Hi everyone. We are brand new RV owners, and have encountered our first major problem. We purchased a 2018 Georgetown XL 378 in March, it was brand new. We picked it up from the dealer at the end of April, and drove it to our permanent lot, where we will be living in it full time. We have had it parked now for about 3 1/2 weeks. It is connected to shore power 24/7. This morning I went to turn on the dashboard radio, and it would not turn on. I grabbed the keys and attempted to start the RV, and it would not start. I then tried holding down the battery boost button and starting it, and it still would not start. So it seems that our battery is dead - but we have no idea why? We were under the impression that being connected to shore power charges both the house and chassis batteries...is that not the case? Our house batteries seem to be fine - out control panel shows that they are at full charge. How can we remedy this issue, and also, what could be causing this to happen? We would have thought that a battery should not die after only having our RV less than a month. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Georgetown XL chassis battery dead
- Thread starter JKFromm
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Not all coaches are set up to charge the chassis battery. Do you have a battery disconnect switch for the chassis battery? How long did you hold down the battery boost button? Holding for a minute or two helps put some charge in the battery, and then hold it while trying to start the engine. (oops, I reread your post and see that you held it) Also when checking the house battery voltage, were you still plugged into shore power? If so, that will give a false reading, as it is reading the output voltage of your converter.
You can install one of these to keep the chassis battery charged while plugged into shore power:
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Ultra-Trik-L-Start-p/tls-oem.htm
You can install one of these to keep the chassis battery charged while plugged into shore power:
https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Ultra-Trik-L-Start-p/tls-oem.htm
Thank you so much for your response. We have reached out to Forest River to see if being plugged into shore power will charge our chassis battery. As far as the battery disconnect switch goes...not 100% sure what that is, but we do have a switch near our entry door that I believe might be what you are referring to, but not exactly sure how it works. On top of the switch it says Connect with an arrow up, and under the switch it says Disconnect with an arrow down. The switch also lights up. However, it is one of those switches that always stays in neutral/center position...so if you press it up, when you release it goes back to the center position. Same if you press it down. In addition, regardless of whether you press it up or down, the light on it stays lit. So I'm not sure what it does or how it works?
Yes, when I "tested" the house batteries we were plugged in. How do we test them while unplugged?
One more question...if our chassis battery does not charge while we are plugged in to shore power...what could possibly be draining it and have made it go dead in just a few weeks? Doesn't everything operate off of shore power while we are plugged in? Or if not off shore power, off of the house batteries? What would be operatng off of the chassis battery and causing it to drain so quickly?
Thank you so very much for your help, we are total newbies here.
Yes, when I "tested" the house batteries we were plugged in. How do we test them while unplugged?
One more question...if our chassis battery does not charge while we are plugged in to shore power...what could possibly be draining it and have made it go dead in just a few weeks? Doesn't everything operate off of shore power while we are plugged in? Or if not off shore power, off of the house batteries? What would be operatng off of the chassis battery and causing it to drain so quickly?
Thank you so very much for your help, we are total newbies here.
To test the house batteries when unplugged, you just check the control panel the same way you did when plugged in. I'm not sure of the operation of the switch by the door, and that may be for the house batteries only. Someone with experience with that switch will probably chime in shortly. There are a lot of what is known as "parasitic" loads of the chassis and house batteries, and they can draw down a battery in a few weeks. There could also be a few things that operate off of the chassis battery, depending on how the coach was wired from the factory.
Koodog
Well-known member
Unplugged means disconnected from shore power. If you are still connected to 110VAC from a pedestal, the panel reads the output from your converter.
Your switch by the door which has the arrow and returns to center position turns off and on a relay to connect batteries for charging. It need not be held in place. Simply switching it up or down will connect or disconnect the relay. My guess is it was last pressed in the disconnect position.
Not sure what drained your chassis battery. I agree 3 1/2 weeks should not drain the battery.
Your switch by the door which has the arrow and returns to center position turns off and on a relay to connect batteries for charging. It need not be held in place. Simply switching it up or down will connect or disconnect the relay. My guess is it was last pressed in the disconnect position.
Not sure what drained your chassis battery. I agree 3 1/2 weeks should not drain the battery.
Optimistic Paranoid
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2013
- Posts
- 355
JKFromm said:
Hmmn. You didn't say whether or not you were living in it during the period in question?
Anyway, to answer you basic question, there are a lot of things that work only on 12 volts dc, regardless of whether you are plugged in to shore power or not. Your water pump is one. Your lights. Any fans you have, including ceiling vent fans. If you have an alarm for LPG or Propane leaks, that draws power from your 12 volt system.
What sort of refrigerator do you have? If you have a 3 way RV refrigerator, it will run on 120 volts ac, 12 volts dc, or propane. It will draw a LOT of power from your 12 volt system, so you are only supposed to use 12 volts when you are driving and the vehicle's alternator is providing power. Once you get to the campground and plug in, you are supposed to switch over to 120 volts. If you are dry camping somewhere with no shore power, you are supposed to switch to propane. The thing is, you have to manually switch between them, and if you left it on 12 volts dc, it will drain your batteries in a hurry, unless they are getting recharged from either solar or shore power.
Now, most RVs have a device called a CONVERTER which takes some of the 120 volt ac shore power and converts it to 12 volt dc. This provides power to your lights, water pump, etc. and keeps the house battery charged. It sounds like yours isn't working, or is turned off, or maybe has a blown fuse.
Quickest way to test is to put a voltmeter on your house batteries. A fully charged system will show 12.6 to 12.7 volts. Lower voltage shows a non-fully charged battery. If a converter or something if providing power to the battery(s), it should read 13 to 14 volts. (Voltage is electrical pressure. It takes a HIGHER voltage to force charge into a battery.)
Hope some of this helps.
This is the response that we received from Forest River.
"Thank you for your email regarding your 378Xl motorhome. The start battery for the coach is not charged by the converter. Your dash 12 VDC ports, radio, mirrors, map lights, and things like that are tied to the start battery. The coach will not switch over to the coach bank automatically. If a map light or something was plugged into the dash 12 VDC ports, it would not take long ( maybe a couple of days) to run down that start battery. "
We are still somewhat confused because we have nothing pkugged into the dash, don't use map lights, amd have only used the radio a few times.
Yes, we have been living in it this entire time in question.
We have a large residential fridge. The guy at the dealer told us that when we were plugged into shore power, it would run off of that. If we need to manually change it from 12V to 120V, how would we go about doing that? Or checking to see what it is currently set on?
Likewise, how would we check to see if our converter is on or not working or has blown a fuse?
It looks like we will have to get a voltmeter to check the house batteries. One additional question avout those...we have 6 of them, and they are located under our stairs. We were told we meed to check their fluid level regularly amd add distilled water if need be. However, we can only reach the first two that are closest to us to remove the caps amd check the fluid. How do we access the other 4 that are out of our reach?
Lastly, as for the switch by the door that connects and disconnects the relay...should we press it ip for "connect" or down for "disconnect"?
Thank you all again for your help. I hope we haven't gotten in over our heads.
"Thank you for your email regarding your 378Xl motorhome. The start battery for the coach is not charged by the converter. Your dash 12 VDC ports, radio, mirrors, map lights, and things like that are tied to the start battery. The coach will not switch over to the coach bank automatically. If a map light or something was plugged into the dash 12 VDC ports, it would not take long ( maybe a couple of days) to run down that start battery. "
We are still somewhat confused because we have nothing pkugged into the dash, don't use map lights, amd have only used the radio a few times.
Yes, we have been living in it this entire time in question.
We have a large residential fridge. The guy at the dealer told us that when we were plugged into shore power, it would run off of that. If we need to manually change it from 12V to 120V, how would we go about doing that? Or checking to see what it is currently set on?
Likewise, how would we check to see if our converter is on or not working or has blown a fuse?
It looks like we will have to get a voltmeter to check the house batteries. One additional question avout those...we have 6 of them, and they are located under our stairs. We were told we meed to check their fluid level regularly amd add distilled water if need be. However, we can only reach the first two that are closest to us to remove the caps amd check the fluid. How do we access the other 4 that are out of our reach?
Lastly, as for the switch by the door that connects and disconnects the relay...should we press it ip for "connect" or down for "disconnect"?
Thank you all again for your help. I hope we haven't gotten in over our heads.
