I need HELP!!!: Batteries lose power after coming home???

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Batteries lose power after coming home???

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Forum Name: I need HELP!!!
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URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=14984
Printed Date: 15 May 2024 at 2:55pm
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Topic: Batteries lose power after coming home???

Posted By: brownjen
Subject: Batteries lose power after coming home???
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 9:27am

It has happened 2 times!

I have two 12v batteries hooked in parallel.

We take our R-pod RP-180 on a 2 - 4 day camping trip. Boondoggle. Don't use the lights, or radio, or water heater or water pump too much. Seem to have plenty of electric to get us thru.

We drive 2 - 4 hours home (which should be charging the batteries). We get home and the batteries read just about what they did when we hooked up to leave our campsite. (ie 12.04 the last trip when I actually took a reading as we broke camp)

We arrive home and the batteries read 12.04. I disconnect from the tow vehicle and plug into shore power.

Two days later we notice the LED lights are quite dim in the camper when you turn them on. Nothing is running in the camper. No fridge, lights, radio, furnace... nothing. I take a voltage reading 8.40 volts!!

An no, the electric brake emergency cable has NOT been pulled. -- that happened once as we arrived at a campsite, so I know to look for that.

So what is drawing down the batteries even though we are plugged in???

Only thing I can guess is that I BACK into our site at home, and the truck emergecy brake engages. I unplug from the vehicle and that the Rpod electric brake is somehow remaining engaged???? Seems far-fetched.

Any ideas?

Ken

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Ken in Vermont

Replies:

Posted By: GlueGuy
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 10:12am

My guess is that there is something up with your converter. I would double-check fuses and circuit breakers to make sure it's charging.

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bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost

Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 11:51am

Agree with GG. Also I would think your batteries on on their way out if they are only reading 12.04 even if you have been boondocking for 2-4 days. Have you kept the electrolyte levels full with distilled water?

I have a pair of group size 24 Interstate deep cycles that have performed very well; we usually boondock. We expect 3 days/battery when night temps are in the 40's and the furnace runs a lot. Even after 3 days the battery will be 60% S.O.C. or 12.2v - at that point we switch batteries. We run separate, not parallel, since one is from 12/2010 and the other is 4/2011.

I must confess at this point, the older one from 2010 was just 'retired' as of yesterday. After 1 day of use it drops to 12.14v and after trickle charging with a 2 amp charger for 24 hours and letting it rest for another 4 hours before reading it only reads 12.3 volts.

So, I just purchased a 12v. Trojan golf cart battery T-1275, 150 ah, weight is 85 lbs. I am glad for the extra tongue weight as I have had to add 3 used rotors from my F-150 and they sit in the front stow area of my 177 (taking up valuable storage space) so that I can keep my tongue weight at 11% - tongue weight with the old setup was 325 lbs with a fully loaded FW tank which is located behind the axle. With the additional 45 lbs on the a-frame I will now be able to pitch the rotors and gain some extra storage.

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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."

Posted By: brownjen
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 2:02pm

Thanks for your response. I checked the circuit breakers. None had tripped, including the one marked converter. I didn't pull all the individual fuses to check them, but I assume that if the converter circuit breaker didn't trip it might be working. I'm not enough of an electical whiz kid to know how tocheck to see if it's charging.... other than to take a reading every so often. The batteries have gone down from 13.somthing when I finished charging them this morning, to 12.6 now that they are on their own with just the shore power to keep them going.

Ken

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Ken in Vermont

Posted By: brownjen
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 2:12pm

jato... thanks for your response.

I wonder about the health of my batteries after being drawn down so far 3-4 times this summer. Both are Interstate 24M-RD 400CCA batteries. One came with the used R180 fall 2020 (maybe the original battery ? -- no date stickers removed to clue me) and I went the cheap route and added a matching battery that fall 10/20. Maybe need to start with two fresh?!

Ken

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Ken in Vermont

Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 2:26pm

Before going that route give them each a 2 amp trickle charge for 24 hours and take a reading of each. They both should read a minimum of 12.72 volts. Wait 4-6 hours and read each again. They should read 12.7 volts or close to that if they are good. Take another reading a day later. If they continue to fall in voltage, they are probably ready for retirement, however if they read the same as they did after your 4-6 hour reading I would let them live.

Make sure your electrolyte levels are full before charging, add distilled water if low.

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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."

Posted By: brownjen
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 3:48pm

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the suggestion.

Ken

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Ken in Vermont

Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 5:06pm

12.6V for a fully charged lead acid battery at rest with no load or charging is normal. So if after charging (with what, an external charger?) you're at 12.6 a few hours later then that's a good indication that your on board charger isn't working. It's also a sign that there is no significant unknown load on the system. It's not a sign of bad batteries. So while the batteries could still be bad let's not start there.

I think your first instinct that it's the charger is a good one. To confirm that disconnect the battery negative terminals. Disconnect any other charging sources (solar, tow vehicle, external charger) except the on board charger. With shore power connected the charger should be able to directly run your 12V loads without the battery. If it can't and your 120vac supply is good (check your receptacles and microwave), and the charger breaker is on, then either the charger is not working or you have an open circuit in the 12V system. You can eliminate the latter if the batteries can power your 12V loads without any charging sources being on.

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 14 Oct 2021 at 9:31pm

Don't forget to check the two 40A fuses which are the reverse polarity protection fuses. If you connected the battery in reverse polarity, even for a moment, those are supposed to blow to protect the converter. Look for the troubleshooting guides on the WFCO site to help troubleshoot the system.

https://wfcoelectronics.com/trouble-shooting-charts/ - https://wfcoelectronics.com/trouble-shooting-charts/

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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...

http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

Posted By: brownjen
Date Posted: 15 Oct 2021 at 9:58am

Offgrid and Stephan H....

Thanks for the pointers. It'll take me a day or so to follow up. I'll report back what I find out. Appreciate the guidance!!

ken

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Ken in Vermont

Posted By: brownjen
Date 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

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Ken in Vermont

Posted By: offgrid
Date 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.

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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold