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08-06-2020, 03:37 PM
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#1
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New Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Clayton
Posts: 9
M.O.C. #26361
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why are my batteries completely discharged?
I've had the 2020 377FL for 3 months.
On LCI ground control 3.0 panel – battery status says “low battery”
My 2020 377FL is on 115v shore power. Battery disconnect in front (where batteries are) has NOT disconnected the batteries. In wet bay the battery disconnect is not enabled (in other words key has not been removed)
Put it at storage unit a week ago. Confirmed shore power is active. My residential fridge is on – has been on every day for a week since I put it in storage. Inside the camper – in breaker box I have these breakers ON (but all others switched off so as not to draw more than the 15amps storage facility is providing me)… “CONV” (not sure if this is Keystone shorthand for “converter”). “REC2” and the “MAIN” in center of breaker box are switched on. All 9 others are off. FYI – because REC is on the 115v outlets in the master bedroom are working.
One other piece of info for what it is worth – the inverter is OFF. When I turn it on it does not beep. But display shows “000” as opposed to what I’ve typically seen with charged batteries – “115” (in other words “11.5v”). The Lippert Ground Control 3.0 also usually shows “11.5” when I check voltage
15amps is plenty to keep batteries (2 the dealer provided) charging and residential fridge on.
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08-06-2020, 03:55 PM
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#2
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New Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Clayton
Posts: 9
M.O.C. #26361
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more info on battery status / electrical issues
OK new info – not sure if my batteries are actually discharged or if I was getting erroneous signals. I unplugged shore power. As expected fridge shut off. Plugged 7 way into truck. Now looking at LCI ground control 3.0 panel – battery status says “11.5v” – completely normal. Turned on the inverter. Fridge is running again. Inside at the “convenience center” pressing “battery” lights up no LED’s – like either battery is completely discharged or convenience center is giving me no readings. But the fresh/black/gray tank levels give me no readings either. My experience is the MaxAir ceiling exhaust fans (in kitchen and bathroom) run on battery power typically. But they will not come on.
I give up – will wait for feedback from the forums. Perhaps call Montana tomorrow. Plugging shore power back in.
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08-06-2020, 04:02 PM
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#3
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Site Team
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Carmichael - CA
Posts: 7,717
M.O.C. #4831
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It sure sounds like the breaker(s) are mislabeled. The "Conv" should be the Converter. But obviously it is not powered up. You should verify with a VOM that the converter output, at the converter, is ~ 13.4V or not. I suspect not. Do any of the 12V lights work?
If the only other breaker on is "REC2" (I have no idea what that is) and the bedroom plugs are hot, how is the refer being powered? The only thing I can guess is your inverter set up powers the refer, TV and bedroom. If so then the inverter is getting shore power through "REC2" and powering up those circuits.
That "MAIN" breaker should be two breakers. Are they BOTH on?
Are the "CONV' and "REC2" breakers both on the same side of the buss?
Recently there has been a rash of failed 50 amp breakers behind the batteries. Take a VOM and check the voltage on each side of the two 50 amp breakers.
Let us know what you find.
__________________
Carl (n Susan)
There is more to life than fuel mileage.
2012 Montana 3700RL Big Sky Package towed by a 2015 Ford F350 6.7L PSD 4WD CC LWB
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08-06-2020, 08:55 PM
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#4
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Apr 2019
Location: Renton
Posts: 71
M.O.C. #23813
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11.5 volts is not normal. That is a dead battery. It should be reading at least 12.5 volts.
You should check voltage with a volt meter to see if it agrees with your built in meter. You may have the converter cb turned off.
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08-06-2020, 09:20 PM
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#5
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Chino Valley
Posts: 226
M.O.C. #23720
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Montana?
I can’t imagine Keystone mislabeling anything!.
Make sure you can’t pull the key out of the battery disconnect, if you can pull it out the batteries are disconnected from the converter, and will not charge.. Levelers will still work, slides maybe. Since I don’t have the inverter for the fridge, not sure where it’s at in the battery disconnect!
__________________
Steven & Denise
New to us 2014 3150RL
Chino Valley, AZ
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08-07-2020, 05:13 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Jacksonville
Posts: 2,249
M.O.C. #25165
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As stated, 11.5 volts is a dead battery. REC2 I believe stands for Receptacles 2nd circuit. The fridge may be running on inverter, which would kill your battery in short order. The disconnect in the front battery compartment is strictly for the inverter powering the fridge. If it is not turned off (disconnected), then the inverter can draw power from the batteries to power whatever is plugged into it, which SHOULD only be the fridge. If you shut off breakers when connected to shore power, it is likely you shut off your converter and thus no charge to the batteries. I would leave all the breakers on and just turn off whatever appliances and 110v items you do not need on. Also, while in storage, I would considering turning off (disconnecting) the battery disconnect switch in the battery compartment for the fridge unless you need the fridge running.
__________________
Robert & Diana McNeal
2019 Montana Legacy 3791RD 20th Anniversary Edition
2014 F350 4x4 6.7L SRW
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08-07-2020, 06:43 AM
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#7
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: owen sound
Posts: 491
M.O.C. #17566
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Is it possible the fuse in your converter is blown ??? Also there are some things that will draw down your batteries with all breakers off such as the CO/Gas Detector, radio etc... Not big draws but they will pull down the batteries.
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08-31-2020, 02:02 PM
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#8
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: STAYTON
Posts: 1,118
M.O.C. #18157
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Have you checked the water in your batteries? Mine uses a little every month.
Mark
__________________
“Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.”
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08-31-2020, 02:24 PM
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#9
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New Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Clayton
Posts: 9
M.O.C. #26361
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thanks all for the input
going to lot to check water level in batteries tomorrow morning. had to move the camper to access door. in lot where parked it is too tight. (story for another time but i have a resolution in mind).
so had camper in storage lot for 9 days since we returned from last trip. dd not plug in RV to 15amp shore power. inverter was not running. residential fridge was not (for this particular time we did not fridge or anything running so did not see need to plug in to 15amp). big surprise when we arrived last night and batteries were 100% dead. had to plug in and wait a while so there was enough juice to raise camper to hitch up to truck. frustrating. will see about water level in batteries tomorrow. hope it's as simple as that.
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08-31-2020, 03:38 PM
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#10
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Established Member
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Albertville
Posts: 39
M.O.C. #24262
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Is the battery disconnect on or off?
__________________
Living the 5W Life
2020 3701LK
2017 Ram 3500
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08-31-2020, 04:51 PM
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#11
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New Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Clayton
Posts: 9
M.O.C. #26361
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battery disconnect
so my understanding from the forums is that if i have removed the key the battery is disconnected from everything except the inverter. there is an additional battery disconnect for the inverter which is located just above/behind the batteries. the wet bay has the disconnect that takes the "key". I always leave the key in - turned and "locked" so that the key cannot be pulled out without turning it first. my thinking is that when i have the camper plugged in to 15amps at the storage location it will be charging the batteries. as i mentioned in an earlier post today i did not have the caper plugged in for the previous 9 days. it does seem to me that with nothing in the camper running / left on i should be able to go that long - and longer - without the batteries being unable to keep sufficient charge for the jacks to raise/lower.
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08-31-2020, 05:19 PM
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#12
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Montana Master
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Haysville
Posts: 4,261
M.O.C. #3085
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The battery disconnect does not disconnect everything on the camper. That's why several of us have put a disconnect switch on the wire coming from the negative side of the battery. Depending on how the Amish Craftsman decided to wire your unit, things like CO2 detector, radio, level up, and perhaps others still have parasitic draws. These draws will kill a battery easily in 9 days. If you're not going to use it and you're not going to plug it in, remove the negative wire from your battery (s).
