Just put in a new 12 volt deep cycle rv battery. I was told to put in a new fuse. What size fuse do I need. There is no number on the old one. Someone told me 30A. Thank you
what size deepcycle batteries for my Itasca 34′ Motorhome reserve min? amp hour?
what is the best 6 volt deep cycle battery for the house batteries
I cannot find where the battery is located . Can you tell me where it is located please?
I have four 12volt house batteries wired in parallel. I am considering replacing my house battery system to Lithium batteries. My question is May I replace my four house batteries with two lithiums or will I have to replace all four?
I just purchased this class c, and the house battery was knowingly bad. The previous owner stated that it is use to start the generac 3400 generator. I’m not sure as to exactly what type I should purchase. After reading your article it would appear that the AGM would be a good battery to by, however still wondering if it need to be a deep cycle, along with ability to have cold cranking amps. Hope to get a response.
Dear Michael,
Thank you for your patience. In response to your question-
You definitely want it to be a deep cycle battery. They make AGM batteries that are deep cycle. They are the best to buy as they will last a lot longer and hold up well but they do cost a lot. The house batteries need to be deep cycle so they can handle being drained and then recharged multiple times. In lead acid batteries the plates are made stronger than automotive batteries that are made to always have a full charge. AGM deep cycles are made to handle this as well. The cranking amps are usually around 400, I would check the generators owner manual to make sure, so as for cold cranking amps you would want to go a little higher. Closer to 500/600 CCA would give you plenty when it is really cold. I hope this helps!
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Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
Having trouble making the changes to update this rv, does anyone know .?
we need to replace the coach batteries and the chassis battery in the Ford Cab – which ones do you recommend
Trouble with house battery. I am not sure the wiring for the house battery is hooked up correctly. Trying to find a basic diagram to help me figure it out. Bad thing is I am a newbie to this but have a basic knowledge.
Hello Ed,
There are two different ways to connect batteries depending on what batteries you have. 6v batteries need to be in series and 12v batteries need to be in parallel.You can also combine then together too.
Thanks,
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Can you make a recommendation as to a quality battery. I have 4 6volt Duracell batteries purchased just 14months ago from Battery Plus for over $1000.00. They will not warranty the battery for more than 12 months.
Hello,
Well unfortunately a lot battery manufactures only deliver to certain areas so it is hard to recommend one. Nationwide companies carry their own brands but others are from local companies. There are options of buying online too. I know Optima is a really good brand as well as VMax and Odyssey and they are available online. A lot of companies have lowered their warranties to just a couple of years. There used to be some that had up to 5 years but have since lowered it since battery expectancy is usually only a couple of years. Finding batteries with longer warranties usually mean they are a better built and can hold up better. Even if they fail though, the warranties are usually prorated so you will only get some credit towards a new battery based on how long you have had it. Normally when they give a longer warranty they trust the work they have put into it so I would check around for options and see if there are better warranties out there. There are other types of batteries too, AGM batteries tend to last a lot longer than wet cell deep cycle batteries but they are more expensive.
I hope this was helpful!
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I am looking to purchase a fuse kit for my 1999 Thor Hurricane motorhome. I just don’t know what type I need to have and for what purpose. Can you help?
We cannot find battery converter anywhere. We’ve looked in all recommended places. Torn apart cupboards, under frig, stove, sinks, dinette, behind electrical panel, etc. Can you help. We have one slide out.
My RV has 3 coach batteries–not 2 or 4—is this normal
What class and voltage is the correct size, & shoud I buy golf vs rv batteries
Hello,
Many dealerships will sell RV’s with more than one battery or a previous owner could have installed some more as well. Some people put as many as they can and three might have been the max space available. All RV’s run off of the 12v system. Most common batteries that are used are 6v batteries in series or 12v batteries connected in parallel for more amp hours. You can even combine the different systems, like two 6v batteries in series connected parallel to a 12v battery. Connecting batteries in series combines the voltage, so two 6v batteries in series makes 12v output. Connecting 12v batteries in parallel combines the amp hours for longer lasting power. You want to use deep cycle batteries. They have rv/marine which are good and take up less space. A lot of people prefer to use 6v golf cart batteries. That can handle larger amp draws better for longer periods of time but they are bigger batteries and you have to at least get two to work. You also loose amp hours this way as well compared to 12v batteries. If you do a lot of “boondocking” (dry camping with no electric hookup) you want more amp hours so you have power that can last longer. Golf cart batteries tend to last longer since they are built to handle more power drawn but you have to consider the space and how many amp hours you like to have on standby. The different class sizes are just different amp hours. A 12v 24D series battery has about 80 amp hours where a 12v 27D series has about 100 amp hours. The amp hours increase with series number increase.
I hope this was helpful!
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Hello, I am going to convert my conversion van into a camper. I’d like to put solar panels on the top to charge Marine RV batteries (Fitment Code 14, Group Size 27DC, CCA 600) to power a small fridge or cooler. Would batteries with these specifications be sufficient?
Thank you for your ideas/thoughts on this.
Linda
Hello,
When trying to run things off of batteries you want to concentrate more on the Amp hours (ah) rather than cold cranking amps (CCA). Group 27 batteries usually have around 100ah. If you are trying to run a fridge you would have to see what the running amps are on the fridge to see how long it will last and what size panel you would need to recover the power lost. Say the fridge is rated for 5 amps, it could run about 20 hours off of that battery. The fridge will use less amperage when it reaches the setting the thermostat is at so it could run longer off of the battery but on hot days it may run use more of it. If the fridge is a 120v fridge and you are running off of an inverter you would want to check the efficiency of the inverter. They range from 70%-95%. True sine-wave inverters have better efficiency and can run longer. If using a lower inverter, you may only get 15 hours out of the battery instead of close to 20 hours. There are a lot of factors that go into it, but you want a large amp hour battery. The group 27 battery should be large enough for a small fridge, just make sure you get a large enough panel to help restore the power lost to help keep it running for a while.
I hope this helps!
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I want to know were to locate the house battereys
Hi Rudy,
What is the year, make, and model of your RV and we can look further into your question for you.
Thanks,
Becky
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I need wiring diagram for main battery bank ( 4batteries12volt)
I intend to get an AGM battery to replace my sickly flooded-cell house battery.
Will I need to get an AGM starting battery as well?
Hello Randal,
No you don’t have to. If you aren’t having problems with the chassis battery, I would only change the house battery you are having problems with. This won’t affect the performance of the other batteries. I would only get AGM chassis batteries if you need to mount an additional one off to the side in a offset position. AGM batteries are better for the house since they can be mounted anywhere and in any position.
Hope this helps,
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
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I don’t know if it is a 6v system or a 12 v system an what kind of batteries do I need.
Ticket Does a battery tender do the same as a smart converter?
Hi Dave,
Smart converters can fully charge, trickle charge and sometimes do an equalize charge the batteries. A tender is more of a trickle charge to help keep the voltage up. They usually don’t fully charge a dead battery, at least not fast like a converter. The just help keep and fully charged battery.
Hope this helps,
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
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I am trying to install coach and chassis batteries in in a unit without wired batteries to copy the witeing pattern. Can you help me ID the proper installation?
Hello,
It depends on what house batteries you are installing, if you have 12v batteries and want to connect them together they will be connected in parallel. If they are 6v batteries they will have to be connected in series to get 12v out of them. If 12v batteries, you connect the positive from the first battery to the positive of the second battery. The negative connects to the negative as well. You then connect the positive wire from the coach to one battery and the negative from the coach to the other battery, this ensures equal drain and charge when connected. If you have 6v batteries, it gets a little more complicated. The negative goes from the first battery to the positive of the second battery. You would then connect the positive to the camper on the positive of the second battery and the negative to the negative on the first battery. The same goes if you have more than one chassis battery. Remember, 12v battery connections go on the same posts. 6v batteries alternate between positive and negative. As for which wires are which in your coach, it depends on the installer. If you have red and black wires, red is positive and black is negative. If you have black and white wires, black is positive and white is negative. This isn’t always the case and some only use black wires. You have to make sure to identify which wires are which before connecting anything. The negative battery connects to the frame at some point which helps identify it.
I hope this helps!
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I have the coach plugged into our house with the kill switch turned off(power on to the coach). Is this the way to properly maintain the batteries over the winter? What do I do to keep the chassis batteries properly charged. Also, every time I turn the ignition key, it says low battery. How do I address this situation?
Hello Nikolas,
If you have the switch turned to “off” it may not be sending a charge to the batteries when plugged in. You would have to check the voltage at the batteries when plugged in to see if this works. Most of the time when you turn the switch to “off” it stops the voltage from the converter to the batteries to prevent battery drain when not in use. You may have to turn the switch on and then turn off all the breakers except the main breaker and converter breaker to keep the batteries charging while having everything else off. If you are getting “low voltage” you may want to check the voltage level on the batteries. You can have them charged and load tested at auto parts stores. They may be going bad or you may have a loose connection. You have to inspect everything at the battery and make sure there is no corrosion or loose connection. You also want to make sure your alternator is sending a charge to the battery while the engine is on, this can be a cause that the battery is not getting a good charge.
I hope this helps!
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Winnebago Minnie Winnie 22R 2015: I like to replace the house battery with a Lithium 110 AH, Will the Lithium work OK without any modifications? Please advise . Thanks
I need step instructions to put in batteries, with electrical diagram to reconnect fans. I also need instructions to replace the ignition, lastly instructions on draining old gas, and process of getting new gas pumped to where it needs to be to start the RV. Are there any parts besides a new filter I need to replace.?
what type of batteries and how many for the coach or house,my compartment is big enough for two but there is only one car type battery in it. Thanks,Bruce
I would like to install a separate battery for the generator. Is there anything special that needs to be done.
35 feet diesel Pusher has4 batteries 1 up ft an 3 in back hooked up paraell they are 12 volt truck batteries asid filled want stay charged
Hi. Changing from (two) Trojan T-105 flooded house batteries to T-105 AGM’s. The guy at the solar store tells me we must ‘re-program’ or ‘reset’ our battery charger/converter. Is this true? How would I accomplish this?
Thanks for any info you can provide! Robert Larson.
need a battery to start the engine(chevy 454). i’m thinking 650 CCA minimum?
My chassi battery keeps draining. I don’t know what is drawing power
Hello Ted,
There should be a battery isolater solenoid on the unit so nothing in the coach pulls from that battery when not in use, I would test it and make sure it is good. There will be 3 connections on it, one from the chassis battery, one going to the coach batteries and one to the ignition. With the engine turned off and key out check for continuity between the two battery connections, there should be none. If there is, the solenoid is bad.
I hope this helps!
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
I need deep cycle batteries. I don’t know which ones to get
I was told when I purchased the RV if I left the RV plugged in it would be sending a trickle charge to the battery – kind of a battery tender. Is this correct?
are the batteries hooked up in a series circuit is it a 6 volt or a 12 volt system
Hello,
All RV’s are 12 volt systems. If you have two 6v batteries, they need to be connected in series. If you are using multiple 12v batteries they can be connected together in parallel.
I hope this was helpful!
Dan
RV Repair Club Video Membership
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT BATTERIES I SHOULD USE TO REPLACE THE 2 EXISTING BATTERIES?
Converter workers but will not charge battery the 13+ dc volts
Deep cycle battery: Just acquired new two vehicle in the fall and had hitch installed with 7-pin connector. Unfortunately, and unbeknownst to us, the installer did not install a line to trickle charge the deep cycle battery. After about 8 days of traveling, including running the fridge exclusively on propane (with electric starter), the battery died. I charged it up and four days later it died again. I charged it again, and five days later, after arriving home, I tested it and it still had 60% charge. Just for fun I ran the Fantastic fan for 1/2 an hour to see if the fan was the culprit. It still had a 60 % charge. My question is, what would make a battery die quickly sometimes, but not other times, given similar loads on the battery throughout the same trip?
How do you wire up the batteries to crank my rv
[…] sure that when you are charging your RV battery, you are wearing eye protection and rubber gloves. Keep water and baking soda near you in case of acid spills, which can neutralize […]
Im cleaning my 6 batteries that are on driver front side. According to the diagram of wiring for them I should have neg cable from last post run back to coach neg post ( this is where all the batteries are connected to the coach terminal. All my post cables are connected as per drawing, just the neg last leg isnt making run back like drawing is showing. This drawing I’m talking about is called phaeton with electric refrigerator. Wanting to make sure I’m not missing a cable from when I had batteries and cables replaced.
I recently changed out all three of my coach batteries, I have them connected in parallel and want to hook them up to the motorhome. Problem is I failed to identify the negative lead, I have a total of 4 wires and do not want to get them mixed up. How do I determine the negative wire, the colours are not normal so there must be a way to check them with a multi-meter but I do not know how. Any assistance would be appreciated.
I did not receive a owners manual and have been searching, I have not found a comprehensive manual that explains where all the systems are located is there one?
batteries
12 volt interior lights don’t work when not plugged in to power.
I am in the process of replacing the house batteries. They are dead and I see they are not deep cycle. For my RV, which would be the best battery – Gel or AGM? What else should I look at in regards to longevity?
Whst size battery
I need to replace My for house batteries. I have a 38 foot Newmark country star, 2003. There’s so many types out there it gets a little confusing. Any suggestions as to what type of battery I should be by would be appreciated. Thank you so much
i want to know what type of battery do i get for the second one thats under the stairs
Just purchased a 2000 Fleetwood Flair RV and need a battery for it. Can you tell me what I need to get? It has a Chevy 454 engine in it. Thank you!
My husband & I bought the RV a couple of years ago. He has since passed away. We really enjoyed the RV and I’m not ready to give it up yet. Most things I’ve been able to figure out with the help of friends. However my friends have a bumper pull so they don’t have to deal with batteries. There are 3 batteries. They are all the same. Two of them are connected to each other by a coil which contains wires. The third battery is alone. So if I need to jump start the RV, would I attach the cables to the lone battery or one of the group of two? If the group of two, attach both positive and negative to only one battery or positive to one and negative to the other? The storage facility now has electric so that should help to keep the batteries charged, correct? If I do this should the Battery Disconnect be set on USE or STORE? Will greatly appreciate any and all info you can provide.
Where is the engine battery on my RV?
Wiring from truck to alternator
motorhome is on a Ford chassis with the 460 v8. When purchased there were no batteries in the rv. Was told it originally had 3 12v batteries. looking for a photo of the cable hookups
looking for diagra/photo of battery hookup as wiring is there but not the batteries
just fitted new charged leisure battery and it wont power up coach, however radio is getting power from it? we need wiring and fuse diagram as didnt have one when bought it.. thanks
What size battery do I need to start the motor home
These battery smaller than the original batteries, are they sufficient as a replacement for a 2015 Coachman Leprechaun 28’ class C gas RV running on a Chevy E3500?
What is a sure way to identify your house battery, if you have 3.
1 for the Port engine and 1 for the starboard and 1 for House .
Might I assume the engine batteries will be directly connected to a starter?
Do you have a diagram for the three battery’s under the hood. From r to l. Bat 1 engine bat 2#3 are 6 volt deep cell. All in a row. Need diagram to hook up the smaller wires thanks
I have 3 batteries all side by side in the engine comp’t (hooked up in parallel). Middle is Grp 27, the ones on either side are Grp 24 (all 3 are deep cycle). I’d like to replace the house batteries (I assume the Grp 24’s) with Grp 31’s (I have 2 Grp 31’s that I recently purchased that are near new condition). I took the Grp 27 in to be tested. it is defective. Can I use one of the group 24’s for the chassis battery (in place of the Grp 27)? Can you tell me if this is the way these batteries are supposed to be wired? There is an auxiliary start button on the dash that I’ve never tried. FYI: Also have a 6.5kw onan generator. Thanks
Hi Ralph. To provide more specific information on the proper battery configuration we need to know the make, model, and year of your RV. Initially this sounds like a mismatch of batteries from the original design as most manufacturers would use the same “group” or series and not combine a Group 24 with a Group 27? Also, not many RV manufacturers had the house batteries which the deep cycle models would be in the engine compartment. However, Fleetwood and a few others did that for a few years until the basement models came on the market so I never say “NEVER”! First, you can not use a deep cycle battery for an engine battery. The engine battery needs to have a high cranking amp capacity to start the engine and needs to be continually charged by the engine alternator. If you have 3 batteries in the engine compartment and one is a Group 27 while the other 2 are group 24 and all are deep cycle, I believe someone changed out the engine battery which should have been a Cold Cranking Amp (CCA) battery with the Group 27? If so, that would be why that battery is now defective? Typically you will see one CCA engine battery in with 2 deep cycle batteries under the step or in your case in the engine compartment. Since you also indicated they are connected in parallel, I assume they are 12-volt deep cycle and not 6-volt connected in series? I would suggest getting under the unit and find the engine starter and trace that cable to a battery to identify what is being used for starting the engine. If that is a completely separate battery, then ditch the three house batteries and put in the two group 31 batteries and connect them positive to positive, negative to negative and run cables to the isolator and ground just like they are now. My guess is one of the batteries in your 3 battery system is being used as the start battery?
Thanks
David-RVRC
Yes, all 3 batteries are 12 volt. Thanks for your response. I will inspect as you suggest. Ralph
I forgot to mention that it is a 1985 Pace Arrow, Chevy 454. Thanks.
Engine will not start. Engine batteries are charged. Turn ignition key dash panel lights come on but when I try to start engine it goes completely dead. Thought it might be electrical short somewhere.
Question? In order for the furnace to kick on, does the battery have to be at full charge.
Hello Ben,
Depending on the type of furnace you have, the 12-volt deep cycle battery need to be at 10.5 volts at least and some at 11 volts. This will provide enough power to start the blower which needs to be at a certain speed to raise the sail switch before the gas valve will open and the rest of the sequence to complete.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
Sir I student learning how to manufacture a 35v car battery DIY please advice and help. mano dhanuka 009412929815
Need to know how to hook up the batteries
Camping without high voltage, how long will a low voltage hold. How many hours, days etc? Running hearter, refrigerator lights as necessary.
