House batteries

[Chucksands77]

Rig; 2016 Winnebago 37F with (4) AGM Class 31 House batteries. I was plugged in to shore power and running AC's getting ready for a trip when everything shut down (AC, control panel read outs, etc) except the high voltage items. Discovered the original NAPA batteries that Winnebago installed (2016) were all bad (not bad for getting 5 years). Removed and replaced with new Duracell matching batteries. When turning the battery switch back on by the invertor, no power to the low voltage items or control panel read-out. Check all obvious circuit breakers and none tripped. Convertor by the shore line and invertor near the house battery bank seems to be working (hear a hum). I am thinking that when the old batteries finally gave out, the invertor shut down and there is a breaker that I am missing. I also think there may be a delay for everything coming back on.?? Anyone have suggestions..??

 

[crawford 111]

did you wire battery's up right? are they 6 volt or 12 volt?

 

[Chucksands77]

Thanks Crawford. It has (4) 12 volt batteries.....took photos of previous battery wiring and duplicated. Just now found a 400 amp inline fuse (LittleFuse MEGA) and ordering a new one. Not sure what else to do other than phoning Winnebago on Tuesday. Happy Labor Day to everyone. Ugh

 

[8Muddypaws]

Use a voltmeter to check the output before the fuse Or an ohmmeter to check the resistance of the fuse - it should be 0.

Check your converter/charger. It may have a resettable fuse or breaker(s).

 

[Chucksands77]

Thanks 8 Muudy Paws......will do. Anyone else have input it would be greatly appreciated.....I am thinking its something simple but I havnt found it yet.....life of an RV owner. (;-')

 

[Chucksands77]

OK, back to everyone....as suspected.....a simple thing as the main house battery switch by the door. This rig have a switch for the (4) house/coach batteries and one for the (1) chassis battery. Now we are ready to roll......hoping the Duracell brand battery gives us 5 years as did the NAPA Commercial batteries did.

 

[A Traveler]

Five years out of a set of batteries is not very good. I’m at seven years now, and they’re still going strong.

I don’t think your problem was the batteries anyway. Batteries don’t fail all of a sudden. They die a long, slow death.

 

[Kirk]

Five years out of a set of batteries is not very good.

That just depends on the particular batteries, and how they have been used and maintained. Also batteries don't usually go from 100% good to 100% bad suddenly. As they age the charge capacity will slowly drop. If they are discharged completely it will cause them to age more rapidly, while discharging to 50% or above will have less impact.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Kirk is 100% correct. 5 years would be great for some battery types and some conditions, but just fair for others. Chuck mentioned NAPA Commerical brand batteries, and those almost surely are NOT true deep cycles. Most NAPA COmmercial batteries are the "maintenance-free" sealed lead acid type.

 

[Chucksands77]

Five years out of a set of batteries is not very good. I’m at seven years now, and they’re still going strong.

I don’t think your problem was the batteries anyway. Batteries don’t fail all of a sudden. They die a long, slow death.

These were installed by the Winnebago factory as they still had the Winnebago sticker on them and were the AGM series 31.....supposedly the best ($240/). I am the 3rd owner of this rig so not sure how they maintained them before I took possession. I have always been to told "use the batteries" and not just keep them charging. On golf carts and other RV;s I have owed, I have let them deplete energy down to 50% before re-charging. The nice part about the class A's is that you can stay plugged into shore power and switch the batteries off so they don;t always charge until YOU want to charge them. I wish I could get 7 years out of batteries like "A Traveler" but I am alway6s about 3-4 on a standard battery and 4-5 on the AGM's. What's your secret "A Traveler"

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

7-10 years is readily obtained from a GC2-size golf car deep cycle battery if properly maintained (check the water!) and not abused with excessively deep discharges. That doesn't mean there is no loss of amp-hour capacity, but the battery remains quite usable.

I obtained 8 years from a Trojan AGM31 12v deep cycle but the last two years were noticeably short on AH capacity. OK for a lunch stop or other short stay but insufficient for an overnight off-grid. I'd say 5-6 years was the working life of those batteries. That's sort of a tradeoff for the no-maintenance benefit.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

How many years one gets out of a battery is not the most appropriate metric of battery service. Batteries have a given amount of energy they can store and deliver, based on their size and type, which is what you're paying for. They also have a finite calendar life, so if you don't use the energy capacity up before the clock runs out, any unused storage is a loss. In a perfect scenario you use the battery up before it expires, getting all you paid for. Practically speaking you can't always gauge your usage to hit that mark before they give up but generally speaking, use it or lose it. Or, better to burn out than fade away. So use 'em, charge 'em and decide when they give up whether you need to reevaluate the size and type for next time, or stick with a cost/capacity formula that works for you. What I would want to know is why a particular set failed - was it "hard use", or improper charging and storage? If it was the former, then they don't owe you anything but if it's the latter you need to resolve that or the next set will meet the same fate. It should be mentioned it takes a concerted effort to wear a battery out by using it. Far more prevalent in their demise is "trauma"- being improperly charged or stored.

All lead acid batteries should be kept at 100% charge any time they're not being used. The problem with RV's is that unless you disconnect them they may not stay at 100%, and over time this partial state of charge will diminish their capacity. With modern converters one can leave the RV plugged in full time but then there's always the possibility something will interrupt the power, the batteries discharge and sit dead for some indeterminate length of time, which also damages them. In my view, the best storage option is to leave the RV unplugged, disconnect the batteries and keep them charged with a maintainer.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[A Traveler]

…What's your secret "A Traveler"…

I don’t think I have a secret, I just take care of my batteries. I am using AGM batteries, too. Maintenance free.

• When stored, our coach is plugged in to a 15-amp 110-volt household circuit 24/7. This keeps the batteries properly float-charged.
• I have never allowed the house batteries to get below an unloaded voltage of 12.1 volts.
• I “exercise” the batteries a couple times per year by placing a heavy load on them. I will typically run the microwave for a few minutes, using only the inverter and no shore power. The microwave will draw about 170 amps from the 12-volt batteries. While delivering that load, the battery voltage will drop to 11.2 to 11.4 volts. That means the batteries are delivering between 1,900 and 1,940 watts of power. That is a HEAVY load, and about as far as I can go. It‘s a 2,000 watt inverter.
• As soon as I turn off the microwave, the battery voltage will immediately recover back to 12.4 to 12.5 volts, which tells me they are still in pretty good shape.
• I have boondocked in 25-30 degree weather and ran the furnaces all night on just the batteries...no generator. At that cold temperature, the furnaces ran a lot! In the morning, the batteries were showing the 12.1 volts I mentioned above.