Ok I woke up this morning to no propane, no electric, no water. Batteries drained. Monitor not showing anything. Generator wont start and fridge saying check. I had the fridge on auto.I started up the RV. Started to get some of the power back. Let it run for 5 hrs. Battery wont hit 12v, stayed at 11v. Filled up the propane and generator still wont start. And now its completely drained again. Omg whats going on here. Called the previous owners and they said that never happened to them
WTF BATTERIES DRAINED
- Thread starter MTAPLAYA
- Start date
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whiteva
Well-known member
Primary questions:
1. Age of batteries?
2. type of batteries?
3. Were you boondocking?
4. Were you using the furnace?
5. Make and model of RV?
The forum needs such information to help anyone with a problem.
Cheers
1. Age of batteries?
2. type of batteries?
3. Were you boondocking?
4. Were you using the furnace?
5. Make and model of RV?
The forum needs such information to help anyone with a problem.
Cheers
John From Detroit
Well-known member
Sounds like the battery itself is toast.. There are basically 4 battery failure modes. One is very rare
Shorted cell: One or more cell shorts out, this means low voltages which is what you are seeing
High Resistance: The voltage is there, but if you draw power off the thing it drops like a rock, returning when you remove power, also will not charge very fast.
Low Capacity: Basically it no longer holds any power to speak of. Goes from FULL to Empty faster than I can type Full to Empty.
And the rare mode is "Exploaded" (We say Explosion but it's more a POP than anythign, Major mess you need to wash the battery compartment with Soda Water (Garden sprayer handy) and all over the compartment.. Then you need to flush with clear water, then replace battery.
In all cases it's time for a new battery.
What ran it down? I am assuming you are not on shore power.
How much battery do you have? My RV came with a pair of GC-2 Golf Car 6 Volt in series (And by the way this is the type of battery I recommend if you can house them, best Bang for your BUCK epically if you are a members of SAMS or Costco).
This is 220 amp hours (now upgraded) and was able to run the Furnace and TV overnight when new.. As they aged the amount of time before I got a low voltage alarm went down to about an hour. (Disabling the inverter, and thus the TV improves run time)
I have since upgraded those batteries (I mean it was time, 9 years) to 230 amp hour replacements and added ... Well I have about 500 Amp hours.. I can run all night again, TV, Radio, and Furnace.
But from the 11 volts peak, Sounds like shorted cells in battery.
Shorted cell: One or more cell shorts out, this means low voltages which is what you are seeing
High Resistance: The voltage is there, but if you draw power off the thing it drops like a rock, returning when you remove power, also will not charge very fast.
Low Capacity: Basically it no longer holds any power to speak of. Goes from FULL to Empty faster than I can type Full to Empty.
And the rare mode is "Exploaded" (We say Explosion but it's more a POP than anythign, Major mess you need to wash the battery compartment with Soda Water (Garden sprayer handy) and all over the compartment.. Then you need to flush with clear water, then replace battery.
In all cases it's time for a new battery.
What ran it down? I am assuming you are not on shore power.
How much battery do you have? My RV came with a pair of GC-2 Golf Car 6 Volt in series (And by the way this is the type of battery I recommend if you can house them, best Bang for your BUCK epically if you are a members of SAMS or Costco).
This is 220 amp hours (now upgraded) and was able to run the Furnace and TV overnight when new.. As they aged the amount of time before I got a low voltage alarm went down to about an hour. (Disabling the inverter, and thus the TV improves run time)
I have since upgraded those batteries (I mean it was time, 9 years) to 230 amp hour replacements and added ... Well I have about 500 Amp hours.. I can run all night again, TV, Radio, and Furnace.
But from the 11 volts peak, Sounds like shorted cells in battery.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
Another thought.
We are spoiled.. Yup, Spoiled
Today's automotive batteries are usually Sealed Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries.. What they call "Maintenance Free".
I date back to the days when the Flooded Wet Cell was KING (Watching a re-run of the TV show EMERGENCY last night and Johnny Gage dropped a battery cap... Twice, it was One of those Days).
Well these need occasional attention and some Distilled Water,, Note DISTILLED, not purified, not tap, but DISTILLED.
Fill to 1/4 to 1/8 inch below the bottom of the filler tube.
We are spoiled.. Yup, Spoiled
Today's automotive batteries are usually Sealed Valve Regulated Lead Acid Batteries.. What they call "Maintenance Free".
I date back to the days when the Flooded Wet Cell was KING (Watching a re-run of the TV show EMERGENCY last night and Johnny Gage dropped a battery cap... Twice, it was One of those Days).
Well these need occasional attention and some Distilled Water,, Note DISTILLED, not purified, not tap, but DISTILLED.
Fill to 1/4 to 1/8 inch below the bottom of the filler tube.
rockman
Well-known member
John From Detroit said:
Use one of these nifty devices to fill it with and you will do it correctly every time. when you insert the filler into the battery and push down on it, it releases the water until it reaches the tube on the filler. Air is blocked from entering the filler and the water flow is stopped. Costs $12 on Amazon, I am sure auto parts shops havee them too.
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Larry N.
Well-known member
Very few, these days it seems. I've tried several auto parts places. Fortunately I discovered the one I thought bad just needed an o-ring.
grashley
Well-known member
This happened to me once in my Miata. It was not a pop. It was a BANG!! Granted it is unusual, but it does happen. An internal explosion in the battery literally blew the battery case open. It probably was low on water. Maintenance free 72 month battery that was in my car for 86 months!John From Detroit said:
