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Old 07-11-2018, 03:34 AM   #1
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Model: Four Winds 23U
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THOR #10459
Battery Life

Hello and I can not tell you all how helpful this Forum is. I have a question that I can't seem to find an answer to. I have a Thor 23U 2018. How long should the batteries last under normal use when not plugged in and on a full charge? I take my MH out to campgrounds with no power. The batteries don't last more than a day with minimal use.

I had the entire electrical system checked and they tell me it is all OK. Am I expecting too much here?? Seems like they should go for 2 to 3 days?? NO? Thanks for any insight.

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Old 07-11-2018, 04:17 AM   #2
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Yep, they should last longer but these darn OEM batteries are not very good and are know to go out in the first year or so. I had to replace mine at 11 mo old (CW and Harris Battery manufacture would not help me at all - I tried) so I replaced them with TWO 6volt AMG batteries (I just posted a tread on this today!). They work great so far and should have a much longer life. I have not boondocked more than a day so far but I have a feeling I would get 3 days out of them with no problem with normal (but mindful) usage.
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Old 07-11-2018, 04:57 AM   #3
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thanks so much for the confirmation. I will look at some new ones. I am out without a plug in MOST of the time...well, all the time really.
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Old 07-11-2018, 05:04 AM   #4
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Well if your without shore power and your not running your Genny have you considered going Solar? That way at the end of the day your batteries will be fully charged for the night. I plan on adding about 350 watts to my setup by the end of summer. That should fully charge (from 50% discharge that is) in around 3 or 4 hours with my two 6 volt - 220 amp hour setup.
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Old 08-04-2018, 08:23 PM   #5
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Hello, battery life depends not just on the battery quality but on the current draw. If you have a residential fridge those babies draw a lot of current, as do the microwave. Water pump can take a lot as well. If you have a residential fridge 24 hours is the max you can expect. I don't even get 24 hours with mine.
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Old 08-04-2018, 11:08 PM   #6
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Question: Have you given any thought as to how you could reduce your power usage?
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Old 08-05-2018, 05:20 AM   #7
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I have...and I reduce my power use everywhere possible. I finally got an answer from Thor, and they say that 26 to 30 hours, even with minimum power usage, is what we should expect.
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Old 08-05-2018, 12:44 PM   #8
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Sorry: this approach hadn't been mentioned, so I had to ask...
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Old 08-06-2018, 04:17 PM   #9
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Originally Posted by BJ Smith View Post
I have...and I reduce my power use everywhere possible. I finally got an answer from Thor, and they say that 26 to 30 hours, even with minimum power usage, is what we should expect.
I dont would not expect TWO 12 V to last that long (26 - 30 hours) IMO (Esp if they are the OEM battery).

BUT I did see a test on line were they had a "5 watt load" (so no TV) and it lasted about that long on the first test. I think it was a 12v rated at 100 amp Hr. But they also said once they drained them past 50% one time they were lucky to get half that time (13 - 15 hours) on the next test. As they age your Amp hours will go down even if we take care of them.

But I would think you could get overnight (8 - 12 hours?) easy if your conservative on what you try and power.
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Old 08-06-2018, 04:58 PM   #10
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thanks so much for the confirmation. I will look at some new ones. I am out without a plug in MOST of the time...well, all the time really.
You cannot complain about a battery until you know what kind of equipment is running off of the battery and for how long it is running. You may have a real problem if you are running a residential type of refrigerator for example. Other high loads are leveling systems, running slides in and out, DC to AC inverters running at high loads. One clue is to examine the 12V fuses to see which ones have high amperage limits.

What were you running? Do you have efficient LED lighting?
etc, etc.
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Old 08-06-2018, 05:26 PM   #11
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I agree with long and winding road. Thor uses cranking battery as original equipment. These are designed to have high momentary load, when discharged pass 50% they will not be able to recharge to a 100%. Deep cycle batteries are designed to do what you are looking for. Low long power draw and they will recharge back to 100%. 6volt in series vs 12volt parallel ??????? As long as the total amp hours are the same I don't see a difference. Maybe someone here can elaborate on the advantage of six over twelve.
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Old 08-06-2018, 05:28 PM   #12
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Normal, deep discharge, Amp-Hours

The typical 12V, deep discharge, group 24, has about 75-85A-Hr when new and a groupr 27 has about 85-105 A-Hr. These rating, are , of course at 100 Hr type of battery draw, which is not of much use to RV users that are commonly running batteries down in 12-36 hours. Expect 20% less at these higher loads.

I think that these numbers, found on a website are optimistic and we should use the lower number for realistic situations.

Newer, flat panel TVs run typically just under 100W (100W/12.5V=8 A-Hr) so we can expect around 20 Hrs using 2 group 24 size for typical smaller RVs. Use a 1000W (1000W/12.5V=80 A-Hr) microwave oven for 10 minutes and that's around 13 A-Hr just to heat up your frozen dinner.

LED lighting may be the most significant savings on power in the newer RVs. Using 6-10 40W incandescent light bulbs can run (320W/12.5v= 25 A-Hr) 25A-HR, about 5-10 times as much as the LED type lighting.