Hi Jennifer. The length of time you will be able to run items on your 12-volt house batteries depends on several factors:
What size battery do you have? A group 24 will only provide about 80-100 amp hours and they typical RVer uses 75-130 per day.
How many batteries do you have? Two group 24 batteries connect parallel will double the amp hours.
What condition are your batteries in? Most batteries become sulfated due to improper charging and lose storage capacity, some so bad you don’t get 1 day.
What 12-volt components are you running? Incandescent lights draw 1.5 amps which can drain a battery quickly while LEDs use 10 times less. The more lights you have on, the more you use your furnace, refrigerator, roof vents and other 12-volt items the faster it will draw down.
Thanks
Dave-RVRC
Looking for a wiring diagram to hook up the coach and starting batteries
What are the specs on a battery?
converter not charging bateries
I+RUN+MY+1999+TRIPLE+E+THE+COACH+BATTERY+ARE NOT CHARGING
I have a rv rhat needed a new starter, so i got one, and had a mechanic, but he didnt connect it accurately and now i am left stuck in a parking lot with no help and no money for amother mechanic. Could i possibly get a diagram and some step by step instructions on how to connect it myself please. I need to move my vehicle before i get towed.
My Sportsmobile Class B RV was delivered about a year ago, but due to extensive business travel in 2017 it spent most of the year parked. The 2 AGM deep cycle batteries completely discharged over 6 months ago. Is there any possibility that the batteries can still be fully recharged (though expected life has certainly been shortened)? If not, would replacing the batteries with lithium ion types be better given my unpredictable travel schedule?
Hello Robert,
I would try charging them to see if you can bring them back to a usable percentage? Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) are a lot more durable than lead acid and you might be surprised. If they can not be salvaged, I would not go to the expense of the Lithium Ion rather get a set of AGM and install a Battery Minder. If you have a plug in handy you can get the standard model, if not use the solar panel version. If you are storing inside with no electricity, just take the batteries out of the unit to your garage and condition them there? You can get the Battery Minder at Northern Tool.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
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If I am not going to be using the RV for an extended period of time and want to be sure my batteries are well cared for, should leaving the RV plugged in to 120 Volts keep them fully charged even in cold weather? This is a new RV to us and I assume that there is a charging system as the batteries show a full charge on our gauges
Hi Mark. It depends on the type of batteries you have, and the charging system in your rig? Lead acid batteries require a multi-stage charge every month which starts with a high voltage “bulk” charge of approximately 16-volts to break up the sulfation that can form between the plates. Then it goes into an equalizing and float stage. Typical converters that are part of the distribution center simply detect the state of charge and throw 14.5 volts at the battery until it reaches 12.5 volts. This is not proper charging and will cause your battery to sulfate. Only the larger inverter/battery chargers have the multi-stage charge system. Some of the newer RVs are using a stand alone charger away from the distribution center and may have the new Progressive Dynamics PD9000 series which has “Charge Wizard” technology and does have a desulfation process. You can add this to your rig, however a less expensive option is to install a Battery Minder which uses a high impact wave to condition the batteries and extend the life. This produces no gassing or loss of acid like the bulk stage charge does. You can find more information here: http://www.batteryminder.com However I would recommend purchasing from Northern Tool as they run specials and are much cheaper than anyone else I have found!
Thanks
Dave-RVRC
I want to use one lithium battery in place of the 4 6 volt wet batteries that were std.
what is the a h of the 4 6 volt stds?
what should the a h of the lithium battery be?
what makes of lithium battery are high quality?
how many a h should I have for dry camping?
thanks in advance
bill
Makes a continuous user sound then it takes a while to kick on. Replaced battery, was good but then started doing the same thing.
Hello, I’m a new RV owner and was wanting to install a power inverter to power my tv/dvd while in transit and not have to run the generator. The plug in type are too small and doesn’t provide the sufficient power. I know I need to hard wire an inverter with higher watts. My question is, should I hard wire to the coach battery or the house battery? Any direction would be helpful. Thanks
Looking for info. How Long to run my Cumming 400hp at idle to fully charge my 6 Battery’s?
Hello Randall,
Charging your deep cycle house batteries by using the engine alternator is not the proper method of charging and will result in sulfation between the plates. Lead Acid deep cycle batteries require a multistage charge every month which starts with a high voltage bulk charge at approximately 16-volts which breaks up the sulfation and the a float and equalizing charge. Running your engine simply throws 14-volts into the batteries. It can be used for a temporary charge if they are low and the amount of time will depend on that state of the batteries and the current charge. If you have a larger inverter/converter which most larger diesel pushers do, it probably has the multistage charge feature already and plugging it in to a 30 or 50 amp source would be preferred.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
1-I have a steady drain on my chassie battery and I am trying to track it down, any help is appreciated,,places to look.. 2- I had both house batteries out of the bay for testing and charge when the positive cable hit a ground point an sparked,,Should that have happen?? The only battery in the bus at that time was the chassie battery
Hello Teddy,
To provide more specific troubleshooting information regarding your chassis battery drain we need the make, model, and year of your rig as well as the chassis. As for the chassis, you will always have a power draw on the chassis battery for radio presets, the engine computer, transmission, and other items. Check out the video on the site for parasitic drain and you should be able to isolate where the drain is coming from. The cable hitting the ground would have shorted out items, not caused anything to drain the battery later on.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
How to store without batteries dying reproach plugged into shore power College battery dies after one week I had all of the battery disconnect shut off when was that wrong to do first how to charge up the batteries again
why isn’t my house battery which is new charging from the engine battery?
Engine battery died after turning the engine off to register at a campground. Being driven for an hour ahead of this should have kept the battery charged. Bought the battery 3 months ago.
What Chassis battery do I need to buy
I recently replaced my (2) 12 volt coach batteries, with (2) 6 volt. My questions to the service installers how do you make a 6v work on a 12v system? they connected them in series by connecting the jump cable positive to negative then connected the coach cables the standard way neg. to pos. is that the correct method?
Hello Alberto,
6 volt deep cycle batteries are very common in RVs and the golf cart industry. They typically have better plates, quality, and longevity but you do need two batteries to create a 12-volt DC power supply. So yes, they would connect the positive cable from one battery to the negative cable of the other which would give you a 12-volt power bank or source. That battery bank would be connected parallel to the rig by a positive cable from the positive battery post to the distribution center, and a negative cable from the negative post to ground, just like having one 12-volt battery. What I would ask the service installer is how much amp hours do the new batteries have? When you connect two 12-volt batteries parallel, you double the amp hours or amount of time you can dry camp. When you connect two 6-volt batteries in series, you double the volts, but not the amp hours! So you might have just limited the amount of time you can dry camp, if the batteries were the same group size? Group 24 batteries can be 80-100 amp hours. If they connected two group 27 or 31 6-volt batteries in series, you would have much higher amp hours or battery time.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
Freaking out, bad smell coming from House Batteries, smells like burning smell.. what could this be from ?
Hello Jennifer,
Deep cycle, lead acid batteries will create a gassing or burning smell when they are being charged. That is why they should be in a vented compartment and not allowed to come into the rig. If you have a multi-stage charger the first stage is a bulk charge which could be 16 volts and some high gassing? I would suggest checking the charge with a multi-meter and possibly getting a Battery Minder at Northern Tool which will condition the batteries with a high impact wave and not the gassing and smell.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
How do I hook up my batteries? I have two 12V Marine Batteries for my coach and a 12 volt battery for my chassis. My RV has a Ford 460 Long Block engine on a John Deere Chassis.
Hello Richard,
Your auto battery is connected to the automotive charging/starting system
and separate of the house batteries. Since you have 2 12-volt deep
cycle batteries, connect the 12-volt positive post to the other positive
post and the negative to negative. This will still give you 12-volts
but will doubled the amp hours. Then with a separate battery cable,
connect one positive post to the positive lug of your solenoid which will
go to the distribution center. Use a black negative post to go to
the ground source.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
bank of 4 batteries are these for engine or coach interior, Bank of 2 batteries same question
I am not sure how to connect the wiring on my RV house batteries. I took them out to charge them and now not sure how to connect them back to the coach.
Why will nothing work in my rv if the battery isn’t charged and I just installed a new battery charger but it only comes on for a few seconds all the fuses are good
I just aquired a 29 foot Coachman trailer. The battery was disconnected, there were four wires, two ground and one with power. And one I was told was to run the slide motor. The original owner just touched the wires to battery when moving slide. Should I hook them all up again? It is parked and plugged in all the time. Also my electric bill is very high for just running the fridge. Thanks for any help.
Wiring issues
I am trying to find a wire diagram to connect my house and started battery correctly. We replaced the cylinoid and it friend our jumper cables.
We are first time RV owners and are having a hard time with the lights. We can’t get them to turn on. The RV is connected to a power source but the lights still won’t come on. Everything else inside works microwave, fridge. Any suggestions?
AC won’t work. Just had it installed but i put a charger to the battery and it worked. The micro wave and other electrical devices and outlets works fine but the AC didn’t come on. I checked and noticed the battery died. I replaced it and the AC worked. But the battery won’t stay charged so I’m out in 90 degrees with no AC. Can you help me understand what is going on?
