Derp question about batteries

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signcut

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So, I feel like kind of an idiot; I'm usually fairly handy, but I'm pretty much flummoxed on this one. We recently bought a 2014 Keystone 269FWRL, and I have no idea where the battery is, or the cutoff switch! Unfortunately, I can't find anything online, and the owners manual is unlike a car's, and has no model specific information.

We bought the trailer from a couple whose wife was living in it, as her husband was working too far away to commute, and they didn't want her to move for about a year and a half. So, when we were having issues with the power on our maiden voyage, I figured that the battery simply hadn't been maintained, and had boiled dry, or some such. Easy enough fix, to either recondition or replace, except... I can't find the dadgum thing! I've checked all through the basement, and honestly, I'd rather not take off the undercoat if I don't need to (I'd rather not risk tearing it up somehow). There are two propane tanks, one on either side, and then just what appear to be the standard doors for the basement. It is possible that I've overlooked it, although that would make me feel even more like a doof...  sigh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated; it would be nice on our next trip to see how long a battery actually holds a charge. Not that we have designs on boondocking any time soon, but better to know, just in case, right...?

Thanks in advance...  :)
 
In most 5th wheels the batteries are usually in the front under bedroom storage area. There may be in a covered box, or even behind a removable panel. 
 
Battery is usually located in the front storage compartment, and may be mounted beneath a lift-up floor board immediately above the spare tire storage. Most newer fifth wheel rvs are required to have the battery enclosed and vented to the outside via a small diameter 1" or larger flexible tube to a vent grate. 
 
Try looking for the cables only. It's possible the battery has been removed and the fiver is operating off the converter.

Ernie
 
When plugged into shore power, turn on quite a few lights then go around listening for a humming sound. If you hear a sound, that would be your CONverter. Locate it and you'll see wires going into it and out of it. 2 of those wires will be going directly to the battery. Try to trace them. You should be able to find the battery or at least the battery cables this way.
 
Thanks for the input, all; I'll take another lash at it after work. After this much hassle, it might feel like I found the treasure of the Sierra Madre, which would will call for a drink... or two.

:)
 
Please let us know what [where] you find.  Love a good mystery ~~ hate when the last page is gone.

TakeCare  ~~  TravelSafe  ~~  HaveFun                              Kate
 
I would look very closely in the very front storage compartment, right under and toward the rear from the kingpin hitch.  Look for cables incase the battery is missing.

The battery location is highly unlikely to be in a sealed location that cannot be accessed. 

That is assuming the previous owners did not make some sort of modification and relocate it somewhere. 
 
Okay, mystery solved: I'm either going blind, or just a dork (I prefer blind). I had looked through the basement, even pulling the walls off (which is how I found the water pump), but just glanced at the (empty) front portion, under the kingpin. Lo and behold, upon closer examination, there were some sneaky little hinges there, and when I lifted up the floor, there was a battery staring at me! (well, not literally, which would have really been scary, but you get the idea.)

At least I was able to salvage a bit of pride when I was right, that the battery was completely dry, at least in 5 cells... but it was also a Batteries Plus marine deep cycle battery, which probably isn't even worth reconditioning and saving anyway. It'll do until we get a new one (I've heard that Trojan and Interstate are good brands?), and I can get into the habit of checking on it until then.

The best part of the whole episode was the Dos Equis that I rewarded myself with, if only for being smart enough to ask a dummy question...  lol
 
Glad you solved the mystery.


With five dry cells that battery is a boat anchor - don?t count on it getting you through the night if you?re unplugged
 
It'll do until we get a new one
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Add distilled water and see, but the odds are not good after that much abuse.  It may not hold a charge at all.


I've heard that Trojan and Interstate are good brands? 
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Trojan is a top-rated specialty manufacturer of deep cycle batteries, the type designed for long life under heavy amp loads and frequent discharges. 

Interstate isn't even a battery manufacturer - just a marketing brand name. Their batteries are no better (or worse) than the dozens of similar brands.  They sell so-called marine/RV batteries ad engine cranking batteries, but very few actual deep cycles. The Interstate 6v GC2 golf car battery is as good as any and all golf car batteries are deep cycles.

The key decision is not brand name but rather battery type and amp-hour capacity. You may find my article on Choosing an RV Battery to be informative. It's in the RVForum Library at Choosing a battery
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
Add distilled water and see, but the odds are not good after that much abuse.  It may not hold a charge at all.
Click to expand...


Right now, it is plugged into shore power full-time, so I will be testing it by unplugging for various lengths of time, to see what it can do, or not. I'll look at the same after doing some work on it, but I expect that I will just be doing that for practice, since it isn't the type of battery that seems to be most appropriate.

The key decision is not brand name but rather battery type and amp-hour capacity. You may find my article on Choosing an RV Battery to be informative. It's in the RVForum Library at Choosing a battery
Click to expand...

It is informative indeed, thank you for taking the time to make that kind of info available! I was thinking that at some point I would like to use golf cart batteries, possibly eventually upgrading to four, but am curious about one thing: I assume that it is best to use someone to wire it (since I am no friend of electricity after sticking a knife in a wall socket as a child), but I have doubts that one would call a house electrician...

In the interim, after doing some testing, I will likely go with a flooded cell 24 12v.
 
signcut said:
I was thinking that at some point I would like to use golf cart batteries, possibly eventually upgrading to four, but am curious about one thing: I assume that it is best to use someone to wire it (since I am no friend of electricity after sticking a knife in a wall socket as a child), but I have doubts that one would call a house electrician...

In the interim, after doing some testing, I will likely go with a flooded cell 24 12v.
Click to expand...

It looks complicated but it really isn't. It doesn't sound like you're doing much boondocking right now, so a marine "deep cycle" 12V will probably be adequate and should give you a couple of years of service if taken care of. (Take a picture of your battery wiring setup before removing the old battery!) If/when the time comes to go for a big bank of batteries, any number of people here (incl me) can give you guidance and diagrams for install - you don't need to pay someone $100/hr. In the meantime, may I suggest plastic utensils?  ;)
 
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