what could kill the battery?

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tooslow

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Joined
Oct 20, 2013
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I have a brand new trailer with a new battery. I have had it fully drain overnight with nothing on. I checked everything light pump etc. and I'm sure there was nothing on. However, it appears something drew on it hard enough to kill it. I checked the water lever and it is fine.

Anyone have any thoughts about what could cause this?
 
Did you check the breakaway switch on the trailer hitch?  If the pin pulled out of the socket it will apply power to the trailer brakes from the trailer battery.
 
A refrigerator set on 12 V instead of LP?  A TV running on 12 V?

Is the trailer occupied when the drain occurs or is it in storage?
 
What constitutes "drained"? Do you have a voltage reading? Or was it just that no 12v items appeared to work? What size battery(s)?  I'm not doubting you - just trying to pin down the facts better.

Any RV will have parasitic or "phantom" power draws, things that are on but not obvious. The LP detector is one such, Co detector, and the controller boards for fridge, water heater and furnace, are some others. Each is tiny, but together they can add up to an amp of continous draw.. Shouldn't kill a battery overnight, though, so chances are the battery itself is defective. You might pull it out and have it load tested.
 
LP detectors and other parasitic drains can drain a battery.... but I shouldn't think overnight.

My bet is a bad battery.....
Mine was bad coming form the dealer.  i couldn't test it because they had it plugged in when I showed up for my PDI.
It held enough surface charge to show that it had a battery, but it wasn't until later that i could prove it was bad.
They replaced under warranty when i took it in.

Batteries will sit long periods of time on a dealer's lot.
Even if completely disconnected, it will self discharge.... eventually to dead.
Lights get switched on to show the TT, and perhaps left on all day or all night.....
Completely discharging a battery will kill it.
 
I agree, bad battery. Here is a simple test if you don't want to take it to be load tested. Charge it up overnight and then disconnect the negative cable for a day or two. If it is bad it will be dead or close to it after just a day or two.
 
New coach, new battery, doesn't mean a fully charged battery. That battery could have set on a dealers shelf for months prior to sale. Unless you check the voltage of the battery with a multimeter, & hydrometer you can't determine it's health. 12.6+ voltage reading indicates a fully charged battery. And, you may very well have parasitic draws. a Cut-off switch is highly recommended.

Read this link, it may help.


http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm
 
True story I read long, long ago.
There used to be a trailer maker  HI-LO, they made a kind of Pop Up, it shrank.. Hard sides it was a telescoping trailer.. You pushed the button (just inside the door) and it grew in height,, You then moved in and camped.. When you went to hook up you pushed the other button and like any good PUP, it got shorter and easier to tow.

Customer bought one Dealer had to hook up a jumper battery to make it HIGH & low.

Charged it up wile paper work was finished and it lowed ok, but when they went to re HIGH it the next day at home, NO JOY.

Battery was toast, completly flat, not just dead but flat, would not hold a charge for more than an hour.

 
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