Hello Andre,
To provide more specific troubleshooting information regarding your AC unit not working we need to know the make, model, and year of your RV. However, I assume you are referring to the roof air conditioner on your unit and an puzzled why putting a charger on the battery makes it work as it’s a 120-volt AC appliance and not connected to the house battery? Typically when you are connected to 120-volt shoreline power or running off a generator, power is provided to the distribution center similar to your home with 120-volt circuit breakers for appliances and the roof AC units. Power also goes to the converter which provides a 12-volt charge to the house batteries to run the interior lights, vents, and LP operation of the appliance such as the refrigerator, stove top, water heater, furnace, and others. I would suspect your house battery is sulfated and not able to hold a charge and your converter is drawing more amps trying to charge it which means you do not have enough 120-volt amp power to start the AC? If you connect a battery charger to the house batteries and the AC starts, it means the converter is not wasting amps to charge? You need to have the house batteries checked for storage capacity and the only way to do that is have them charged and connected to a 25 amp draw machine and count the amp hours. You will probably not be able to find this, so when a battery store says they are fine without doing this procedure, they are not qualified to test your house batteries. I would also suggest having a qualified RVIA technician test your converter for DC amp output at the AC unit. The start capacitors need full power to engage and I think you have a low power issue.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
Main battery Aux switch does not seem to disconnect system. LP gas detect light remains on.
Hi, have been researching batteries and now more confused on a choice. My unit came with one marine deep cell battery. I do mostly rv park camping but would like to also do some boondocking. What would you suggest as far as type of battery and group, amp hours, etc. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated thanks.
My gas powered genset runs off the motorhome fuel tank. Will I need to have the motorhome engine running before I can start the genset?
Hello Kenneth,
You will not need to have the engine running to start the generator,
however the generator may start off the engine battery so the disconnect
should be on. Typically the fuel line for the genset is plumbed to
about 1/4 of the tank so you can’t run the fuel tank out of fuel using the
generator.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
My husband and I just bought our rv and like the novices that we are, we thought that we could just plug in our coffee pot while dry camping and it would work. Not the case. How do we run electricity off the battery? Is there a switch or something that will turn this on? We were told the battery is fully charged (I mean we just bought it). Also, is there something special that we need to do besides making sure that everything is turned off, before we plug into a campgrounds electricity? Thanks!
We are hooked up to 50 amp power . All 110 and 220 outlets have full power everything works ! But the e-plex monitor says that the shore power is off and 220 voltage is disabled ! Leg 1 and leg 2 each read 110 volts ! The problem is the house batteries are being drained , the inverter is on and the charger is reading “ABSORB CHARGE ” SHOWING 14.3 AMPS ! When the lights start losing power , i start the coach engine and the lights immediately brighten up and all D.C. Functions turn to normal , after a 20 minute charge the batteries stay up about 4 hours , then we do it all over again ! The energy management system is also changing the air settings by itself ! What do you think ?
Hello Gary,
To provide more specific troubleshooting information regarding your electrical issue we need the make, model, and year of your RV as well as the type of inverter. If your monitor panel shows L1 and L2 are only getting 110-volts, then you are probably have a low voltage issue with the campground source as you should be at 120-volts? You indicated all outlets are at 110 and 220? How did you verify that and what outlet did you find 220-volts? I believe you might have an inverter issue as it shows an absorb stage charge but the batteries are not being charged unless the engine is running which means the engine alternator is charging the batteries, not the inverter? Also, I do not know how the EMS is changing your air settings if you are connected to 50 amps service? The EMS is designed to automatically turn off the air conditioner units when amp draw gets over 30 amps, but should not be affected when hooked to 50 amp service?
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
What is the best way to connect my solar panels to my RV batteries? Do I connect the solar cables to one battery only , or the positive cable on one battery and the negative cable on the other battery? Thank you very much
Hello Russ,
Your RV will have either a 6-volt battery configuration which is connected in series (positive to negative) to create a 12-volt bank, or a 12-volt battery connected parallel (positive to positive, negative to negative) to also create a 12-volt bank with twice the amp hours. Once these are connected, you can hook up your solar panel wires to any of the positive and negative terminals as they are now all connected and working together. Before you just “connect the wires to the batteries”, you need to do a little research on the type of solar panels you have and if you need a charge controller. Nature Power Products has a great website and good information on the right way to connect.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
If I should not discharge the house batteries (two 6 volt) below 50%, how do I know when I have reached 50%? The only practical way I have to measure is with the voltmeter that reads in 0,1 volt increments. I try to keep it above 11.5 volts.
How do I charge my battery for my generator?
The green light on my dash will not go out. The switch itself is for transferring voltage from RV house batteries to engine battery. Normally the light is out, comes on momentarily when you start the engine, then goes out again. Mine however stays on constantly. I had a relay switch replaced but light still stays on. Being that this light (bulb) is connected to house batteries and they are charged by solar, I have just left it alone, as it doesn’t affect anything. Should I just take out the bulb and not worry at all?
Change fuel filter filled up filter with fuel so wouldn’t get any air run for about 10 mins quit an not Ben able to get back running got over 1/2 full of fuel could be fuel pump
Good article for beginners
Where is the Vin number?
I bought my four winds supreme used and it did not come with a users manual how can I find out the year? And where is the Vin number
Hello Kathleen,
I’m assuming this is a travel trailer or 5th well as my search does not bring up motorized? You should have gotten a title with the purchase of the unit as well as DOT registration that would have the model year as well as the VIN number? Also, there should be a data plate typically on the front A frame.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
Hi. We disconnect both our house and chassis battery during storage. But there still seems to be power to the co2 detector ( it is beeping because the battery is disconnected). And also the system panel that tells you your tank fullness etc still has power. How is that possible with both batteries disconnected? the Co2 detector is hard wired, does not have a battery. We remove the positive battery cable on both batteries as our way of disconnecting. We do not have a switch of any kind. We do not have a solar panel however there is one of those battery maintainer solar panels up on the AC unit on the roof, but I doubt its working.
I guess we can pull the fuse on the Co2 detector but I am still puzzled.
Hello Shelley,
Most of the newer Carbon Monoxide (CO) detectors that are hard wired to power also have a 9-volt battery back up that will give a beep signal if the hard wire power is disconnected and the 9-volt battery is getting low. Since you indicated a chassis and house battery, it seems you have a motorhome? Do you have more than one house battery? If you have two 12-volt batteries connected together in parallel (positive to positive, negative to negative), disconnecting just one positive cable might be the “add on” battery and the other is still providing power to the rig?
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
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Is this appropriate house battery?
My recently acquired MH has a multistage coverter/charger. Based I what I read experts recommend leaving the rv plugged in to our home A.C. power source to maintain the deep cycle coach batteries. My RV dealer says absolutely not. Always disconnect to avoid damage to batteries. Battery water levels are still ok. What am I to believe?
Hello John,
If it is a true multi-stage charger with an bulk stage first charge, then a equalization and float charge it is best to leave it plugged in to condition. Your dealer is referring to a traditional charger that will sense the batteries are low and dump a charge which can sometimes overcharge and boil the batteries but at the very least creates sulfation. If you unplug the rig, the batteries will drain and also sulfate. Make sure you have the proper power for the MH to plug into. Typical residential outlets are ganged to others in the garage and connected to a single 10-amp breaker. It’s a good idea to have an electrician put in a dedicated 20-amp breaker and outlet just for the RV.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
something in my camper is discharging my battery even with the breakers all turned off . What can be doing this ? I currently have to disconnect the battery as it will dead in a week .
Hello Davey,
This is commonly referred to as a parasitic drain. You indicated “even with the breakers turned off”? The only breakers you can turn off are the 120-volt circuit breakers in the distribution panel all of which are not connected to the 12-volt house battery system so turning the breakers off will not disconnect any appliance using the house battery system. The 12-volt system has automotive style fuses that plug into the circuit and must be removed to disconnect. Items that will draw off the house batteries are interior lights, compartment lights, roof vents, and any appliance that runs on LP. Even if you have everything off, there are a few components that will still draw from the battery such as the LP leak detector, CO detector and even a radio as it needs power to keep the preset stations in memory! Check out the video on our site about checking for a parasitic drain on the batteries. I would bet it’s the LP leak detector! The best thing is to get a battery disconnect switch for about $40 and just hit the switch when you put it into storage.
Thanks,
David RVRC Video Membership
We’d love to have you be a part of our community. We are convinced you will enjoy the benefits of becoming a member and having access to the best instructional how to videos and professional tips. We would like to offer you a special promotion for your first year membership.
How to operate Fridge. First 3way I have owned.
I have a 2006 Pleasure-Way Plateau TS with a group 24 AGM 12v 85 AH house battery that appears to have been installed in 2014. All the lighting has been changed to LED to reduce power consumption. The problem that I have is that the house battery drains to the point of depletion overnight if the LP furnace (power used to operate the fan motor) is frequently used during cold nights. I do have the battery hooked up to a 6 step charger that I keep plugged in which charges while I am connected to AC. I have read that other Pleasure-Way class B owners have lamented on the lack of house battery power. Do you know of any examples of RV’ers successfully adding a second house battery to their Class-B Pleasure-Way RVs?
