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Massucci1 
Newbie 
Joined: 01 Apr 2018 Location: Ohio Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
 Topic: Battery QuestionsPosted: 12 Apr 2018 at 7:42pm |
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Hi everyone, just recently got my 178. Battery was charged when we left the dealer a couple weeks ago, then after setting it up, wife decorating it etc etc it went low. I plugged it in to the house and let it charge up til it was 3\4ths full. Then we hadn't been out there for about a week, everything was off but it was dead as a doornail. Any ideas?
Second question, how long to charge it before its full? On a 110 Thanks everyone, Dan |
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CharlieM
Senior Member 
Joined: 23 Nov 2012 Location: N. Colorado Online Status: Offline Posts: 1797 |
Posted: 12 Apr 2018 at 7:53pm |
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Dan,
Welcome to the wonderful world of camper batteries. The camper has a small residual load that will drain the battery in about two weeks if left unattended. The primary culprit is the CO detector which runs all the time but the thermostat, radio, and any items like cell phone chargers left plugged in. The solutions are two: Leave the camper plugged in to AC shore power or disconnect the battery. Some people install a battery disconnect switch for this purpose but you can get by with just disconnecting the negative of the battery when you leave. Also, make sure the fridge is turned off. If left on, even on AC or gas, the control board will add to the residual drain. Same for the WH if left on. The best solution is to leave the Pod plugged in if you can. Then all is ready when you are ready. It's best to leave it plugged in overnight for a full charge. Also be aware the 4 LED battery/tank indicator is essentially worthless. For the battery part four lights only means the battery is being charged. It does not mean full charge. When disconnected from the charger it will quickly drop to three lights which generally means close to full charge. The other two lights are mostly meaningless. The best way to check battery level is a hydrometer but a good digital voltmeter can give a fair indication if the battery is given a rest period. The fresh water level indicator is fair but the waste tank indicators are very prone to error. The most frequent error is showing full or partially full when you know it's empty. It has to do with crud accumulating on the sensors. You'll discover all this in time. Enjoy. |
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Charlie
Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
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Leo B
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 13 Jan 2012 Location: Lyndonville, VT Online Status: Offline Posts: 4517 |
Posted: 12 Apr 2018 at 7:53pm |
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Even if you turn everything off there are a couple of drains that will drain the battery, you should either disconnect it when not using it or put in a kill switch. |
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Leo & Melissa Bachand
2017 Ford F150 2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk Previously owned 2015 Rpod 179 2010 Rpod 171 |
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Massucci1
Newbie
Joined: 01 Apr 2018 Location: Ohio Online Status: Offline Posts: 12 |
Posted: 12 Apr 2018 at 8:21pm |
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ahh, this makes sense, thank you guys
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Battery Questions