Coach and Vehicle Battery levels

[GrandRover]

Our RV would not start when I arrived to pick it up from the dealer on Friday. They had it for two weeks. They had troubleshot the fridge and ordered a warranty replacement fridge. When I arrived to pick my RV up everything was dead including the Ford Battery for the engine and the coach batteries. The generator would not start either. The emergency start would not work, Their techs were able to connect a battery booster to the engine battery that allowed me to start the engine and then to the coach batteries that allowed me to start the generator. I left the engine running for the 30 minutes I was at their shop and the 30 minute drive home and the generator was running the whole time.

At home the vehicle will not start. It is connected to shore power which is charging the batteries, but no luck yet getting it to start nor getting a decent battery voltage.

On shore power since Friday at 3 pm EST and nothing on for the 12 volt system except the fridge.
This morning the battery voltage was still low, per my BMPRO display. I turned off the fridge to try and remove some drain on the battery.

After church today I checked the voltages and they indicated still about 11V on the display. I checked the voltage on the vehicle battery, after I tried again to start the engine, with my voltmeter and it was about 1 volt. YIKES!

I attached my battery charger to the vehicle battery and am now awaiting the charge to complete.

I am very upset with my dealer for allowing the batteries to drain and for not being aware of the condition when they said I could pick up the RV instead of leaving it there while they waited 4 weeks for the fridge.

 

[16ACE27]

For the Axis/Vegas line the house batteries are charged by the converter when SP is connected or the generator is running. The USE/STORE/Master Power switch has to be switched to USE (ON) for the battery disconnect latching relay to close to connect the house batteries to the house battery buss (and converter/charger).
In order for the latching relay to move to the closed position there has to be enough charge existing in the house batteries to move the connector.
In order to complete this charging path the Reverse Polarity fuses in the Power center must be good and the 50 amp DC breaker near the house batteries must not be tripped.
If you have an indicating light near the Master Power switch it is simply an indication that there is power on the house DC buss. It will always be lit when on SP or running the generator regardless of the position of the battery disconnect. It is NOT an indication of the position of the battery disconnect unless you are not on SP and not running the generator.

Once the house battery bank has reached a high enough voltage, the BIM/BIRD/Trombetta (in your 2023 model I believe you have a BIRD/Trombetta) it will combine the house battery bank to the chassis battery and charge the chassis battery as well. It should also work in the other direction to allow the alternator to charge the house battery bank regardless of the position of the house battery disconnect.

The 100 amp breaker to the generator may also prevent starting the generator and connecting the house/chassis battery banks

In your case it sounds like your chassis battery may be toast and your house batteries are not being charged by SP.

 

[GrandRover]

In your case it sounds like your chassis battery may be toast and your house batteries are not being charged by SP.

17ACE27 - I guess time will tell as I will leave my battery charger connected for a few hours more.

Thanks!

 

[ghnl]

If severely discharged - and especially if left in a discharged state for too long - most automobile batteries will never recover. If you are able to get them recharged I'd suggest having them Load Tested. Most auto parts stores (Auto Zone, O'Reilly's, etc) will do this for free. While they are hoping you'll then buy a new battery from them if needed, I've not experienced them 'cheating' on the test.

 

[GrandRover]

If severely discharged - and especially if left in a discharged state for too long - most automobile batteries will never recover. If you are able to get them recharged I'd suggest having them Load Tested. Most auto parts stores (Auto Zone, O'Reilly's, etc) will do this for free. While they are hoping you'll then buy a new battery from them if needed, I've not experienced them 'cheating' on the test.

Thanks Eric. My dealer plans to test all three batteries when I return in a few weeks for the refrigerator replacement. I am charging the coach vehicle battery for a couple more hours today and see what the results are.

Clearly batteries, especially in Florida, can roll over and die due to weather conditions. But in my case there was never an indication of any battery issues until my dealer kept the RV for a little over 2 weeks (this situation) and suddenly the batteries were depleted.

 

[16ACE27]

My chassis battery worked perfectly well until it didn't after filling up at a Circle K in Bushnell on the way back from a Tampa area trip. Luckily, I was able to run the generator for about 15 minutes to put enough charge in it to start the engine. It was too dead for Emergency Start alone to get it cranked. Turned out a cell had died just like that.,

 

[GrandRover]

After charging the chassis battery yesterday the voltage was about 13.1 according to my BMPRO power monitoring. I then ran the vehicle engine for a while which kept the voltage at 14.1 while running, obviously from the alternator. When I checked again at around 10 pm the voltage was 13.1. This morning the voltage was 12.6. It appears things may be back to normal. Time will tell. I will still make sure my dealer checks the batteries with a tester when I return for the fridge replacement in a few weeks.