Quote:
Originally Posted by Ovation12s
So I'm someone who isn't afraid to admit when he's wrong, and I want people to know the facts more than I want to hide my own stupidity. My test was flawed, didn't realize the other end of the shore power wasn't plugged in. After rectifying, I checked for charging and I was well over 13 volts to the battery. So the converter was doing it's job. I also got some info from Thor directly, that helped me identify where the converter was (under the fuse box), and the fact that there was a fuse inline at the battery. I also added distilled water to the cells. I checked the power switch with the shore power disconnected, made sure it was on, reconnected shore power and let it charge over night. It all looks good now. I also re-checked the Use/Store paradigm, and its seems to work as described even though it doesn't say use/store. As for the batteries being bad, I recall as a kid that my dad would use a lead acid cell tester, a hydrometer. It looks like syringe, basically you suck up some water from the cell and you check if the cell is bad based on the markings. If any of the cells are bad, game over, but rather than randomly guessing and throwing out batteries, this seems more scientific, and they only cost about $15 on Amazon. Probably worth the investment.
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Also be sure the dealer didn't cheap out & put marine hybrid batteries in the coach. If there's CCA, CA, or MCA followed by a number listed on the battery tops you have cranking batteries not true deep cycle batteries. These batteries are not designed for rv use where constantly charging/discharging takes place.
Testing your batteries is a good idea. If they've been completely dead with low water levels then they may charge but not stay charged & if so their lifespan has been shortened considerably.
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