Is there anything different to consider for using a battery disconnect on two 6volt batteries connected in series. I ran the switch between the free negative end of one battery and the wire that leads to my frame ground? After a half hour my trailer slowly gains a charge lighting up my Co2 detector even when the switch is in the off position. Eventually the LED lights power on. Help! There is also a battery charger quick-connect plug connected to free positive pole and free negative poll of both batteries, if that makes a difference.
My question is: we are connected to shoreline power source. However, our coach battery is not charging/showing a full charge on the display panel when plugged in. Should it not show full charge when plugged into power source? Can you suggest what we may doing wrong. Is there a specific sequence to plugging into power, ie: disconnect the battery, etc. Thank you….
I just bought a new back up battery and installed. I cannot get the switch to turn on the battery
I need adiagram concerninng a 3 battery hookup on said motorhone
shore power works but not aux battery. New battery installed
I am having a problem with the batteries. I bought a new one, but I know nothing about these batteries. I was Told they were all charged, I put them in according to the diagram I drew, they started the motor home. i went back two weeks later, nothing. No start, no click, nothing. But, i checked the batteries, and the new one read 12.6, the others read 0. I don’t know which one is the starting battery.
Hi, Julia. We would be happy to assist you; we just need some more information. What is the make/model/year of your RV?
We bought two new deep cell batteries for our coach last year. Now we are having problems with the chassis batteries. They are also deep cell batteries. What are the best type to purchase and what is the best way to keep them charged? Should we get a battery minder to use when we are storing for long periods? If so, we would have to remove them to charge as where we store has no electricity. Is this ok? Would we only do this when we have stored for winter?
Hi, Linda. To provide more specific troubleshooting information we need to know the make, model, year, and chassis type of your RV. Your chassis batteries should not be deep cycle batteries, rather start batteries which need more cold cranking amps rather than extended amp hours? Deep cycle batteries are designed to be drained to 10.5 amps and recharged constantly while start batteries are designed to be topped off all the time. If start batteries are drained to often, they will go bad. The battery minder is an excellent product for either deep cycle batteries or start batteries, check out their site at: http://www.batteryminder.com
I would suggest getting the solar panel version of the Battery Minder which is excellent for conditioning the battery during storage when you do not have electricity available.
Hi, Linda. To provide more specific information on the type of battery that is best for your application we need to know the make, model, and year of your RV as well as the chassis type. Typically the engine battery is not a deep cycle battery, rather a start battery that is designed to provide large starting current to turn over and start the engine for a short period of time. They are measure in Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) which is the amps a battery can deliver at zero degrees for 30 seconds and not fall below 7 amps. Deep cycle batteries are measured in Amp Hours to provide a steady power over a long period of time.
If you are looking for engine batteries, I would recommend visiting a parts store and ask for the best CCA battery for your engine?
I just purchased a 1984 GMC Vandura 3500 I am a newbie to motor coaches and need to learn just about everything about the coach as I have absolutely no direct info on it. If you know of a place to get them please let me know every place I’ve looked the don’t go that far back. I would like to know which battery is stock for it
There was very little documentation back in the early 80’s by most companies and finding something specific to your model will be very difficult. One thing I would suggest is browse through the used websites to find a similar model for sale and contact the seller to see if they would sell a copy of the owner’s manual? Don’t pay to much as you’ll be disappointed at the generic description and lack of specific direction for appliances and operations. You are better off getting the brand and model of each of the appliances and air conditioning unit and will have better luck finding manuals for those. As for operation of the fresh water, waste water, toilet, and appliances, they are very similar to some of the basic operations today. Check out the videos on our site, several where shot on a 1994 Suncruiser so the even though it’s 10 years older than your model, it has similar operations and even has operations that are used in today’s RVs! As for the stock battery, it’s was probably a single 12-volt deep cycle battery and since it’s a smaller Class C, I would guess a group 24. Depending on how much dry camping you do, you’ll probably want to go up to a group 27.
Is there any truly effective way to recondition 6 and 12 volt batteries?
Won’t start. New batteries. One reads 12.65 and the other reads 36.13. Same reading when checked separately or hooked up together.
when I stored my rv I put the switch in store mode.3 weeks later I went too start and all the batters were dead including the start battery. what would cause this to happen. I now have it plugged in and switch is in use mode and everything is fine. dealer is telling me to leave it plugged in when being stored. is this common practice and will it hurt my batterys leaving them plugged in for a long period of time
Hi, Richard. When you state: “…I put the switch in store mode” I assume you are referring to the battery disconnect switch? This disconnects the battery from most of the 12-volt appliances so hopefully you will not have a drain on the batteries while in storage, however most RV manufacturers have the LP Leak Detector wired direct and it will drain the batteries in as little as 3 weeks! You can tell if there is a drain by conducting a parasitic draw test, remove the negative cable from the house battery post, using a multimeter on the 12-volt amp setting, connect one probe to the cable in your hand, the other to the negative post. If you see a reading, usually .05 amp draw, then you have a draw from something in the coach, probably the LP Leak Detector. If you don’t have a draw, then your batteries are sulfated and will not store energy long enough. Just leaving the unit plugged in will keep the batteries “topped off” but will still allow them to sulfate and loose storage capacity. Lead acid batteries need to be charged once a month with a multi-stage charge which starts with a high voltage charge that literally boils the acid and breaks up the sulphation. Then it goes into a equalizing and float stage and if your rig doesn’t have a large inverter with this function, the typical converter will not charge them properly. This is a huge problem in the industry! I would recommend installing a Battery Minder that sends high impact waves into the battery to condition without the boil an gassing common to the bulk stage charge. Northern Tool sells them for the best price, even cheaper than Battery Minder! They claim it will increase the life of your batteries by 200 cycles, which could be 2-3 years.
I want to change from 1 12 volt to 2 six volt batteries, What is the best 6 volt battery to buy?
Hi Richard. My first question is why you want to replace the one 12-volt deep cycle battery with two 6-volt batteries? A big misconception in the RV industry is that two 6-volt batteries will give me twice the capacity of a 12-volt battery which is not true. To use the 6-volt battery you need to purchase 2 batteries and connect them in series which is positive (+) to positive (+) and negative (-) to negative (-) and then run the positive and negative to the coach. This gives you 12-volts but does not increase the amp hours or give you more storage capacity. If it’s a group 24 series, both the 12-volt and two 6-volt give you the same amp hours but you have twice the price in two batteries. What the 6-volt will do for you is give you more cycles and typically last longer, however if you properly charge your batteries and reduce sulfation, you probably will not make up the cost difference. My second question is how much dry camping are you planning to do, which determines the amount of battery capacity you actually need and the correct battery for you.
Lead acid batteries, especially the single 12-volt models have gotten some bad press so to speak as most owners did not properly charge and store them and they became sulfated and lost capacity sometimes within 6 months
So to answer your question, the best 6-volt battery (you will need 2) is the one with the amp hours rated for your usage. And this is all referencing lead acid batteries. If you do a lot of dry camping and do not have a multistage charger to properly charge the batteries, I would recommend going to Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries that are less affected by sulfation, but again do not have more storage capacity within the groups such as 24, 27, and 31. Trojan has been a trusted battery supplier for the RV industry for years for both lead acid and AGM, while Lifetime and Optima have become popular in the AGM models. US Battery has just entered the market and I’ve been impressed with their batteries and components used, however they do not have the distribution and service network as some of the others.
Please review wiring suggestions. It looks to me you have 6volt batteries in parallel not series.
Hello,
I have two house batteries joined together. Recently i replaced one that was apparently dead. So i know have an old one amd a new one of different makes and ages joined together. Is this a problem, and will it effect the efficiency on the batteries?
Thanks,
Jo
Hi Jo. You should always replace both batteries unless your are certain the good battery is fairly new and has at least 80% storage capacity. This is hard to determine as you would need to charge them up and install a 25 amp draw machine and time the drain! Chances are if you had to replace one battery, the other is sulfated to a state that will draw down the new battery and it will also start to sulfate much faster. I would recommend getting another new battery and also getting a Battery Minder which will condition your batteries and they claim extend the life by over 200 cycles, that could be 3-4 years! I get mine at Northern Tool.
looking for a cable diagram for 4 house batteries on a 1998 diesel pusher
We recently had to replace both the engine and coach batteries. We are newbies to RV big. There is a button at the door for battery use or store. What is that button supposed to be on ?
Hi, Amy. Welcome to the wonderful world of RVing and thanks for the opportunity to assist with your battery switch question. This switch is commonly
called the Battery Disconnect Switch and is designed to disconnect your house batteries while being stored. Pushing it to the Storage side is like taking off the battery cable. It ensures that if you have left a light on in a compartment or anything inside, it will not drain your house batteries. Some RV manufacturers connect the LP Leak Detector directly to the battery bypassing the disconnect so you may still have a draw even with the switch on Storage! To find out if this is the case with your rig, get a 12-volt test light, push the switch to storage, then disconnect the negative terminal on one of the batteries. Touch the probe to the post and the alligator clip to the cable. If the light comes on, you have a draw.
we just bought the RV a month ago great deal but when we got home there was no Battery. Question, should the Battery come with the RV when sold.
