How to keep steps retracted without using batteries

Is there a way to keep the steps up without draining batteries while stored?

Itasca Sunstar 2015.

The steps don't draw any power unless they're actually in motion.

The power switch was left on and it drew some kind if power. . House batteries okay, but chassis, dead.  No other reason for it.    We did this for the 1st time and the battery is dead.  We want to bypass the safety feature that causes the steps to stay down.  Having them down allowed a thief to stand on to get the leverage to crowbar the door open and ruin it.

Do you have a radio remote form the door locks?  That would draw a small amount of power but probably not enough to drain your batteries.  Gas and CO detectors are well known for drawing lots of current and that would be the most likely culprits in my humble opinion.  Or lights left on.  (Check storage compartments)

I have two battery cut off switches.  I close the door, the steps come up, I turn off both switches, open the door and the steps don't move, then I jump out.  Or more safely climb down.

You might have cutoff switches somewhere too.

No light left on etc.  Ours doesn't work the way yours does.  We also have battery cutoff switches by the door, but in our case when you turn them off the steps stay down and if the door is closed they goe down when you open it even with everything off.
Winnebago designed it as a safety feature, too many people falling out perhaps.. thank you for the reply.

What coach is this?
Our stairs will either extend and retract with the door, or extend and stay out when the door is open. Either way it draws no power in either position.  Suggest you look at it with an amp clamp. If it's drawing power while retracted it's likely broken

We want to bypass the safety feature that causes the steps to stay down.  Having them down allowed a thief to stand on to get the leverage to crowbar the door open and ruin it.

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There is no "safety feature" that keeps the steps out. There are two "safety" overrides: (1) Steps goes out when the door opens, (2) Steps come in when the ignition goes on

There is, however, a switch that alters the step mode from automatic (goes in & out as door opens and closes) vs manual (stays in or out except for the safety overrides. If you want the step to go up when you close the door as you leave, put the step switch in the automatic mode. The switch is normally right by the entry.

Your step may have a light underneath and the light may stays on when the step is out. That would depend on the step brand & model, which you didn't state.

How long did it take for the battery to discharge? I doubt very much that it is the steps.

When I park my motorhome, it is in a large building with many other units and boats. I close the screen door which has the magnet for the stairs on it, then reach through the screen slider and shut off the 12 volt salesman switch. This keeps the stairs up so I can remove my batteries which are under my stairs. Otherwise the stairs would be stuck out in the way all winter. On my friends pathfinder DP, we discovered that the stairs can be fed from either the house 12 volt, or the chassis 12 volt. We were sitting outside one night and the outside lights went out and the stairs retracted on their own. We discovered he was having a problem with his house 12 volt disconnect relay tripping. Even though there was no house 12 volt the stairs would still go in and out if you opened the door, but would not stay out even if you set the switch for that. We fixed the relay problem and the stairs again worked normally staying out if you set the switch that way. It appeared to us that the stairs got its main power from the house side, but if the house side power failed, it would still operate off the chassis power but only if the door opened. I could be wrong or there is another explaination, but that's what happened.

831fiona said:

The power switch was left on and it drew some kind if power. . House batteries okay, but chassis, dead.  No other reason for it.    We did this for the 1st time and the battery is dead.  We want to bypass the safety feature that causes the steps to stay down.  Having them down allowed a thief to stand on to get the leverage to crowbar the door open and ruin it.

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Did I read that right? YOU WERE broken into by a thief?  And you had the steps in the down position.  Are they not usually up when the door is shut?  Was this after you discovered dead chassis batteries and so you left them down on purpose - and that's when you were broken into?
Were was the unit when this happened?

Gary RVer Emeritus said:

There is no "safety feature" that keeps the steps out. There are two "safety" overrides: (1) Steps goes out when the door opens, (2) Steps come in when the ignition goes on

There is, however, a switch that alters the step mode from automatic (goes in & out as door opens and closes) vs manual (stays in or out except for the safety overrides. If you want the step to go up when you close the door as you leave, put the step switch in the automatic mode. The switch is normally right by the entry.

