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Battery losing charge quickly |
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billyingolden 
Newbie 
Joined: 22 Dec 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13 |
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 Topic: Battery losing charge quicklyPosted: 02 Jun 2022 at 3:52pm |
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Hi everyone! My almost new Group 27 12V Interstate battery is losing charge really quickly despite not having anything turned on. I know it's normal for there to be some level of small parasitic load, but it's going from like 13V to 11.5V overnight without anything being turned on, which seems way too quick.
I didn't know much about batteries when we originally got the r-pod, so it did once get discharged almost completely, which I know isn't good for the battery's longevity. But I assumed being less than 6 months old it would've bounced back ok. I'd really appreciate any thoughts you have, thank you!
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jato
Senior Member 
Joined: 23 Feb 2012 Location: Kewadin, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 3227 |
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Posted: 02 Jun 2022 at 8:33pm |
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Are you the original owner of this battery? Does it have sufficient water in the cells, are the cells full to the 'filled' line? Has this battery been drawn down below 12.2v in the past? If so its longevity will be greatly reduced. Also, try putting on a trickle charge (2 amps) for 24-36 hours, let rest for 3 hours or so, voltage should read 12.72v or better. Let set for another 24 hours (not hooked up to anything) and take another reading, should read about the same as your previous reading from the day before. If it is significanly less, the battery has been hurt and will need to be replaced.
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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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GlueGuy
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Joined: 15 May 2017 Location: N. California Online Status: Offline Posts: 2630 |
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Posted: 03 Jun 2022 at 10:01am |
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Also, invest in a multimeter that includes a clamp-on DC ammeter. It's possible that you have a parasitic load that is depleting your battery. The propane detector has a small parasitic load, but is only in the few milliamp range. If your emergency disconnect has pulled on the electric brakes, that will draw several amps, and needs to be turned off.
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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River 2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Posted: 04 Jun 2022 at 7:38am |
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Even new lead acid batteries won't survive more than a few complete discharges before they need replacement.
As for what might be causing a rapid discharge, +1 to glueguy on your breakaway brake pin. Has it accidentally been pulled? |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6290 |
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Posted: 04 Jun 2022 at 10:22pm |
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That and trying to run the refrigerator on DC. That will kill a battery very quickly.
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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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john in idaho
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2014 Location: Eagle Idaho Online Status: Offline Posts: 611 |
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Posted: 05 Jun 2022 at 7:52am |
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One suggestion, alluded to above, would be to unhook the battery and let it sit for a few days then measure the voltage. Most auto parts stores will load test a battery but that may not be a valid test for a purely deep cycle battery and the folks who have already commented are more knowledgeable about that.
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Geezerbill
Newbie
Joined: 09 Jul 2022 Location: Puyallup, Wa Online Status: Offline Posts: 37 |
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Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 6:04pm |
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Off grid, I am a new member and recently new owner to a RP192. During initial drive my brakes did not work so after four miles I took it back to the dealership. In the trouble shooting process the tech repeatedly pulled the brake away pin to see if the brakes came on.
My question is what negative effect does that have on the battery? After a 125 mile drive home the next week we went camping for a week. I had charged the batter in my garage for 48 hours and was aghast when it died after 3 1/2 days. We are very experienced at using very little electrical use when dry camping so I feel comfortable about our useage. This dealer was much less than desirable and I will list other topics related to them in the coming days. Your opinions along with others on the breakaway/battery drain will be most appreciated. Thank you, Bill
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billyingolden
Newbie
Joined: 22 Dec 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 13 |
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Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 6:21pm |
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Just coming back to this, I did indeed manage to kill the battery by discharging it too much initially. We got a new battery, and I now unhook the battery and have a small trickle charger that it's hooked up to periodically when the trailer is in our driveway. It does seem like a bananas amount of parasitic load, which I haven't been able to nail down, but the combo of unhooking the battery when not in use for more than a day + getting the Renogy solar suitcase has been the trick, and things have been smooth since. Thanks everyone for the thoughts and advice.
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 6:22pm |
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If the tech was just testing the brakes for a few minutes total then there shouldn't be any lasting negative effects from pulling the breakaway pin. IIRC the brake magnets take around 10 amps each when engaged so that's 20 amps for two. If the tech energized them for say 10 minutes testing then that would draw about 20 x 10 / 60 = 3.3 amp hours, or only about 3% of a typical Rpod battery capacity. Not a big deal.
I wonder if you might have some other load on the battery that youre not aware of, or maybe using more power that you might have in the past? Two days capacity doesn't sound terrible, watching a little TV and running the fans or furnace I used to go through about 50-60 amp hours a day, or roughly 2 days for a single battery system. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6290 |
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Posted: 17 Jul 2022 at 6:38pm |
I recommend getting a clamp-on AC/DC voltmeter/ammeter. It will help you to isolate what is causing the draw and how much it is. Clamp it around one of the battery cables (I'm not sure if it matters if you use the positive or negative cable). Look at the reading. Pull fuses in the panel one by one to see what changes. If you have a high reading and pulling a fuse causes it to drop significantly, then investigate that to see why it is causing a high draw. Suspects are the refrigerator being operated on DC, the breakaway cable for the brakes being pulled (or defective), or heavy furnace use. Other things like your vent fan draw power, but not as much as the first three. Another thing might be if you are sitting with the tow vehicle connected, power might be feeding back to the tow vehicle from the trailer. If you have a weak battery in your tow vehicle, it may be taking power from the trailer battery. That should provide a starting point for figuring out why your battery is draining quickly.
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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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