Hi, Kevin. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. Most manufacturers do have a
house battery that is listed as a standard feature and included in the base price, however some of the trailer manufacturers leave it as an option due to the various sizes of batteries available. No sense putting in a group 24 battery standard when the potential owner wants to boondock and needs 2 group 27 batteries in which case they would have paid for all three! Some owners even want the expensive AGM batteries so there are various choices. Check your spec sheet which lists all the standard and optional items on your coach to see if there is a battery listed, then revisit your dealer for clarification.
I have put a new battery behind the lp gas bottles, but cannot figure out how to switch over from electric to the battery power.
Hi, Joel. We would be happy to assist you; we just need some more information. What is the make/model/year of your RV?
I had my 2 12V chassis batteries replaced in my MH. There is one cable not attached in the battery compartment. There were three cables attached when I took it in for service but, when I got it back one was not attached. Everything seems to work but would like to put back this cable where it came from. It is a little smaller than the other two (Positive & Negitive) but still quite large. Can you help? Thanks in advance.
Hi, Jim. We would be happy to assist you; we just need some more information. What is the year/make/model of your RV?
I recently purchased this Coach and I believe that the house batteries (4-6V wet cell batteries wired in series/parralell) are near the end of their life. Since putting the coach into storage I have been using the generator which starts off the house batteries to occasionally recharge the house batteries. This becomes more difficult in colder weather due to the generator becoming harder to start and the slightly depleted condition of the house batteries. Is it possible to jump (from a car for example) or connect an outside generator to these batteries while still connected in their current configuration? I do have a disconnect switch on both the domestic system and on-board generator. Thanks, Bruce.
Hi, Bruce. This is by far our most popular question/issue on the site. Over the past 30+ years I’ve been in the RV industry, everyone has had an issue with lead acid batteries at one time or another. They seem to last only 2-3 years when they should last twice that! It’s all due to sulfation, when the batteries are not charged properly or allowed to discharge for a long period of time, sulfur forms on the plates and they loose the ability to store a charge. Lead acid batteries should be charged once a month with a multi-stage charger which boils the acid at a high voltage charge to break up the sulfation and then goes into a float and equalizing charge. Unless you have a very expensive 2000 watt inverter, this doesn’t happen. Since you indicated you are starting the generator to charge your batteries, I assume you do not have 120-volt AC power at the storage area? You can not charge your batteries with a jump start, however you can use an outside generator if it has enough power to plug the coach in and run the onboard converter. A better option in my opinion is to install a Battery Minder with the solar panel option if you are storing the unit outside with access to sunlight. Another option is to take the batteries out and keep them connected to a Battery Minder in your garage plugged into an outlet. The Battery Minder provides a high impact wave to the batteries conditioning them without the gassing you get from the high voltage boil so less acid loss and better battery condition. They claim to be able to extend the life of your batteries by over 200 cylces, that’s 2-3 years for the average RVer! Check out the site at http://www.batteryminders.com for more information, but you’ll want to purchase the product at Northern Tool as they are running specials all the time. https://www.northerntool.com/all-categories
During winter storage should I leave it plugged into shore power all of the time, or just plug it in occasionally
how to hook up three batteris with starting sol 30 amp fuse gener
have three battery have battery Isolator starting sol 30amp fuse
hooking up three battery have a battery isolator starting solenoid 40 anp fuse
Engine battery set up
What should the 6 volt house batteries read when fully charged. Thanks
Hi, Jim. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your 6-volt battery question. Each cell fully charged should read 2.1-volts so the individual battery should read 6.3-volts and when connected in series (positive to negative) should read 12.6-volts.
How can you tell if a battery is maintenance free, or can be opened up to check fluid levels ??
Hi, John. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. Maintenance free batteries will have no fill caps and typically will have maintenance free stamped on the label. All deep cycle flooded cell batteries require some maintenance as the proper charging will produce a high voltage charge to break up sulfation which causes gassing and a slight loss of fluid. GEL and AGM batteries are maintenance free as far as checking fluids, but still require a periodic check of the connections and cleaning terminals.
About the house batterers – Still not sure ,,what is the best way to store them in the off season ,,leave them in the motor home and have the 110 volt plugged in ,,or disconnect them ,,and charge them a few times during the winter. I have my unit inside all winter. Thanks for your help. Really enjoy this app. Great advise !!!👍Frank
Thanks for visiting the RV Repair Club site Frank! In my opinion, the best way to store your batteries for the winter is to disconnect them to make sure there is nothing draining them like the LP Leak Detector or CO Detector or other parasitic drain. Get a Battery Minder from Northern Tool and hook it up all winter. This will send high impact waves to condition rather than boiling and gassing.
the flood lite on the door side stays on battery sw off lite on what goes here?
Hi, Mike. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. By flood light I assume you are talking about the entrance door light? If not, you may have an aftermarket flood light that was installed and wired directly to the battery vs. the distribution center? The entrance light should be wired directly to the distribution center with a spade type fuse on the panel and can be “ganged” with other lights. If you turn off the battery disconnect switch and the light stays on, it’s wired directly to the battery, not to the distribution center and the battery disconnect is always down stream of the battery so it would not shut it off. Take off the cable to the negative post and the light should go off. Then you will need to trace the wire to find out how it’s connected. My guess is at the post or on the front side of the disconnect solenoid.
just got to my winter campground, been here two weeks i think i let my house battery run down, before i got here i was driving every week so it kept my 120 ah battery fully charged. My heater worked the first three nites but now the blower comes on but ignitor does not even try to light .. naive that i am i thought the shore power would keep my battery charged. could this be reason the ignitor is not trying to going on? and how long must i run rv to charge the battery? thanks brian
Hi, Brian. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery and heater issue. First, the batteries must have at least 10.5 volts for the LP valve to open on the furnace and it’s deceiving because the fan will run, just no heat! A big part of the problem with lead acid batteries is most RV owners don’t know the proper procedure in charging them and they become sulfated and only have partial capacity to store energy. Lead acid batteries need to be charged once a month with a multi-stage charger that starts with a high voltage “boil” and then goes into a equalizing and float stage. If you do not have a large 2000 w inverter, you are not charging them properly. So when you get to the campground and plug into a 30 amp outlet, there may not be enough power going to the converter to stay up with weak batteries! I would suggest getting a Battery Minder from Northern Tool and keep it connected to your house batteries. This will send high impact waves into the batteries and condition them if they are not to far gone already? Also, driving will provide a charge from the engine alternator, but again, not the multi-stage procedure required.
does the converter on a Thunderbolt Solar charger fit the definition of a smart converter?
Hi, Rodney. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your solar charger question. It depends on your definition of “Smart” charger? The Thunderbolt is a typical charging regulator the has an overcharging protection at 14 volts and a discharge protection of 10.5 volts so it does have some features that make it “smarter” than a standard on/off charging system. What is typically considered a “Smart” charger is one that has a multi-stage charging system which starts with a high impact charge to break up sulfation and then goes into an equalizing and float charge. Your solar panel can be part of this system, however it’s a separate item and you need a multi-stage charger to obtain the proper charge.
While in storage I have the TT hooked up at home 50 amp, all the time does this hurt the battery,
Hi, David. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your storage question. If the rig is connected to 50 amp, the onboard converter should charge the batteries when needed, however unless you have a large inverter with a multi-stage charger, it just does a steady charge and your batteries will sulfate. Check to see if you have a larger inverter and that it has a multi-stage charger, if not I would recommend the Battery Minder which sends a high impact wave to break up the sulfation and condition the batteries rather than just a high voltage boil. You can find the Battery Minder at http://www.batteryminder.com or Northern Tool
Re: Battery basics. You noted that the best reserve capacity rating indicates the best battery, but when I review the batteries for sale at Camping World, Pep Boys, etc, the conventional flooded battery usually shows a longer reserve capacity and is cheaper. That makes me question which battery I should purchase to get the longest use while dry camping. Just looking at the reserve capactiy ratings it appears the cheaper best is the best choice. Any guidance you can give will be helpful.
Hi, Galen. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question and thanks for bringing this up. In the video we should have covered the capacities in more detail which we will be doing in the next few months. As you indicated, Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) batteries do not provide more reserve capacity or amp hours automatically. The misconception with AGM batteries is the average RV comes with a Group 24 lead acid battery and after a year or so it’s dead so owners are told to get an AGM battery that provides more power. They purchase a Group 27 AGM and it does last longer, provides more power so it must be better. Truth is, the lead acid and AGM in the same Group 24 or whatever rating have similar capacity but the lead acid battery requires much more maintenance and proper charging which usually does not happen and it starts to sulfate quickly and loses power, sometimes even before the customer takes delivery. Lead acid batteries will provide more capacity at a cheaper price IF you can properly maintain, charge, and store them which means a multistage charger or expensive inverter which most owner don’t have. My advice, buy the lead acid at the capacity you need and get a Battery Minder from Northern Tool and you will have very few battery headaches!