Alfa38User
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Posts
- 6,678
Don't be, the battery may not have been as fully charged as you think. Batteries do have a nasty habit of self-discharging over time as well as having all those things and including the engines computers connected to it. Example: the radio is always powered regardless of whether or not you are listening to it. It has to keep the memory alive with all the preset stations in it. Use the advise given above and install a Trik-L-Start or the equivalent as suggested in reply#1. End of problem!!
You don't normally!! The fridge requires 120V, it does not require 12V at all but the Inverter does run off 12V to produce the 120V needed.
The inverter used to supply the fridge with 120V is likely large enough that it will be equipped with an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS). If so, it will switch automatically. This can be confirmed by giving us the make and model number of said Inverter. If the fridge is running it is getting 120V from either the inverter running off the house batteries when you are not plugged in (ie running down the road) or the inverter is idling and you are being powered by your plugged in coach. How to tell if it is working?? Does the light inside come on when you open the door?? If so it is working. There may be an ON-OFF switch on the converter itself to disable it when not wanted.
Simple!!! (but maybe not so easy) remove the first two and try and slide the others to where they can be reached!! Maybe more than one step will lift up to give you better access.
With a light on the the house portion where you can see it, simply try the switch in either position. I suspect that "Disconnect" means exactly that. If the light is ON and you push "disconnect" it should go OFF, you have disconnected the house battery bank. You might want to check the refrigerator as part of this check too as the inverter may bypass that switch (or not)...
Alfa38User said:
We will try this! So is it safe to assume that while we are plugged in to shore power, we want to hit Disconnect? To savr the house batteries? Also, I have responded to your other paragraphs within the quoted portion...sorry, still trying to figure our how to use this site as well!
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Some of the advice here pertains only to the house batteries, which are doing fine and you need have no worries there. That switch by the door Connects or Disconnects the house 12v batteries to the house part of the coach. Push the CONNECT side of the switch and leave it alone - it should be DISCONNECTed only if the coach is to be stored for lengthy periods.
Your chassis (engine start) battery will run down over time while you are living in the coach and connected to shore power. A few items in the coach are powered from the engine battery all the time plus you are using things like the dash radio that also get their power there. You should probably start the engine once a week and let it run for 30 minutes. Installing a device like the Trik-L-Start or Xantrex Echo Charge will eliminate that need.
Your residential fridge is working as designed and runs from shore power when you are plugged in. It uses the house batteries via an inverter if not plugged in, but has no effect on the engine battery.
Your chassis (engine start) battery will run down over time while you are living in the coach and connected to shore power. A few items in the coach are powered from the engine battery all the time plus you are using things like the dash radio that also get their power there. You should probably start the engine once a week and let it run for 30 minutes. Installing a device like the Trik-L-Start or Xantrex Echo Charge will eliminate that need.
Your residential fridge is working as designed and runs from shore power when you are plugged in. It uses the house batteries via an inverter if not plugged in, but has no effect on the engine battery.
Alfa38User
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Posts
- 6,678
Not sure where you will find them on your unit but... The inverter should be very close to the batteries with substantial wires connecting it. The converter could be mounted close to the Circuit breaker/fuse panel. If your panel is one that has both fuses for 12V and circuit breakers for 120V then it is likely just behind that panel or is part and parcel of that same panel. This is often referred to as a Power Centre and the make and model is likely stenciled on the panel door.
The difference between a CONverter and an INVerter is as follows:
A CONverter connects to 120V AC (your power cord via a circuit breaker) and produces 12V DC to charge the batteries and helps run all the 12V stuff in the RV like lights etc.
An INVerter connects to the 12v battery supply and produces 120V AC to run the refrigerator. Some motor homes/trailers often have a very small INVerter that is used to power the entertainment center when no hook-ups are available.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Adding to Stu's description of the differences, an RV converter will always be both a 12v source (in lieu of using the house batteries) as well as a battery charger. Formally, it is known as a converter/charger. An inverter, though, may have only the 12v-->120v function or may include the converter/charger function as well. Your Georgetown will have an inverter to run the fridge when not connected to external 120v power, but I don't know if it uses a combined inverter/converter/charger or has a separate converter/ charger plus an inverter-only. If you give us the brand & model name of either the 12v/120v power pnale or the inverter, we can probably identify what type of system you have.
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
-
-
1998 Newmar Moutain Aire/Freightliner Fred (MC) Chassis Fuel Tank- Latest: Clyde 'Buck' Grimes
-
-
-
