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batteries |
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Hunter 
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Joined: 26 Feb 2021 Location: Black Mtn. NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 |
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 Topic: batteriesPosted: 12 Jan 2022 at 7:10am |
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Checked the batteries this morning after going through the day without shore power and they are now 12.50 or 87% according to the instrument I have to keep track of the batteries power level? When I took the power off the batteries they were reading 12.68 and 100%. After charging back up to 100% Tonight I am going to turn on the battery disconnect and remove shore power and see what happens. I suppose that if I leave the shore power on and turn on the battery disconnect the batteries will not continue to charge?
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp 
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 7:59pm |
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Unless you have a battery disconnect, there will be some drain since the CO/LP detector and some other devices don't get disconnected otherwise. They are small drains, but over time, even small drains can kill your battery.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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Hunter
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Joined: 26 Feb 2021 Location: Black Mtn. NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 4:53pm |
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I have taken the shore power off the camper and the batteries test at 12.67-68. I am going to leave the shore power off for the night and then test in the morning to see if there is any noticeable difference. Thanks for the input again!
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 3:12pm |
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You just said they were AGM. That means they are sealed. That means that you can't pull the caps off and test the electrolyte level. Using a meter to see if there is a power drain and how much if there is is probably the only thing you can do short of taking them out and down to your local Walmart or Auto Parts store for testing.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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jato
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3227 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 11:57am |
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With your multimeter you could test to see if they will hold a charge. Check electrolyte levels, fill with distilled water only, if low. Give each a 24 hour 2 amp trickle charge and disconnect from the charger. Let sit for 4-6 hours and take a reading. You should get something between 12.72 (fully charged) to 13.3volts or so. Take another reading a day later and then 2 days later. The drop in voltage should be minimal. In northern Michigan where I am the 12volt batteries were charged November 1, 2020. Since then they have been directly sitting on concrete in a unheated garage. Temps for the last few days have risen to about -7C, yesterday the temps never got above -14C. I just checked voltage for both batteries, the oldest one (will be 11 years old in April 2022) read 12.52v the other one read higher and it has now been nearly 10 weeks since they were charged. After a couple days the voltage shouldn't vary by more than 0.02 volts at the most, if so they have probably been hurt. As advised above, go to an auto parts store and get a load test performed.
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God's pod
'11 model 177 '17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake "...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free." |
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Hunter
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Joined: 26 Feb 2021 Location: Black Mtn. NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 10:58am |
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Thanks Stephen. I will have the batteries tested but they are both under a year old, agm Universal 100ah. I have two of them. I did run them down one time to 40% but have not since? With the frighted I do not think that it opperates on 12v , only propane or 110 or so the switches on the frig indicate. Is there a battery test that I can do without hooking it up and taking it down to auto supply store?
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Hunter
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Joined: 26 Feb 2021 Location: Black Mtn. NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 10:51am |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 10:42am |
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The water heater uses 12V for control and the direct spark ignition for the propane. It should not be draining the battery. The electric element is 110V, not 12V. The refrigerator could be the cause if you have it on 12V DC instead of propane or 110V. The pump should not be either unless you had an empty tank and it were running constantly. The LED lights could run for a long time before draining the battery, but you probably were not running them all the time. The refrigerator or the breakaway switch are the two most likely culprits if the cause is a power drain. However, it is more likely given the information you have posted that you have a bad cell in the battery. That is why I said you need to have it tested.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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Hunter
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Joined: 26 Feb 2021 Location: Black Mtn. NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 39 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 10:35am |
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Thanks for all of your thoughts. When I was using up the battery the way I described I was not using the furnace. Only the frog, hot water, pump, and lights. Hot water and pump were working off propane. I now have winterized the camper so hesitate to set it up again to test. I have a friend that suggested that the hot water heater might be the culprit but I know the electric switch is turn off and has been. I keep the camper plugged in to shore power at home to keep the batteries up. I hope this does not hurt the batteries? Where do I locate the breakaway switch? I have the multimeter on hand now but hisitate to hook everything up again before it gets warm. I will try to read directly from the batteries to see what is happening there in terms of discharge. Thank YOU all again for your thoughts and suggestions.
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john in idaho
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Joined: 04 Nov 2014 Location: Eagle Idaho Online Status: Offline Posts: 611 |
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Posted: 11 Jan 2022 at 8:11am |
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Are you sure the refrigerator is not on 12V?
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