Batteries lose power after coming home???

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   Hi all,Thanks again for the help. The batteries I charged with an external charger days ago have held the charge nicely.
The 40 amp fuses had not blown, but with the negative battery lead to the camper disconnected, and shore power connected I had AC but zero DC in the Rpod. The WFCO troubleshooting tree indicated I needed to replace a defective converter. and the tech guy I spoke to there confirmed that as well. 
So a replacement is on the way 
Still unclear to me why the battery voltage level would drop so far, so fast, after returning home and plugging into shore power after a boondocking trip where we had ample power and having almost zero DC load going on in the camper. But I'll wait and see if a non-defective converter solves it. Probably have to wait till Spring, cause we're about due for winterizing here in VT.
Thanks again.
Ken

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brownjen Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 27 Sep 2020 Location: Vermont Online Status: Offline Posts: 14	Post Options Post Reply Quote brownjen Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Batteries lose power after coming home??? Posted: 18 Oct 2021 at 3:26pm
	Hi all, Thanks again for the help. The batteries I charged with an external charger days ago have held the charge nicely. The 40 amp fuses had not blown, but with the negative battery lead to the camper disconnected, and shore power connected I had AC but zero DC in the Rpod. The WFCO troubleshooting tree indicated I needed to replace a defective converter. and the tech guy I spoke to there confirmed that as well. So a replacement is on the way Still unclear to me why the battery voltage level would drop so far, so fast, after returning home and plugging into shore power after a boondocking trip where we had ample power and having almost zero DC load going on in the camper. But I'll wait and see if a non-defective converter solves it. Probably have to wait till Spring, cause we're about due for winterizing here in VT. Thanks again. Ken
	Ken in Vermont

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 18 Oct 2021 at 7:41pm
	Glad you're making progress. If the batteries are holding their voltage with no load but rapidly dropping under light load they also probably need to be replaced. I forget which model rpod you have but if it's one with a 3 way fridge you could put that on 12vdc for a few hours then shut it off and wait half an hour or so. The fridge takes around 11A so 3 hours would be 30-35 amphours. A multimeter with a DC current clamp on is handy to monitor charge and discharge currents. If you get one, be sure the meter can read DC current, not just AC. If that 30-35 amphours drags the batteries down below say 12.0V or thereabouts then youre looking at new batteries. Might be worth doing the test now so you can plan for battery replacement over the winter, but you may want to buy them next Spring and save 5-6 months of battery life at this point.
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold