Vehicle battery in class c going dead

[bubbaboy195]

My Ford Class C battery keeps going dead, It is a new battery and I can not find anything on. I unhooked the hot and found very little spark when I re-atached it.

It is not the house battery

Any Help:mad:

[lensmanicu]

There are saftey sencors that run alll the time. If you dont plug you camper in when not in use it will drain your battery. So you need to disconnect your battery when camper is not in use unless you can keep it pluggged in all the time.

[murffdog]

Your chassie battery has a constant draw from the computer, radio and saftey sensors. I have a knife switch on the "positive" terminal to solve the problem. NOT the negative side because some sensors are self grounded.

[lensmanicu]

The way I understand it if the battery dosent have a ground then it cant supply the voltage necessary to operate the sencor. Please correct me if im wrong. And I apoligise for the mis-information

[whodo]

It doesn't matter which side of the circuit you open, hot or cold, positive or negative, as long as you open the circuit "at the battery", there is no way for voltage/current to flow anywhere or to anything.

[gwtriker]

I've had the same problem with coach battery loosing power while sitting. A knife swith to disconnect it will work but I think doing so will cause your radio to loose it's presets, and clock setting. Keeping your rv on shore power when at home will not keep up the charge on the coach battery (at least mine didn't).

I read about, purchased and installed somethinig called a Ultra Trik-L-Start. It's a small battery charger/maintainer that draws power from your house battery to keep up the charge on the coach battery. It's only suppose to work when you're on shore power or have solar panels. Just recently installed it so I can't really vouch for how well it works (haven't been brave enough to disconnect shore power to see what happens)

[trpwire]

Check for glove campartment light staying on, also visor mirror lights. Fords used to have a separate voltage regulator(alternator) that would draw power when bad.
If you are not driving much, you may have to apply a trickle charger or floatation type charger on a timely basis to keep it topped off. Be advised that a regular auto type battery will not hold up if discharged several times. It can only stand a small percentage of discharge before damage.

[murffdog]

Check for glove campartment light staying on, also visor mirror lights. Fords used to have a separate voltage regulator(alternator) that would draw power when bad.
If you are not driving much, you may have to apply a trickle charger or floatation type charger on a timely basis to keep it topped off. Be advised that a regular auto type battery will not hold up if discharged several times. It can only stand a small percentage of discharge before damage.

What glove box, I never saw a Ford Class C with one. As mentioned, there is a constant draw from sensors, etc..

[jdensie]

IMHO the most common draw is the refer as the brain part of it uses 12 volt.

[ou90030]

you have two choices - either disconnect the vehicle battery or hook up some sort of mechanism to charge the battery when parked. The Ultra Trik-L-Start works great or, you cha simply run wires (FUSED) between the house battery and the vehicle battery so it too will receive charge when plugged in to shore power.I've had the same problem with coach battery loosing power while sitting. A knife swith to disconnect it will work but I think doing so will cause your radio to loose it's presets, and clock setting. Keeping your rv on shore power when at home will not keep up the charge on the coach battery (at least mine didn't).

I read about, purchased and installed somethinig called a Ultra Trik-L-Start. It's a small battery charger/maintainer that draws power from your house battery to keep up the charge on the coach battery. It's only suppose to work when you're on shore power or have solar panels. Just recently installed it so I can't really vouch for how well it works (haven't been brave enough to disconnect shore power to see what happens)

[jrvdoc]

My Ford Class C battery keeps going dead, It is a new battery and I can not find anything on. I unhooked the hot and found very little spark when I re-atached it.

It is not the house battery

Any Help:mad:

if your mh has an aes refer turn it off ,stereo is a draw ,lp detector, electric step all of thes will draw from chassey and coach batteries
or your alternator is not charging

[jonesrvers]

During the winter I park my unit next to the garage. I don't want to disconnect the battery. Where I live it gets to -20F and the thing can freeze. I also do not want to remove it. I plug into a timer fron the shore station and charge 1 day a week. Everything stays chagred up and ready for spring trip.

[betsytom]

Remember not to connect your battery unless the negative is disconnected, if you have a wet battery sparking can be very dangerous and damaging??

[murffdog]

Remember not to connect your battery unless the negative is disconnected, if you have a wet battery sparking can be very dangerous and damaging??


The spark is because there is a "draw" on the system, it won't hurt anything unless "maybe" it's sitting on a gas can.

[1stsgt]

My Ford Class C battery keeps going dead, It is a new battery and I can not find anything on. I unhooked the hot and found very little spark when I re-atached it.

It is not the house battery

Any Help:mad:

bubbaboy195:

I had the same problem with my cranking battery discharging from sitting to long. The answer to my problem was a inexpensive, Die Hard, fully automatic, 2/4 amp battery charger/maintainer that I purchased from Sears Automotive. I've had no problem since useing it. Purchased one for my motorcycle and it works well too. :D

[betsytom]

murffdog, every wet battery can do the Hindenburg under the right conditions.

By the way, we just replaced our coach batteries with two new 12 volt agm, deep cycle. Decided on Powertech, US made, by East Penn, group 31 instead of the 27 's that were installed. Paid about $250 each, Lifeline would have been another $125 each- we did not have the room for two six volt, and we were advised to stay with two 12's by both a manufacturer and the distributor. Interesting as I have always been told that the 6's are the way to go, but apparently only if you have room for alot of them.

Forgot this also;

http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/

[oldguybc]

Get one of those small (16 inches square) solar panel trickle chargers. Works for me, batteries are always fully charged, even after 3-4 months in storage.
If you have a cover for your RV you may have to place it on top of the cover like I do if you're going to leave it a few months.:D :D