Battery Question - Montana Owners Club

restez · 10-26-2010, 08:08 AM

The Monty is all winterized up here in Montana where winters can be nasty, but I still have one question. I want to remove the batteries from the coach and store them in my heated shop. The question is will the slides still work with shore power and all the batteries taken out? There are times when I may need to open her up to either retrieve something forgotten there or just to make sure everything is ship shape in there throughout the winter.
Thanks

Ozz · 10-26-2010, 08:43 AM

I do not think so, I believe the battery has to be in it. (That was the way a friend's Cardinal was.)

camper4 · 10-26-2010, 09:40 AM

I agree. But maybe...It would be running off the 12 volt converter at that point and it would depend on the amps it is capable of producing versus the power required for the slide's electric pump.

H. John Kohl · 10-26-2010, 10:15 AM

If you pull the battery and plan on using the converter to power the 12VDC side remember to insulate the positive battery connector. If it touches metal chassie you will have sparks and will probably blow the fuses at the converter level.

The current required to run the slide motor may exceed the output of the converter.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

SlickWillie · 10-26-2010, 11:48 AM

I believe Lippert advises against operating the slides on just the converter. In fact, IIRC, they will void the warranty on the pump unit if it is damaged from low current.

restez · 10-26-2010, 04:07 PM

Thanks everyone, I guess I better have everything in order before I pull the batterys. I kind of figured that the battery needed to be in before using the slides, just wanted to make sure

Jim Jarvis · 10-26-2010, 10:58 PM

You do not need to pull the battery. With a full charge it will not freeze.

camper4 · 10-27-2010, 01:33 AM

My batteries stay in all winter but I keep it plugged in.

restez · 10-27-2010, 02:58 AM

I have always found that with past 5th wheels that I have owned that if you leave the battery's in and plugged to shore power that the converter overcharges them and cooks the water out of them. Up here we see lots of below zero weather so not really an option to top off batterys in -20 weather. With my old 5th wheel trailers I would be lucky to get 2 years out of a new battery by leaving it in. I even tried a trickle charger/maintainer and that didn't seem to help. I think its the bitter cold that does in a battery. In my last 5th wheel, by taking the battery out and storing it in a warm shop I got nearly 7 years out of it. It does make a difference. Hopefully soon I won't have to worry about that as retirement is coming up fast and I will be the heck out of here in the winter!! Just wishfull thinking at this point!!

kdeiss · 10-27-2010, 03:06 AM

Slides will not come in with out the battery. What I do is disconect the battery once a mounh or so I connect it give it a charge for a day or so from the converter if you what to work the slides.Otherwise I would bring the battey in the house again give it a charge once a mounth with a charger or use a Battery tender. My battery is 6 years old plan to replace in the spring

restez · 10-27-2010, 08:16 AM

I agree, and I am going to pull the new battery's out of the coach and just put in an old battery that I have out of my old trailer with a maintainer. I know deep cycle battery's are kind of a crap shoot anyway, some last, others don't. I think that they may have a better chance of surviving the winter in the warm as compared to the cold. I know I enjoy heat better than cold!!

sreigle · 10-28-2010, 10:41 AM

I know the landing gear will work when the battery is not working (bad ground). I had to raise our gear and had to fire up the truck's engine to provide the power and then they worked. I'd bet the same is true for the slides. If in doubt, give it a test. But then please report back.

Your battery should survive the cold just fine so long as it is fully charged. If you pull it out and put it inside on concrete, put a board between the concrete and the battery or that battery will discharge over time.

When we used to winterize ours I just left the rig connected to 20 amp shore power at the house. No problems with our battery.

jimyoung10 · 10-31-2010, 02:26 AM

Good idea to store bats inside at your cold winter temps. Store your batteries on some type of wood and not on your cold concrete floor as they will be discharged and dead by spring as somehow on direct contact to a concrete floor they will discharge at least that has been my experiance with many years of storage in AK.

ExPatNW · 10-31-2010, 06:13 AM

Thought I would add to this thread based on my experience from yesterday. We went to our storage to pick-up our 5er (had to take it to Camping World for a little warranty work).
Found we were unable to get the slides to open. Discovered I had left the battery disconnect switch left in the ON position and the battery over a couple of weeks had drained. So I backed up the truck and plug in the cable hopeing there would be enough power from the truck to open the slides. We managed to get the slides opened enough to do what we needed to do inside. But, when we went to close the slides they moved a little and then stopped. When I checked what was happening I found that a 30Amp fuse in the truck (which protects the trailer charge line) had blown. So it would seem the pump for the slides can pull more than 30amps to get the slides in. With a flat battery I had to return home and bring back another, charged, battery to get the slides closed, which we did.

So even if you were on shore power, I think its unlikely the 110V/12V system in the rig would be able to provide 30+ amps.
Key learning for me is I need a procedure/check list for leaving the rig in storage that makes sure I have switched off the battery disconnect switch.
Hope this is useful.
Chris

7.3Ford · 10-31-2010, 03:27 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by ExPatNW

Thought I would add to this thread based on my experience from yesterday. We went to our storage to pick-up our 5er (had to take it to Camping World for a little warranty work).
Found we were unable to get the slides to open. Discovered I had left the battery disconnect switch left in the ON position and the battery over a couple of weeks had drained. So I backed up the truck and plug in the cable hopeing there would be enough power from the truck to open the slides. We managed to get the slides opened enough to do what we needed to do inside. But, when we went to close the slides they moved a little and then stopped. When I checked what was happening I found that a 30Amp fuse in the truck (which protects the trailer charge line) had blown. So it would seem the pump for the slides can pull more than 30amps to get the slides in. With a flat battery I had to return home and bring back another, charged, battery to get the slides closed, which we did.

So even if you were on shore power, I think its unlikely the 110V/12V system in the rig would be able to provide 30+ amps.
Key learning for me is I need a procedure/check list for leaving the rig in storage that makes sure I have switched off the battery disconnect switch.
Hope this is useful.
Chris

Had the same thing happen to me. Took it to CW for warranty work, forgot to turn off disconnect. Battery was dead, could not get front feet to move to hook up the 5er. Connect the truck, and blew the 30 AMP fuse.

I now carry a battery jumper box, which has compressor and light all in one. I got it at Northern Tool for $89. and it has enough power to open and closed the slides and raise and lower feet. (Not that I will ever have the problem again, since I have 400 Watts of solar now). Compressor is really nice since it runs off the jumper battery, and don't have to plug into cigarette lighter.

BTW, The converter will put out 80 AMPS DC, but only uses 9 AMP of AC power.

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