[gary]

How old are the batteries ?

[John]

No dates on batteries. But they say MAINTENCE FREE why should I have to fuss with them? Rick

[Archived]

Rick

Batteries and battery maintaince is a subject that almost takes on a life of it’s own when ever it comes up as a subject. Here is a website that, I think, does a very good job of presenting the most up to date information on batteries without all the technical mumbo jumbo that can cloud ones mind when talking about batteries.

http://www.batterytender.com/resources/technical-info.

As you can see, they also sell all kinds of battery products. Without reading all of the info on the website, I think, (my opinion) you should be able to keep your coach battery charging system on whenever the coach is plugged into 110 volt. If you cannot do so because the batteries get cooked, then there is a problem with the charging system that needs to be investigated and corrected. After all, that is the purpose of the charging system. But, if you batteries are old, say 5-7 years for lead acid batteries, then they need replaced. I doubt that is the case given your state of charge on the two batteries at 70% and the other two at 5%. Either the two at 5% are much older than the 70% batteries or there is a problem with the coach side or the coach side charging system. For example, if the 5% batteries are the 12 volt side of the system, then you could have a 12 volt phantom load either in the coach side that is dragging them down. You commonly see this with radios that have built in clocks/memory on the coach side. You see this often in the house side of the load in things like microwave clocks, bedroom clocks, satellite receivers, TVs, etc. Since you said your coach wouldn’t start, I assume this is the start side of the coach. Since your battery charger is off on this side by choice, I would look at the age of the 5% batteries compared to the 70%. If they are the same age, I would suspect a phantom load on the corresponding side of the load, either 12 or 24 volt since the coach side has both a 24 volt and 12 volt side. I would look at the connections to make sure they are sound, clean, etc. I would look at the coach side of the batteries looking for phantom loads as mentioned above. Finally, I would look at the coach side charging system, last.

HTH

Rob

91 LeMirage XL

Missouri

[Archived]

All 4 batteries are tied togther to create 24v if I’m not mistaken. I disconnected all batteries,cleaned all points of contact with a wire brush,charged the 2 low batteries to 70 pre cent,put back together and started the coach. My question now is what do I do to keep the batteries up. If the batteries are no good should the coach have started with 70 percent charge? Rick

[AL]

Rick,

The only real way to test your batteries is to fully charge them and load test. That will pretty much tell you the condition. If they all load test OK, then it’s a matter of keeping them charged while not using the coach. There is a small drain on the batteries all the time for DDEC, but mine and others have no problem going a few months with any charging. That being said, mine are new and hold up well.

If you have a single stage charger, you could easily cook the batteries with overcharging if left on. Mine has a single stage and before I changed out the batteries, I would run the charger for 2 – 3 hours a month just to keep them up. The answer is a 3 stage charger like the Guest that you can turn on and leave it while the coach is setting for extended periods of time. The charger would bulk/absorbtion charge and then go to float just like your inverters charging the house batteries. I have installed a few of the Guests and they work great.

If your batteries are toast, I would suggest Napa Group 31’s and they run about 100 bucks each and are sealed lead acid. If you want the best, call me, I’ll fix you up with Lifelines.

[Tom]

Let me ask the battery question another way. How long have you owned the bus ? Have you ever replaced any of the 4 ?

Reading your message on trying to start the bus was me a month ago. Just going out to the bus barn to fire it up. It rolled over somewhat slow and that caught my attention but not strong enough to light the fire. I knew the batteries were dated early 2009 and planed to replace this fall due to age service. On the second try…roll to nearly a halt.

Rather then even fool around with finding which battery was the issue, off to NAPA for 4- group 31’s. When NAPA checked the date code on the batteries in the store mfg date codes were mis- matched. Ordering 4 fresh from the warehouse gave me all the same dates 2-12.

Bottom line if the batteries are 3 years old my suggestion would be to replace. The best would be Lifelines from Tom and they should last 5-7 years.

When you decide to buy, if they are flooded batteries insist they be no more then 6 months on the dealers shelf.

AL

[Archived]

Rick,

Since your coach and mine should be twins with respect to how the chassis batteries are set up I can say nothing should draw your chassis batteries down in that short a time. I park my coach in the garage, leave the chassis master and DDEC switches on and can go for months without starting the coach and still have ample battery power to start the coach. Let that be your benchmark. I do replace all chassis batteries every 5 years regardless of condition.

Other than the heavy battery cables the only other wire going from the batteries should be a wire on the 12 volt post going directly to the electrical box and that is associated with power to maintain the DDEC memory from what I have been told. If during the life of the coach someone tapped into the batteries to power something else that might be the problem, but absent that phantom load my guess is your batteries need to be replaced. All the above advice is good, although I will only put a charge on my chassis batteries (from the built in charger) if I have drawn them down while working on the coach. Other than that they just don’t need charging. One practice I have employed is to periodically use my multi tester to measure chassis battery voltage at the 24 and 12 volt terminals on the equalizer. That way I know the batteries still have a good charge and the equalizer is doing its job.

[Tom]

I forgot to mention that for the 22 years we have owned coaches I have used nothing bu Delco 1150 batteries. I have no experience with any other brand, but I can say every Delco battery has lasted my self imposed 5 year life span and with no required maintenance I have not had to do anything in between replacements.

Before I went ahead and considered a different charger or even charging the batteries periodically I would install a new set and monitor the voltage daily. A fully charged set should be at 25.6 or very close to that. After 2 or 3 months of sitting the voltage will be around 24.8 to 25 volts so any faster rate of voltage loss is a signal something is wrong with a battery or there is an unidentified load on the batteries.

[Tom]

WOW, Jus imagine getting your first coach when you were 18
years old !!!!

[John]

Don’t I wish. How is your wife?

[AL]

Cheryl is still having a hard time. I’m flying to Cali to spend a week with her tomorrow. Wish I could say she will be in Myrtal Beach but it’s not looking good at this time.

[Archived]

We’re thinking of her.

[Archived]

I have no idea how out the batteries are. There are on dates on them. Now that I think of it they did need a charging when we in Fl this winter. So its just as well to replace them and then I well know where I stand for the next 5 years. Thanks all for your input. Rick

[Archived]

Installed the new batteries today. It was raining today so I had time. It took all of 35 minutes. Just a note to all as a helping hint. When I took the cables off each post I wire tied them together so as not to mix up the order.Some post had 5 wires on them! It would be my luck to have a wire I didn’t know where it was supposed to be hooked to. This could have taken longer had I consumed a drink or two but I had to drive after. Rick

[Roger]

Another very easy way to do this is to whip out your smart phone and snap a picture! You DO have a smart done don’t you? LOL