battery replacement

[Beachrunner]

We have a Windsport 34J that has Harris coach batteries. They will just not hold a charge sufficient to run my levelers or much of anything else. Has anyone replaced their original batteries and if so did you replace them with AGM batteries? Will the charging system work with AGM batteries?

[Jegdrum5050]

I used AGM on my last class c worked very well

[djnash]

Jerry
Welcome Home!

[DocMike]

Beachrunner,

I had one heck of a time with Harris Batteries. The saga started soon after purchasing our Vegas May 2015 and took several months to resolve. Thread posted under Maintaince and Repair this Forum for the long running discussion (use search option this Forum, look for "Final report Harris Batteries and WFCO charger/converter" and "Can Zero Maintainance Batteries be used as House Batteries).

Bottom line is I got two new batteries, almost a year latter I was reimbursed, below is my solution:

I purchased two new Exide Nautilus Marine Deep Cycle Batteries (27MDC) with 550 cold cranking Amps at 0 degrees, 675 Marine cranking Amps at 32 degrees, 182 minutes reserve capacity at 25 amps,105 amp hourscontinues operation time, 182 reserve capacity, Lead/Antimony construction, enveloped separators surround the plates, thicker grids designed for manycycles, Stainless steel threaded and SAE posts provide ease of installation andpermit uncluttered wiring harness for electrical connections, with a 12 mo. warranty that will be honored at Camping World.

My old batteries were declaired "Sulfate dead"...which is real dead. These new ones have not missed a lick, charge just fine and were worth the headaches.

[Jegdrum5050]

Djnash, thank you!! Are you a VN vet as well?

[DocMike]

Jerry and Djnash,

Thank you for your service.

I have been overly impressed and intrigued by the number of Veterans on this Forum. My take: after defending Freedom, now it is time to enjoy the freedom RV'ing offers.

VN era vet, 12B10 Combat Engineer 1973 FLW (Ft. Lost in the woods) Mo, never left CONUS. Retired out of Air Guard Charlotte NC in 1995.

Doc

[Ag&Au]

Our last RV (travel trailer) had Lifeline AGMs. Right after purchasing the trailer we upgraded the converter to a IOTA Engineering DLS converter with the IQ-4.
We also had 200 watts of solar. The batteries served us well for 7 years and were still going strong when we sold the trailer.

We will be upgrading our motorhome to a similar set up soon.

Ken

Viet Nam Vet also:

USN Air VP-42
1967 Tan Son Nhut
1968 Cam Rahn Bay

[Jegdrum5050]

Welcome home Ken!!

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by Jegdrum5050

Welcome home Ken!!

Welcome home to you also.

You might want to check the thread I just started.

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f4/...ster-4823.html

[DocMike]

Ag&Au,

Checked out the thread, added my 2 cents.

Great idea.

I wonder if there is a link to RV sites run by Vets? If not, I just posted one in your Fall In Thread.

Doc

[djnash]

Yes 22 years active duty. Nam 67 and 68. Tet was so much fun. And to all the nam vets a big WELCOME HOME.. And thanks to all of you for your service.

[djnash]

To get back on topic for a minute. What proof did you bave to supy to get reimbursed. My batteries are not charging and i will never bring my unit to CW for work. At least the one i purchased it from. They are.dumber than a box of rocks, being polite..

[DocMike]

djnash,

I had copies of the blanket denial from Harris Batteries, copy of the letter from WFCO as to why it was not their fault, copies of the attempts by CW to charge the batteries, CW's tests showing the WFCO was charging but the batteries were dead. Along with a few emails back and forth.

Good Luck

Doc

[djnash]

Thanks will start.the process

[scrubjaysnest]

Ours aren't holding a charge either, SG was running about 1.250 and now it's in the red. Tried external charger(s) and can't get them into the good range.
May stop by Tractor Supply in Harrisonburg, VA when I run in to get 3 more solar panels.
By the way FWIW the Harris bat specs indicate 1.265 for a fully charged battery. That's below the norm for true deep cycle batteries.

[DocMike]

Good Luck to all.

What got me was they said the batteries could have been mistreated before I purchased the RV (not charged fully/correctly charged/charged often enough) while on the lot, while used for show-n-tell, or in transit to the dealership. 5 months after the sale they were dead as a door nail..."Sulfate Dead!!!".

How can it be justified that the end user (purchaser) is held responsible for what happened before the purchase? That was my main question. Now that only I have been responsible for the care of the new batteries - NO PROBLEMS!!!!!

Again, good luck.

Doc

[brucev]

Originally Posted by Beachrunner

We have a Windsport 34J that has Harris coach batteries. They will just not hold a charge sufficient to run my levelers or much of anything else. Has anyone replaced their original batteries and if so did you replace them with AGM batteries? Will the charging system work with AGM batteries?

I put Interstates in mine, solved all the battery related problems.

[duneryder]

Originally Posted by brucev

I put Interstates in mine, solved all the battery related problems.

I replaced the Harris batteries with Interstate as well. We would typically get 4 hours running the fridge on the inverter and then the generator would kick on. Fortunately we were camping at a place with no quiet hour restrictions, but it also meant we could never stay at a park with quiet hours. After installing the Interstates we typically get 10 hours before the generator comes on. Problem solved.

[Ag&Au]

We have unlabeled batteries in our new motorhome in our new motorhome. Does that mean they are most likely Harris? Can anyone estimate home long before we start experiencing problems?

Ken

[Ag&Au]

We have unlabeled batteries in our new motorhome. Does this mean they are most likely Harris? If so, how soon should I expect them to start causing problems?

Ken