2015 Fleetwood House Batteries

How long should my house batteries last when RV is in storage and EVERYTHING except CO2 and smoke detector are  off.  My new unit's batteries only last about 3 days and then house batteries are DOA when I go out to it. I have to get a ladder to get up in it because it has electric steps that won't come down. I've checked the water in the batteries (OK) and when I park the unit the battery meter shows both fully charged.  I called Fleetwood and they mumbled something about expecting them to go dead because of memory in radios, CO2, and other hidden demands.  OK, but seriously -- 3 days for 2 batteries?  That just seems wrong.  One person recommended a battery kill switch but I have no idea how to put one in.  Any help out there?

Thanks,

Steve Kruse

What model of Fleetwood are we talking about? They all differ.

You probably do have a battery disconnect switch already - usually right adjacent to the entry door. Labeled something like MAIN or DISCONNECT. Should shut of most everything except LP and CO detectors.

The step is usually powered by the chassis battery, not the house. And why not leave it out all the time? In any case, can the engine be started after other stuff goes dead? Generator?

3 days does seem a bit short, but 7-10 days is fairly common with all the electronics in modern coaches. There is a lot of stuff that remains powered up when the device on/off switch is off, e.g. most anything with a digital circuit board in it. Modern stuff doesn't have a real OFF state - just active or inactive.

Have you installed any extra equipment, or had the dealer add something?

Thanks for the comeback. I have looked for a disconnect but the only thing I can find is an aux batt switch. If I turn that off the stairs won't move so that may be it. However the switch is up inside the coach where I can't reach it from the ground. I don't Want to leave the steps down when it is stored because of close proximity to a boat stored right next to me. I'm worried about damage to the steps.

The coach is a Fleetwood Storm 32H built on a Ford F53 chassis. The chassis battery is fine and will start the coach right away. I don't think in this unit the stairs are off the chassis battery. I could maybe see a week to 10 days but 3 just seems too short. Thanks.

Steve

The propane detector is one of those items that seem to cause a swift  decline of the house battery. It is seldom powered through the battery cutoff but is wired direct (though a fuse of coarse), many do not have a switch on the units. Since there is no one to hear it, I disconnect mine while in storage

Last I knew, RVIA standards required that steps be powered off the chassis battery, since the chassis is less likely to go dead and thus the step operation is safer that way.  Fleetwood coaches all adhere to RVIA standards.

While the propane detector does remain powered when the battery disconnect is off (again, an RVIA safety standard), it does not use enough power to kill the batteries in 3 days.  Or even 3 weeks. Clearly you have "other stuff" consuming power. The procedure for find them is to remove DC fuses one at a time and measure the battery current draw with a DC ammeter. Measure on the house battery ground connection, to be sure you are seeing all house battery loads.

Thank you for your reply. I have to say that it's reasonable to assume that the stairs are NOT connected to chassis battery because the vehicle will start with no sweat. I'm going to call Fleetwood to ask that question, thank you for that.  Maybe it was built on a Friday before a 4 day weekend and they wired it wrong!  ;D  I will check, thanks.

Steve

Alfa38User said:

The propane detector is one of those items that seem to cause a swift  decline of the house battery. It is seldom powered through the battery cutoff but is wired direct (though a fuse of coarse), many do not have a switch on the units. Since there is no one to hear it, I disconnect mine while in storage

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I would consider it dangerous to power it down because of the risk of forgetting to power it up again, but I do have a checklist and would add it to that.  I've found that a check list is an absolute necessity for my feeble brain or else I'll drive off with the jacks still down!  ;-)  Thanks.  Steve

steve407 said:

How long should my house batteries last when RV is in storage and EVERYTHING except CO2 and smoke detector are  off.  My new unit's batteries only last about 3 days and then house batteries are DOA when I go out to it. I have to get a ladder to get up in it because it has electric steps that won't come down. I've checked the water in the batteries (OK) and when I park the unit the battery meter shows both fully charged.  I called Fleetwood and they mumbled something about expecting them to go dead because of memory in radios, CO2, and other hidden demands.  OK, but seriously -- 3 days for 2 batteries?  That just seems wrong.  One person recommended a battery kill switch but I have no idea how to put one in.  Any help out there?

Thanks,

Steve Kruse

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It would help you to get good answers if you put your rig info in your signature and fill out profile.
I think you can find the battery cut off switch near the meters that show charge condition or in the battery compartment. It should say in your owners Manuel.
Bill

I see that you stated the battery meter shows "fully charged". What doesn't work besides the entry step? Lights? Fridge?  Or is the step the only problem?

There is a good chance the battery's weren't that well charged and he was seeing the "float" charge and not the real charge.
Steve, how long did you charge the battery's after the first time they were found dead? How did you charge then? Do you have electricity available at your storage?
Bill

oof - thanks for all the replies. I'll get the unit info into my sig and check my profile etc.  This last time when I went to check the unit, it had been 4 days and the stairs did work when I got there. Maybe by day 5 DOA, not sure.

Gary RV Roamer -- all I have to go by is the panel that has 5 LED's for each battery (from empty to fully charged).  They both read fully charged.  This last time (the 4 day) both batteries showed 4 out of 5 LED's, or about 3/4 charge I suppose.  NOTHING worked - lights, nada. I start the engine, then start the gen and let it run for about 1 hour the last time.

Wildebill308 -- they 'should' have been fully charged. I had driven the coach from Tampa to Orlando (some 50 miles) with the generator running during the trip (I was testing the gen was actually fixed (yay!) so that should have been plenty to charge them up.  Unfortunately there is no shore power at the RV storage lot. 

Maybe I just expect too much from the batteries.  I guess I "ass-u-me"d that everything was off. I knew there were no lights on, fridge off, etc.  I didn't think about the antenna booster, the CO, and smoke alarms drawing that much.  It sounds as if the CO might be the big juice grabber.  I just don't want to pull a fuse or disconnect it because I'm paranoid I'll forget it and that will be the ONE time I have leak.  Having to get a ladder to get into the coach once in awhile is a better option that CO poisoning!

Thanks.

Not trying to beat you up but a 2015 coach the battery's should be good. I don't think an hour will get your battery's to full charge from dead.
Look in your owners manual for the battery shut off switch. See if there is a section on storing your coach. It may have some further info on reducing battery draw. One other thing you could try is putting a  thing a knife switch to shut off all draw from the battery's or disconnect the battery cable.
I think you need more time on charge. Look in the library at the top of the forum I think there is some info there on charging and how to test.
Bill

You will kill those batteries in short order if you continue letting them discharge like that. I'd take them out and take them home and put them on a charger for at least 12 hours. You are going to have to find out what is causing the batteries to deplete so quickly. Did you turn off the furnace?

all I have to go by is the panel that has 5 LED's for each battery (from empty to fully charged).  They both read fully charged.  This last time (the 4 day) both batteries showed 4 out of 5 LED's, or about 3/4 charge I suppose.  NOTHING worked - lights, nada. I start the engine, then start the gen and let it run for about 1 hour the last time.

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With 4 of 5 charge leds on, it would seem the batteries were at least partially charged. Lights for sure should work ok, even if dimmer than normal.. if nothing worked at all, you have a problem getting juice from the battery(s), not a charging problem.

An hour of generator won't restore a dead battery to anywhere near full charge, but should easily bring it from 4 lights to 5 on the panel.

If that dealer is giving you the new PM3 converter/charger for free, that's ok. But if he wants you to pay for it, you should pass and find  a more competent service guy. He clearly doesn't know what's wrong and wants to throw your money at it instead. He makes money and you lose it, and the power problem will still be there.

Thanks to everyone -- I've had a sort of breakthrough, but I'm not sure why.  The batteries are lasting much longer now even though the only thing I changed was that the refrig has 2 buttons - one for auto and one for gas operations. I took the fridge off auto and set it to gas (with the LP turned off.)  I wonder if it was using juice from the batteries to try to start the fridge (spark) every so often??  I dunno but that change now they are lasting several days with no problems.  Perhaps that could be the culprit.  I'm not sure, but thanks to everyone for all of the great advice.  I['m going to take the RV out and put it into shore power for a couple of days which will charge everything up to full charge, then we'll see what happens after that.

Thanks again.

Steve

If you don't want the fridge to operate, why not just turn it off? I don't get why you would put it in LP mode and then shut the gas off?

In any case, it only tries to light the gas a few times and then it quits.

What make & model is the fridge?