On board 12v battery question.

[leemedic]

What is the life expectancy of the onboard 12 volt battery?

I know when the Montana is hooked to a shoreline, it charges the battery. While traveling, does the TV charge the onboard 12 volt battery?

Last night, I allowed the refrigerator to run on gas all night without 50 amp shoreline. The only thing running was the refrigerator. This morning the refrigerator indicated low D.C. Power. I would think the onboard battery would last longer than that.

[K0LCB]

There are several phantom draws on the battery, water heater ignighter, LP detector, radios

[Irlpguy]

The life of your RV battery depends a lot on the type of battery used but should be a deep cycle Marine/RV battery. Prior to installing 2 Trojan 6 volt batteries I used two Interstate 12v deep cycle batteries for several years. On one of those batteries a cell went bad and constantly dragged down the still good battery. I still use that good 12v to power a winch in my workshop and it is 5 years old now.

I would confirm the battery/batteries you are using are in good condition since even one battery should run the electronics in the fridge overnight, if that was all that was running off of it. I suggest to every RV owner that they go and buy a hydrometer and use that to check each individual cell in their batteries. These are cheap and can be picked up at pretty much any Automotive supply store.

We travel all the time with our fridge on propane and the TV will certainly provide sufficient charge to offset what is being used by the fridge. My amplifier for my tire monitoring system is also powered when traveling and I have never had a problem.

Check your battery.

[DQDick]

I would bet on a depleted battery. OEM batteries on my trucks seldom lasted more than three years and you can bet unless you specified otherwise the dealer put the cheapest one in they could get.

[jcurtis934]

Agree that you are due to replace the battery. Yeah, they come with none from keystone and what goes in is dealer decision. Ours was interstate, but it still wasn't a group 27. I will be putting in two this time. John

[TAKPAK]

I see by your post that you have a 2013 model Montana. They had the newer "smart" converters/chargers then, so that shouldn't be a problem. I would suspect a weak cell in the battery. Even a group 24 should last overnight. HOWEVER, that said, were any of the vent fans running? Was the hot water heater running? You already said the "fridge" was on. Yes, there are a lot of "phantom" draws, but still it should have run overnight.

The argument rages on about what batteries are best. Generally, if you are plugged in to shore power most all the time, then one GOOD 12 volt deep cycle will do. IF you occasionally dry camp for a weekend once in awhile, then I'd put two good 12 volt batteries in, for the extra amp hours. If you dry camp a LOT, or have solar systems, then I would go with the "golf cart" six volt batteries. The BIG difference is........the 12 volt batteries (depending on size) will have a bit more amp hours to draw from, assuming same number of batteries, i.e. two 12's (in parallel) or two 6's (in series). BUT, the six volt ones will stand up to REPEATED charge/discharge cycles a lot longer than the 12's would, due to their difference in construction. So, occasional dry camping.....one or two 12 volt batteries. Lots of dry camping, then six volt batteries will have a longer life span. And, if you have a generator, that changes things a bit too. Hope this helps...........

[chris199]

Yeah our single 12v lasted less than a year...Just insufficient. Replaced with 2 Trojan T145's and haven't had an issue since. Having to charge up the battery at the storage lot with the truck just to raise the front landing gear was just too frustrating and drove the upgrade decision.

[Keith Schweizer]

When I purchased my 09', i ordered my trailer with 4-interstate 6 Volt (Golf cart) batteries. They lasted 7 years, which I don't think is all that bad. Installed this year the same type or Interstates. Any more I hear most batteries last only 4-5 years.