So, it is easy to see, where the power is going with a few simple calculations.
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Old 08-06-2018, 07:09 PM   #13
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Maybe someone here can elaborate on the advantage of six over twelve.
I "think" it has to do with being a "true" deep cycle battery and the weight of all that extra lead and acid (remember its just my theory).

I replaced my TWO 12 volt OEM's (lead acid) with TWO 6 volt (AGM's) this year. The old batteries scales out at 46# each, and the new ones at 73 # each. 2 x 73 = 146 # total VS 2 x 46 = 92 #.

Therefore 146# / three 12 volts = 48.6# each. So that is the equivalent to THREE 12 volts and they sit in the SAME spot as my old 12 volts. They are a little taller and longer (about the same wide) but they fit under my steps perfectly and it fits my needs (currently).

So they have more lead and acid to last longer? Down side is they cost more.

If you want the maximum amp hours with the smallest foot print IMO this is the way to go.

I have not given them a true amp hour test yet but I know they are far supeior to the OEM's.

They have tremendous recovery as well. I can used 12 v power for like an hour, check the volts with my muti meter, wait 10 - 15 mintues and come back and its almost to the same level as before. Go figure.

Hopefully someone that knows something can chime in.
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Old 08-06-2018, 09:06 PM   #14
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just a few hours of lights and minimal water pump use, fridge and water heat on LP... I can get a couple days probably.... maybe more.
using the furnace, or unlimited lights, not even through the night.
Just too many variables...

sounds like your RV might be brand new?
If so, I'd suggest you pursue replacement batteries form the dealer under warranty. They''ll still give you low end batteries but at least they'll be fresh and you'll know the history. I did it it when we bought ours.

Of course I couldn't properly test the batteries at my PDI, because they had it plugged in. But I quickly found that they weren't holding a good charge.

In case you don't know, these batteries are damaged if drawn down to a very low charge. Most people seem to use 50% charge as the line.... Personally I think there's a lot more to it....depends on the battery and it's not really a line you cross form good to bad... but that's a pretty good start to use about 50%.

Also, these wet cell batteries will "self discharge"...they will loose charge over time even if no wires are even connected... 5% a month or something like that...
it doesn't take many times dropping below the line...50% or whatever it is....to start loosing capacity. Meaning when full it won't hold as much as it did when new.

and if you take them to zero once, it'll pretty much kill them.

I've learned all of this after having replaced far too many batteries over the years...

anyway, my theory is this.
These things sit on a dealer lot. The salesman or customer go in flipping on some lights. they leave a light on over night....dead battery
If they don't leave it on, but just draw it down a bit.... then someone else draws it down some more a few days later...some time passes and self discharge takes a toll.... Or maybe the delivery driver did it...or maybe someone let it sit without pressing the "store" switch....
So I figure that it's a really safe bet that the majority of RV batteries on new coaches have been at least partially harmed, if not right out damaged.


And my other suggestion is to invest in a physical disconnect switch at the battery post. When parking for storage, even for 1 night if not plugged in and I'm not using it, i'll disconnect my batteries...both the house and the chassis
My batteries last a lot longer doing this.... as in years longer....
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Old 08-06-2018, 10:19 PM   #15
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So woith my pair of "Group 27s": how much improvement should I see; if I upgrade to some serious AGM deep cycle versions?

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Old 08-06-2018, 11:50 PM   #16
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Bob, I think you would see an improvement but I would wait until your batteries start failing.

Do your research now so you know what your going to replace them with.

I like the Full River AGM's. 6 volt / 220 amp hour. They fit under my steps (very tight but worked fine). I purchased them at Battery Depot (or was it B. Plus) and asked them for a discount and he gave me about 12% off with no problems. But at $250 each retail I guess he thought it was worth it.

With my research I found out that the lead acid 6 volts are ALL too tall for my setup and I really wainted 6v and I like the fact they are AGM's to boot.
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Old 08-07-2018, 11:58 AM   #17
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The area under my steps is tight enough, that I'd feel best about staying with a pair of Group 27 12 volt replacements under there...
(AGM: of course!)
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Old 08-07-2018, 12:42 PM   #18
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Just some advice, my 2016 Miramar batteries seem to be losing their charge pretty fast. When plugged into shore power, of course I get around 13.5 on the inverter display. When the shore power is disconnected, the voltage drops pretty fast, usually within ½ hour and reads 10.5, and remains there. Am I correct in assuming that the batteries need replacing? The inverter appears to be doing its job as you can see that the batteries receive a charge when plugged in, it just drops fast when disconnected.
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Old 08-07-2018, 12:52 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by suenmike View Post
Just some advice, my 2016 Miramar batteries seem to be losing their charge pretty fast. When plugged into shore power, of course I get around 13.5 on the inverter display. When the shore power is disconnected, the voltage drops pretty fast, usually within ½ hour and reads 10.5, and remains there. Am I correct in assuming that the batteries need replacing? The inverter appears to be doing its job as you can see that the batteries receive a charge when plugged in, it just drops fast when disconnected.
I would say yes, Mine did the same thing. I unhook from charge and they dropped down to nothing right away. I tried to charge them for a week and nothing would work.
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Old 08-07-2018, 12:54 PM   #20
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Yep, that's exactly what is happening. And your motorhome is newer than mine correct?
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