|
2017 29H here. No light on use/store switch. I had crazy parasitic drain on my batteries when storing and boondocking. Here's what I did for incremental steps that, all added up, solved my problem. Now when I store for over a month, batteries dont get below 50%. (I bought a cutoff switch, but havent installed yet- that is certainly the best/foolproof solution.)
First, if you are already dealing with batteries you know have gone below 50% charge, start with a known good charge- for me that means pulling the batteries from the coach (take photo/video of the rats nest of connections and mark on the wires what goes where. The 29H has some interesting wiring choices. Careful to remove BOTH negative leads first- there’s not a lot of room to work and it’s far too easy to short to the metal frame in there.) You've already checked electrolyte level, but also get a fluid based battery charge tester and check each cell- you can pick one up at any auto store; note your baseline readings. Then put batteries on a quality car charger in well ventilated area at least overnight for each- I like my Schumacher charger. Since there are two batteries, this will take 2 or 3 days. Allow a couple hours after removing the charger for “surface charge” to dissipate, then check each battery cell again and ensure each cell is good. My batteries were abused by my dealer, and for the first 6 months also by me because they were always undercharged and I was pretty ignorant of how to treat them. I thought I needed to replace them, but doing this procedure brought them back to life and they’ve been going strong for almost two years now.
I also figured out the four largest parasitic power draws on the 29H.
1. The use/store switch left “on” by mistake.
2. The inverter left on when not actively using it for TV.
3. The King Jack antenna left on (there’s a lighted button inside the cabinet where the DVD player is, near the cable connector)
4. The radios (both front and rear).
The radios were the most interesting. Because I mostly boondock and want the battery to last as long as possible for fridge, lights, and heat blower, so I installed a simple toggle switch at the 12v fuse panel to kill the radio circuit when the “use/store” is on. This lets me use fridge and lights for a lot longer.
Now when I store the rig with everything off, the batteries drop to about 20 - 25% in a month. That’s without a true kill switch on the battery. Pretty good, considering lead acid self discharges at about 5% a month just on its own. My guess is the remaining 15-20% drain is almost entirely the co/propane detector.
__________________
|
Thor Forums