Your step may have a light underneath and the light may stays on when the step is out. That would depend on the step brand & model, which you didn't state.

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My Winnebago works as Gary describes.  With both Master switches off (coach and chassis), the step still operates.  Is it possible the thief damaged the door and as a result the steps are down because the door won't close all the way?

Sorry, I guess I didn't word it properly.  I meant safety feature.  We turn off all battery power, chassis and coach and normally turn power to steps off.  This causes them to stay in the down position and they do not retract when door is closed.  We left steps on to override this function and switched all battery  power off and 2 weeks later our chassis battery was drained.  The theft was what caused us to want them stored up.  The unit is a 2015 Itasca Sunstar 30T.  The theft  did not change the operation of the steps.  Caused a new door, steering column, stereo, and  hand rail.  Unit was in storage.

Also, I do not know the brand and midel of steps because the thiefs also took our manuals...Thank you for the info.  I have a feeling there might be a light.  We will let you know for sure. 

Close the screen door then reach through and shut off the switches. This will keep the stairs up.

831fiona said:

Sorry, I guess I didn't word it properly.  I meant safety feature.  We turn off all battery power, chassis and coach and normally turn power to steps off.  This causes them to stay in the down position and they do not retract when door is closed.  We left steps on to override this function and switched all battery  power off and 2 weeks later our chassis battery was drained.  The theft was what caused us to want them stored up.  The unit is a 2015 Itasca Sunstar 30T.  The theft  did not change the operation of the steps.  Caused a new door, steering column, stereo, and  hand rail.  Unit was in storage.

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You aren't really leaving the steps on, as they are always on regardless of the battery switch position.  That switch for the steps takes them in and out of automatic so when you are camped you don't get that annoying retraction every time you close the door - they just stay out.  You have something else drawing down power - it should not be the steps.  I leave my steps on, kill the battery switches and shut the door and the steps retract - that is the only thing left on power and I leave mine all winter with no draw down.

We turn off all battery power, chassis and coach and normally turn power to steps off.  This causes them to stay in the down position and they do not retract when door is closed.  We left steps on to override this function and switched all battery  power off and 2 weeks later our chassis battery was drained.

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I think your steps got wired wrong when the door was repaired, because that is not factory-standard operation. RVIA standards require that the step motor NOT be disabled by the battery disconnect and they are in fact direct-wired to the chassis battery in all coaches built in the last dozen years or so. Winnebago adheres to all the RVIA standards and yours should work as I described earlier.  You should not have to disconnect anything to have the steps closed when the entry door is also closed and the engine ignition off.

I think the answer to your original question is: Start your RV and shut the door, this should retract the stairs.  Reach under the stairs and disconnect the plug that goes to them.  Now, shut off the engine and do your normal shut down to preserve the batteries.  Caution: When you exit the RV the stairs will not come out, Don't fall on the ground!

I used this one time when the motor failed on my steps to keep them in, until I could get replacement parts. It should not be too much of a pain in the neck since you will only be doing this when you put it in and take it out of storage.

If they just leave the step switch in the Auto mode, the steps should close whenever the door is closed and ignition is off. The understep light, if any, should be also be off when the step is in.

SCVJeff said:

..Our stairs will either extend and retract with the door, or extend and stay out when the door is open. ..

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This is how our Horizon works.
Our switch is red, labeled Entry Step. On= steps retract and extend with door opening/closing. Off= steps remain extended.

I will throw some more fuel on the fire. When we were on holidays in my friends dp, the battery disconnect relay tripped and we had no house 12 volt power. When it happened we were sitting outside at night. Suddenly the outside lights went off including the stair lights and the stairs retracted. We then discovered we had no house 12 volt. The stairs would still go in and out but only when you opened or closed the door which would indicate it was wired onto the chassis 12 volt.  When we figured out how to get the relay to work again, we regained house 12 volt, the lights came back on, and the stairs would stay out again. Does this mean it gets power from both 12 volt systems.