I have been storing my camper in the drive way. Had two new batteries stolen when they were connected to my camper right in the drive way. Truns out that the thieves wanted them for the sulfuric acid for manufacturing meth. Many campers in my neighborhood were stolen this August. I am adding a suggestion to your battery maintenance, store them away from the camper especially if the camper is available to the general public. I plan to store any new batteries in my garage until I need them for use. Thank you
I have a 2016 THOR Fourwinds Super Class C Model# 35SK MotorHome. When in storage and not connected to shore power and the house batteries in storage mode I use a BatteryMINDer Plus Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator – 1.3 Amp, 12 Volt, Model# 12117. Will this charger/maintainer have any affect on the inverter (Xantrex XM1800 pro)?
Hi, Ken. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your Battery Minder question. First, let me congratulate you on installing the Battery Minder! The Battery Minder will not have any affect on your Inverter as it is connected to the battery terminals and just works within the 12-volt circuit created. This product has been used in the airline industry for years with much more sophisticated electronics without any issues.
I have 2 batteries I take them out and store them in my workshop what can I do to keep the ready for spring?
Hello Robert!
That’s a great question!
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With campgrounds all having electric , we only dry camp while traveling to next destination . I use regular batteries, the same that the engine takes. If the engine battery goes bad I can replace with the coach battery. My last set lasted 8 years.
Both chassis and coach batteris will discharge in a time of 2-3 days in temporary storage, I suspect the solenoid that is used to connect the batteries for emergency starting is sticking closed.
Hi, Robert. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery drain issue. You need to find out two things, what condition are your batteries in, and what is causing the drain. To check the drain, start with the chassis battery and disconnect the negative cable. Use a multi-meter set for amp draw and place the red probe to the negative post and the black touching the cable connection. Read the amp draw. Next, disconnect the solenoid in the battery compartment that provides a jump to the engine battery and a charge to the house while driving. Do the same multi-meter test and see if the amp draw has gone down? This will tell you if the house system is draining the engine battery. Your engine battery will have a slight drain from the radio with pre-set stations and the CPU holding all the fuel/air values. It should not drain in 2-3 days! Next, do the same test on the house batteries to find out what is draining them as well. Even with a battery disconnect, some manufacturers connect the LP Leak Detector and CO Detector directly to the batteries. Find out what is drawing power. Second, if you have sulfated batteries, they may only be operating at 50% or less capacity! If not properly charged using a multi-stage charger that boils the liquid to break up the sulfation, then an equalizing and float charge, batteries will start to sulfate in as little as 2-3 weeks and lose capacity. Left unattended, they can become almost worthless in as little as 6 months. The only way to truly check what state they are in is to properly charge them and connect to a 25 amp draw machine and see how long it takes for them to reach 10.5 volts. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone that does that. I would suggest looking at the Battery Minder product that sends high impact waves into the battery to break up the sulfation. We have several videos on the site and you can get more info at http://www.batteryminder.com There is a solar version specifically designed for storage in areas without electricity. They claim the product will extend the life of your batteries by over 200 cycles!
If I plug in my trailer to power supply without the storage battery attached would it hurt the power converter, even though I have isolated my battery cables?
Hi, Jack. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your power converter question. It will not hurt the converter, however I’m not sure why you would need to plug it in if you’ve disconnected the batteries? One thing you can do is shut off the circuit breaker for the converter, then you will make sure nothing is trying to run?
I installed 2 – 6 volt AGM batteries @ 138 amp. he’s. Per battery. They can’t provide enough power to bring in the RV slides without doing it in short stages. This seems to suck the load and I feel damage the battery bank. Can I tie in 2 12volt to system to get the cranking amps needed to pull in slides and raise front Jack’s ? I hope to be able to do short stints of dry camping, but not until the slides can operate with confidence.
Hi, Tim. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery capacity issue. One misconception about 6-volt batteries and AGM is that most people think they are more powerful batteries and will double capacity…not true. Connecting two 6-volt batteries in series creates a 12-volt system but still only provides the 138 amp capacity. AGM batteries are not necessarily higher capacity as they come in the same Group sizes as lead acid. The advantage of AGM is they require less maintenance and over time, hold better capacity as they do not sulfate as fast and as much. Putting in 2 more 12-volt deep cycle batteries might help the problem in the short term, but will sulfate faster especially if your converter/charger recognizes the AGM batteries as it will charge differently in some cases. You did not mention they type of rig, Trailer or Motorized, but one thing you might want to try is turning on the engine battery if motorized as this will help boost the house batteries in most cases? If it’s a trailer, connect to your tow vehicle and start it which should also provide a charge through the engine alternator. Otherwise I would recommend adding 2 more 6-volt AGM batteries but maybe go up one more group size? Also, you did not indicate the type/brand of battery? If you are not using Optima, Lifeline, Trojan, or US Battery, I doubt you are getting the actual rated capacity? Bargain brand batteries have thinner plates, and a whole host of issues, fine if you plug in all the time! Last thing, have someone check the amp draw of the slide mechanism motor to make sure it’s not working to hard? If the motor is getting weak, the room is binding, or there is too much weight, it will draw more amps than intended and the batteries can’t handle the draw?
If your RV has wet cell batteries it is far easier on the batteries to service (top off electrolyte levels) often. Having to add a small amount of distilled water impacts the battery far less than checking batteries once or twice a year and making large fluid stall nets. Even adding distilled water the battery must “work” to change the fluid you added into the electrolyte fluid it can store energy in.
What is routing of the battery cables. A picture rather than a wiring diagram. Thanks
Jim
jimhaworth@cox.net
Hi, Jim. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. Attached are two photos (see your Email for attachments), one is a 6-volt system connected in series, the other is 12-volt connected parallel. The 6-volt has 4 batteries and you’ll notice the front 2 are turned opposite of the back two. Two short cables connect the positive post of one to the negative post of the other on both sets. This leaves a negative post seen on the back two batteries to go to the ground source, and two positive posts on the front two batteries to go to the distribution center.
The second photo is a 12-volt system with the black negative wire going from negative to negative, and the red wire going from positive to positive keeping the voltage at 12-volts but doubling the amp hours.
Help. What type of batteries to keep down maintenance ?
Hi, Mike. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. To reduce the amount of maintenance, I would suggest going with an Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) battery which has no fill vents and requires little maintenance, however they are much more expensive for the same amp hours rating. Lifeline, Trojan, and even US Battery all offer a very good RV AGM battery. Do not go with bargain brand, they will not last!
My generator can be set to automatically start to keep the batteries from going dead. My question is at what voltage would you set the auto start at to keep from damaging the batteries?
Hi, Bob. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your generator charging question. Not sure what type of system you have but generally Onan’s EC-30 is one of the most popular in the RV Industry as most onboard generators are Onan. According the the service manual, when set to the auto position, the generator will start when the charge indicator gets to one of three bars but they do not tell what that voltage is? It states that the manual operation can be set to “Start @ V” between 10.5 and 12.5 volts. The chart indicates a battery has 0% charge at 11.8 volts? I would set it at 11.8 volts to start and if it’s turning on the generator too often, maybe dial down a little lower.
How many six volt batteries can fit in to my battery compartment and to you have a picture on how they would be wired
Hi, Doug. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. Without the make, model, and year of your rig, it’s not possible to determine the size compartment and number of batteries required. There are also different sizes of 6-volt batteries available however the common size is 10.3” long, 7.11” wide, and 11.07” tall. So if you put two side by side, it would take up 14.22” x 10.3” in your compartment. Keep in mind you have to add two at a time to increase capacity as they are connected in series, positive to negative to get 12-volts. You can measure your compartment and find out if you have room for 2, 4, or 6 if needed. If not, you can go up in amp hour capacity but the price goes up dramatically also.
What causes the metal battery slide out tray to get acid residue all over it? Even with clean and coated cable ends, it makes a big mess. What can be done to prevent it? THX
Hi, Mike. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery issue. It sounds like you have lead acid batteries and they are overcharging, boiling the acid and gassing inside the compartment. This is a common problem with lead acid batteries and standard distribution centers with converters that simply dump a constant charge into the batteries. I would suggest getting a Battery Minder that sends high impact waves into the batteries to break up sulfation and condition the batteries. This will have no boiling or gassing effect and they claim will extend the life of your batteries by 200 cycles! You can get them at Northern Tool. Another option would be to replace your converter with a new model smart charger from Progressive Dynamics. It will do a multi-stage charge so you don’t overcharge the batteries.
What batteries do I need to get for my motor home?
Hey Cyndi,
We would love to answer this expert question for you but I would need the year, make, and model of your RV. Once we receive the information, we can pass it along to the experts.
Please let us know if you have any further questions
Sincerely,
Danesha
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Our car battery will not stay charged. Camping world’s solution was to put a disconnect switch on the car battery. The RV stayed on their lot for about a month waiting for other RV parts to come and to be installed. When I anxiously picked the RV up, I had to use the emergency start button which worked. My thinking was that the battery would charge on the drive home. It did not. I put a charger on it and it would not take the charge. The problem of the battery discharging to the point that it will not start the RV is a problem that we have had since day 1 of our ownership and in spite of complaint’s it remains unfixed and now it looks like my 2016 RV needs a new battery. Any ideas about what could be draining the battery to the point of deadness on a new vehicle because Camping world does not seem to know?