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08-31-2020, 05:48 PM
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#13
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Montana Master
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Lamesa
Posts: 629
M.O.C. #26010
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Have you ever looked at the batteries or checked the water levels? Bought a new trailer a few years back and told them I wanted dual batteries. Never opened the boxes, just saw the 2nd one there and the cabling. A while later I began to have issues with the lights dimming etc. so pulled all the stuff to get to the batteries; both dead and one with bulged sides. The dealer had installed what looked like a new battery as the original for sale but when I said I wanted 2 batteries, it appeared they must have found an old Camco covered in grease and gook and dropped it in. Cannibalized and killed the new one.
It sounds as if your batteries may have been one of the primary issues all along but something else to consider is once a battery is depleted 100% it loses approx. 83-88% of its recharge capabilities going forward. I do my best to not let any of my batteries completely die, but if they do, I replace them.
__________________
Danny and Susan wife of 55 years
2019 Ram Laramie 3500 6.4 4x4 CC 4.10 SRW
2020 Montana High Country 331RL
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09-02-2020, 05:14 AM
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#14
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New Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Clayton
Posts: 9
M.O.C. #26361
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water level
battery meter shows 11.7v. turns out i did have to top off the water level in both batteries. i left the camper plugged in to keep the batteries charging. in the breaker box i only had the center main breaker ON and the one labeled CONV on. all others are off. fridge is (purposely) off. battery disconnects are not disconnected. i'm continuing to watch the issues. did get a reply to this thread that it is understandable my batteries would be dead after only 9 days in storage because of parasitic drain. is this common? or only that one person experiences dead batteries so quickly.
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09-02-2020, 05:45 AM
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#15
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Jacksonville
Posts: 2,249
M.O.C. #25165
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If it is truly just the "parasitic drain" only that is drawing the battery down, then a decent charged battery should be able to last several weeks to a few months, not days. If you are experiencing a dead battery after 9 days, I would have it load tested to make sure you aren't dealing with a dead/dying cell.
__________________
Robert & Diana McNeal
2019 Montana Legacy 3791RD 20th Anniversary Edition
2014 F350 4x4 6.7L SRW
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09-02-2020, 10:00 AM
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#16
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Fowler
Posts: 414
M.O.C. #12748
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Callahans
battery meter shows 11.7v. turns out i did have to top off the water level in both batteries. i left the camper plugged in to keep the batteries charging. in the breaker box i only had the center main breaker ON and the one labeled CONV on. all others are off. fridge is (purposely) off. battery disconnects are not disconnected. i'm continuing to watch the issues. did get a reply to this thread that it is understandable my batteries would be dead after only 9 days in storage because of parasitic drain. is this common? or only that one person experiences dead batteries so quickly.
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It is possible and also very probable that your batteries would be dead after only 9 days in storage, especially if low on water as you stated.
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09-02-2020, 10:03 AM
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#17
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New Member
Join Date: Jun 2020
Location: Clayton
Posts: 9
M.O.C. #26361
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appreciate the posts and suggestions
will continue to update this as i return from trips and put it back in storage. now that the water levels in the battery are topped off it will be interesting to see if i can go an extended period without the batteries going dead.
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09-02-2020, 10:57 AM
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#18
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Montana Master
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Keller
Posts: 525
M.O.C. #26851
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 4Callahans
will continue to update this as i return from trips and put it back in storage. now that the water levels in the battery are topped off it will be interesting to see if i can go an extended period without the batteries going dead.
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If your batteries went 100% dead, your batteries may have lost more that half their capacity. You will likely have battery issues from now on. Pull them out, charge them with a battery charger, take them somewhere to be LOAD tested to find out what the real status of your batteries are. You might need to replace your batteries, but you won’t know for sure until they are load tested. I disconnect my negative after turning off my key first. I keep my battery on a true trickle charger while in storage. I run one 100 amp hour wet battery with no issues, but I do not have a residential fridge or inverter. My compressor cooled unit is 12V and pulls less than 1.5 amps when running. While your fridge is off and in storage, make sure to keep the doors open so you do not get mold. Good luck.
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