No power after sitting for a month

[LaMont13]

I recently bought a Montana 5th wheel. I was able to level it up and put the slides out and all the lights and AC worked fine just after buying it. It has sat at that location for a few weeks maybe a month. I connected it to my Honda 3000 generator for about 6-8 hours to try and give some charge and it still has no power. The display for the auto level doesn't come on and the display at the main panel inside the RV will not come on. The slides do not work, and the lights do not work. There is a separate switch for the light with ceiling fan in the living room. If I hit that switch, the light and ceiling fan come on. They are the only thing that works. When I look at the fuse panel in the bathroom there is a green light (wizard something) that is blinking very fast. Any ideas. I have never owned a 5th wheel before so I know almost nothing about 5th wheels. Thanks for the help!

[BB_TX]

Sounds like your battery may be completely drained. There are parasitic draws on the battery, even if you throw the battery disconnect switch, that will drain a battery in fairly short order. Best to disconnect the battery negative cable if sitting very long.

The ceiling fan and light are 120 vac. All the other things you mention are 12 vdc.

[Ram Montana High Country]

I learned the hard way. Unhooking the negative battery post will prevent the drain. I installed a switch between the negative cable and the trailer ground point. This is a quick and easy turn on/off

[Ram Montana High Country]

Originally Posted by Ram Montana High Country

I learned the hard way. Unhooking the negative battery post will prevent the drain. I installed a switch between the negative cable and the trailer ground point. This is a quick and easy turn on/off

Might need to jump from the truck to get things started.

[mlh]

You may have ruined your battery. I had mine hooked to 110 power and it got unhooked for a month or so. I found what happened too late. A fairly new battery wont take a change, oh well.
Lynwood

[DQDick]

Take your battery to an Auto parts store and have it checked. My guess is you killed it and until it's replaced you'll be stuck where you are.

[DutchmenSport]

Just curious, is your battery cut-off switch in the "off" position. It's a big red plastic thing that looks like a funky key. If it's in the off position, nothing on battery power will work (except the CO2 detector and it's parasitic power drain on the battery). The battery will not charge either.

[twindman]

FYI I agree with Dutchman that it sounds like the switch is off. However, the switch is confusing - if you can remove the switch thing, then the power is off except the parasites! And it won't charge the battery.

[LaMont13]

Thanks, I will check the battery and hope that is it.

Why does the wizard light think it's charged?

Why won't it work while plugged into the generator?

Thanks for the help!

[jimcol]

The Wizard light is seeing the voltage being sent to the battery from the converter. It is not the actual charge the battery can supply on it's own. Hope that makes sense.

[BB_TX]

The converter likely will not supply enough amps to run the hydraulics, especially if the battery is dead. And a dead battery could also be pulling down the converter so that it cannot power the lights, especially if they are in incandescent. The blinking light would be LED and require only a fraction of an amp.

[Andy Smith]

The charge wizard blinking rapidly means it's in bulk charge mode. You can look up your converter for the specifics. Bulk charge mode means likely it's seeing a low/no voltage coming off the battery. When the battery is fully charged the converter goes into trickle charge mode and the blinks are further apart.

[vipermanden]

Been there done that. When I biught my Montana brand new, the walk thru went kind of fast, so The guy had turned my key off, and because I hooked up, and went on a shake down trip, and was hooked to shore power, I did not know anything was a miss. When I put it in storage for a month, I turned the red key 1/4 turn, but thinking I was turning it off, I was actually just turning it on. So when I came back a month later, the jacks would not work, and I had to have AAA come and jump my battery while I hooked up the 5th wheel to the truck, to go have some things warranty serviced. They charged my battery for me at the dealership while they were working on it, and since then, I always take the battery out and trickle charge it at home so it is fully charged when I go to put it back in. So if you left your key in the on position, then one month will drain your battery. On my SOB we have now, I put one small solar panel on the roof, dedicated to keeping the two batteries charged up all the time.

[Bstarr]

Make sure your transfer switch is working and making contact. Does yer control panel show charge on yer battery. Should be lil over 13 volts. I got two AGM batteries for ours. And when it’s in storage I have a solar panel to trickle charge my batteries

[LaMont13]

I put in a new battery from my local RV store and I let the battery charge from shore power overnight. I went back the next day to try the slides. They would move about 2-3 inches and then the power would shut-off. The power would come back on after about 10 seconds without me doing anything. After it came back on I could get the slides to move a little again but it would shut-off again. I did this over and over until the slides were all the way out. I found the battery disconnect switch and it is set at the "ON" position.

[rames14]

LaMont13, welcome to the forum. A couple of things for troubleshooting help is to include your year and model in your signature. The reason that is important is this year they went back to an 80 amp breaker for the hydraulics. One of the possible issues is that the old 50 amp breakers shutdown, especially in cold weather, and will start and stop your hydraulics. You will find a lot of posts with pictures if you do a search. I believe the battery disconnect does not kill the hydraulics, if I recall correctly. For anyone that leaves their units for weeks or longer, a solar trickle charger is a great investment. Much easier than disconnecting a battery. Best of luck and keep us posted on what you find.

[LaMont13]

Sorry about that.

2013 Keystone Montana 3402RL (5th Wheel)

[BB_TX]

I agree with Ron. The few seconds on/few seconds off when extending/retracting the slides is the typical symptoms of a bad/weak auto reset circuit breaker in the front compartment. There have been many many postings, many with pictures, about the problem and how to solve it. Maybe someone with saved links can post those quickly for you.

[rames14]

LaMont13, here is a link that will lead to the 80 amp discussion. https://www.montanaowners.com/forums...ad.php?t=81195 There are links in this to other posts. Good luck.