Hi, Bruce. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your engine battery drain issue. You did not provide the make, model, and chassis of your rig but it seems to be a motorhome? Since it’s a 2016 and has been a problem from the start, I would contact the RV manufacturer to see if you can get the service district manager involved at this point. All engine batteries will have a slight draw on them, usually the radio to keep the preset stations and the computer to maintain all the settings for fuel/air etc. This should not be enough to drain the battery dead quickly so a qualified mechanic needs to do a parasitic drain test with a multimeter to find the actual draw and find the culprit? My guess is the dealership let it sit on the lot for a long time before selling it and the engine battery drained several times which is a death sentence for automotive batteries, and it was weak or no good from the time you took it home?
I have 2 group 37 batterys that came with the 5th wheel,do you think i need more batterys or larger ones for dry camping.I believe the generator starts off them also .I have a 5500 gen which if it starts we are ok.
Hi, Russell. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. Are you sure you have a group 37 battery as I have not come across the major battery companies that offer that size? Usually smaller RV’s come with a group 24 and larger models have a group 27 or 31? I would assume it’s a group 27 and the amount of power available depends on 6-volt vs 12-volt? If you have two 6-volt batteries connected in series which is positive to negative giving you a 12-volt system, it does not double the amp hours of the battery so you would have about 145 minutes at 25 amp usage. If it’s two 12-volt batteries connected parallel, positive to positive and negative to negative, then you double the amp hours to 290 at 25 amps. The other question is how well have they been maintained, charged, and properly stored? Lead acid batteries require a multistage charge every month to reduce sulfation which is a high voltage bulk stage charge that boils the acid and breaks up the sulfation, then a float and equalizing charge. If you do not have a very large inverter with this feature, you probably have some stage of sulfation and your batteries can not hold the designed charge which means less capacity to store energy and less power. To figure out how much battery power you need for dry camping, you need to calculate the power needed for items you run on 12-volt such as lights, refrigerator, LP appliances, vent fans, and 120-volt items from an inverter. Two group 27 batteries will last longer if you maintain them and reduce
your 12-volt consumption: Install a Battery Minder, this will condition the batteries with a high impact wave to break up the sulfation and extend the life by over 200 cycles! You can get one at Northern Tool. This will even help recondition a battery that has already begun to sulfate! Replace your current interior light bulbs with LED bulbs. These use about 10 times less volts than traditional bulbs. Use a catalytic heater whenever possible for heat. These run off on board batteries rather than house batteries and supply safe heat. Use the campfire to make coffee and tea. Using the stove or inverter for a coffee maker uses house battery power. Supplement charging power with Solar Panels.
just to correct an answer: LED bulbs use less POWER (and current) than incandescent, and could use less voltage, but 12V replacement LED bulbs use the identical 12 Volts as those bulbs they replace.
Where is the engine battery located?
Hi Evelyn!
That’s a great question!
The ‘Ask an Expert’ section is currently for members to our online community. We do have a promotional offer if you are interested. This would include access to expert advice (like this), plus discounts, hours of Premium videos, etc. Please feel free to take a look. You can message us right back with your question if you decide to become a member and you will have a response within 1-2 business days from our experts!
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When hooking up to 50 amp I park, should you do the disconnect battery switch? Then periodically run generator to recharge house batteries with battery connect switch on?
Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your battery question. It depends on the type of distribution center you have, what type of inverter, and how long you are leaving it plugged in? If you are staying in the vehicle using appliances and such, I would not disconnect the batteries, rather let the converter of your distribution center properly charge the batteries as needed. If you have a large inverter/charger it will do a multistage charge as needed and is one of the best battery conditioners available.
Hello there, my 2 volt batteries are not charging off the generator. But are charging while on shore it while driving. After reading a bit her . Should I be checking my multistage convertor, is so I have a muli meter and amp light. Help!! And thank you your a God send.
Hello Kathy,
Thank you for your patience while I asked the expert, here is the reply:
You want to check the converter when the generator is running. You should have more than 12.7VDC output from the converter when on shore power and on the generator. The converter is what charges when on shore power. When on generator there are technically two chargers. The converter will be getting the 120v from the generator which will charge the batteries but the generator does have a built in charger that feeds back to the batteries to charge them. If the batteries aren’t getting charged only from the generator then the batteries are isolated somehow from the converter and the charger on the generator has failed. Make sure you aren’t turning any disconnect switches off when turning on the generator. You shouldn’t have to do anything but turn it on. Make sure to check the connections from the generator to the battery as well. If everything at the generator and battery looks fine then you want to check the output of the converter. If it is lower than 12.7VDC then the issue is most likely the voltage regulator on the generator. Many converters base their output voltage on the input voltage from the 120v system. If the voltage going to the converter is low then the output will be low as well. This would then prevent the charging system from working. If the converter output is low then check the voltage at an outlet when the generator is running. If it is below 108vAC then the regulator on the generator is bad and would need replaced. These are the best things to check first.
Sincerely,
Dan
RV Repair Club Technical Expert
How do I set up my cabin for dry camping using only batteries? Do I have to have to have a seperate inverter or do I need to adjust any cabin switches to use battery only
Hi, James. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your dry camping question. First you need to identify the appliances that run off 120-volt power and if you need to have them running while your dry camping. Small items like the TV and DVD player can run off 120-volt power provided by a small inverter that draws from the 12-volt house batteries. Larger items like the AC unit and microwave must have 120-volt power from either a campground source or generator, although some smaller microwaves can run off larger inverters and bigger battery bank. You will need to run your refrigerator on the LP mode and most of the other appliances such as water heater, stove top, and furnace all run on LP with 12-volt power to assist. One big thing to consider is the amount of battery capacity you have and how you are going to recharge it? Solar is an option as well as a generator.
I am wondering if the genetator starts off the coach or the deep cell sry new to rvs
How to test a 200amp solenoid that keeps switching back and forth when the rv is connected to a 50amp power and the system has two or more appliances on? Will replacing the solenoid correct this issue?
Hi, Richard. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your electrical issue. To provide more specific information, we need to know the make, model, and year of your RV and what component the 200 amp solenoid is part of and what it’s “switching back and forth” to or from? It’s possible you are referring to a battery disconnect or isolator such as the Intellitec version or other model? With a little more info we should be able to help troubleshoot.
What is the proper routing of cranking and coach battery cables
Hi, Thomas. We would be happy to assist you; we just need some more information. What is the make/model/year of your RV?
Enjoyed the video
we have a 32 ft class C motorhome. We are wondering where our RV battery would be located.
Hi, George. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your house battery question. To provide more specific information about house battery location we need the make, model, and year of your RV. Typically most Class C manufacturers placed the house batteries in a small compartment on the passenger side outside the rig.
Can not locate house battery?
We are a first time owner of a motorhome Our refrigerator works on LP, but not on electricity. What could be wrong?
Hi, George. We would be happy to assist you; we just need some more information. What is the make/model/year of your RV?
A refrigerator that works off of propane will still need battery power when dry camping. The refrigerator still has electronic components to operate the front panel off/on switch, temp control.
Same with your microwave, your MW has a clock and still will pull power from your batteries when dry camping. There are several other device or appliances that are drawing power from batteries when dry camping. With everything turn off in my trailer the batteries still had a 150 watt draw. That’s why it is important to have a battery disconnect switch so when the trailer is in storage that you don’t run your batteries down.
If your house batteries are taken out can you still move the Motor home?
Hi, Geralf. Thank you for visiting the RV Repair Club site and the opportunity to assist with your house battery question. Yes, your engine is started and operated by the chassis battery which is separate of the house system.
Safety would require that you isolate the positive lead or double check with a meter to insure that 12v was not present on the coach side. You never know who could have changed the wiring and bypassed the isolator for charging..
Have one 12 volt battery there are 2 red wires and 1 white wire the white wire is connected to frame 2 red wires come from trailer im thinking white wire goes to negative post 2 red wires to pos post do u think im correct thank u
It has set for awhile. Can’t get it started cleaned all connect ions .Does the battery have to have 12 volts for it to start. It has 11.7 volts
Hello William,
Thank you for contacting us.
It will need around 11v to start. Make sure to test the voltage when cranking. It is possible the battery is reading at a decent level but when under load it could be dropping too low to do anything. Test the voltage while having someone start the engine. If it drops below 10.5v when cranking the battery is too weak to start. If the battery voltage is fine while cranking the issue is elsewhere like the starter or ignition switch.
If you have any other concerns, please contact us at 1-855-706-3536, or chat with us on our site.
We greatly appreciate your business!
Sincerely,
Lindsay
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Is there anything special that needs to be done to change out the 2 chasis batteries
Hello Ray,
Thank you for contacting us.
What is the year, make, and model of your RV, please?
Sincerely,
Sarah
RV Repair Club Video Membership
Thank you for all of the information you gave to me and my husbans. This RV is our first time buying one as well as learning all about it . will it also work for a fifth wheel that i might have to pull with a truck . we end up buying a Durango 34ft as well Can I use batterys in that as well as we want to put solar panels in it as well even though it can take electric or propane it is our obtion in what we decide on . So maybe you could give us some answers to them both. Thank you for your time and patience.
Alan and Schaka Layton