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Old 03-14-2005, 12:13 PM   #1
Montana_2194
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new to us Monty - battery problem

Hi Montana forum,

We finally picked up our beautiful 2000 Montana 3255 which is as clean as a pin, and biight and lovely. We towed it on our Easyrider Airhitch and had no disturbance in the trailer after over 100 miles of not great roads.

Penny wanted to show the kids and grand-kids the trialer with the slides out, and the battery went dead 2/3 of the way out (battery was at least three or four years old, and little used).

The truck connections wouldn't stimulate the hydraulics, so we finally jumped the battery directly (since we were now blocking a narrow street), and thank goodness, they closed. When we drove another 125 miles the next day, I thought the battery would be charged, but there was no power to the trailer, and we couldn't set the front jacks. Jumped at the trailer place in Whitby ON, and the problem was solved.

I think I should have two batteries in line, but separate or together by switch, as I have on my sailboat. I have noted in my excursions on this web page, that many have advocated using Golf Cart Batteries. Is that an advantage over just a good second deep cycle Marine battery?

Please advise -- Jack and Penny Hadley
 
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Old 03-14-2005, 12:32 PM   #2
padredw
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It might help to read this entire thread:

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ead.php?t=6579

I started this thread because I felt the one battery was one of the weakness of our Montana. I have added the two 6 volt batteries and feel great about their performance.

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Old 03-14-2005, 12:37 PM   #3
Glenn and Lorraine
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From your description it sounds as though you have a bad battery that will no longer take a charge and in need of replacing. You can have this checked out at any reputable battery dealer.
The single 12 volt battery that came with the Monty should be all the battery you need for normal RV use.
If you were a boondocker/dry camper than the dual golf cart batteries could be recommended.

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Old 03-14-2005, 12:46 PM   #4
Chester
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Sorry to hear about the battery problem. It sounds like the battery will not take a charge so I suspect that it has probably sat in the trailer all winter, drained and probably froze. I had that happen on a Ford pickup I had a few years ago. I had 2 batteries in our 2000 Montana 2750 (both treated with OB). I sold the trailer last Thanksgiving with one battery and kept the one to put into our new trailer this spring. These batteries have stayed fresh and take a full charge. They were both 4 years old.

In my opinion I felt that going to the single battery this year would not be a problem. We hardly ever dry camped and just didn't need the extra battery power. If you plan on dry camping a lot I would suggest looking at either 2 12 volt or better yet the 2 6 volt batteries. If not I would just replace the one battery and take good care of it...treat it with OB (available at your RV dealer).
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Old 03-14-2005, 03:42 PM   #5
stiles watson
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I agree with those posting ahead of me. You were probably dealing with a bad battery. Since space is always at a premium in the Monty, I have chosen to use the 6 volt deep cell batteries wired in series. This arrangement has a longer single charge capacity than a single 12 volt battery and is touted to have 5 to 7 years of life. I don't plan to intentionally do much boondocking. But this will allow me to do that unintentional boondocking that the unpredictable may impose.
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Old 03-15-2005, 12:21 AM   #6
BillyRay
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I agree with what's stated above. I almost never need additional batteries...as I don't "dry camp" much. my battery is only one year old and I may need to replace it after it sat outside in the cold all winter...we'll have to wait and see.
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Old 03-15-2005, 02:26 AM   #7
Montana_2194
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[quote]Originally posted by jhadley

Hi Montana forum,

UPDATE: Just talked to the previous owner. He thinks he might not have hooked up one wire to the positive terminal. He's sure the battery is OK. That wire would be from the Truck electrical system, so it didn't charge while driving.

Thanks for the advice. I'll follow the thread on the 6 volt batteries for more info.

Jack
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Old 03-15-2005, 03:08 AM   #8
Montana_2194
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Thanks Padre,

I went to your thread, and it was fantastic. (two 6 V for this boy from now on). Our battery problem may have been due to a disconnected charge wire, (truck to trailer, ooops). Thanks again for the thread.

jhadley

Quote:
quote:Originally posted by padredw

It might help to read this entire thread:

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ead.php?t=6579

I started this thread because I felt the one battery was one of the weakness of our Montana. I have added the two 6 volt batteries and feel great about their performance.

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Old 03-15-2005, 10:05 AM   #9
tbhd
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The 12volt lead going from the truck to the trailer is dead when the key is turned off on our 1995 Ford. Our slides work even if there is no battery in the trailer as long as the key is turned on in the truck. Can check that out if it is like that on yours.
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Old 03-15-2005, 11:14 AM   #10
carlson
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When the shop put my hitch in they also wired a 7 pin reciever in my truck bed.
I have a Ford option rear 7 pin for the trailer we use to have and they wired into it.
Anyway I have rewired it as they did not hook up the battery line, so therefore I was not charging the 5th wheel batteries when we were traveling.
Also note that they used a small wire 4 pin to wire my bed reciever, also used those DAM quick clip connectors. They are very prone to corrosion.
Anyways, check to see if the battery wire is hooked up in your truck.
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Old 03-15-2005, 11:27 AM   #11
ken
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I am sure your battery has seen its days. Three years is about the life of these batteries. Our 2003 Montana batery died on the way to the 2004 rally because I forgot to check the water level in the battery. Leaving the battery on the coach trickle charger will dry up the battery. It needs checking at least three times a year. we did add a second battery on our Montana and moved it to our new one. It is controled through a marine switch which I can switch from one battery to the other and can turn the coach batteries off. I do check both of the batteries at least every three months for water. I use distiled water in the batteries.
Ken and Velda Taylor
Dahlgren Va (now in Wachula FL)
2005 3475 Montana
2000 Ford F350 Diesel
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Old 03-15-2005, 12:37 PM   #12
Montana_2785
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by carlson

[...]
Anyway I have rewired it as they did not hook up the battery line, so therefore I was not charging the 5th wheel batteries when we were traveling.[...]
A good thing to do & take all the charge you can.

However, I suspect that due to the rather large voltage drop you will see down that long of a wire (from alternator to Monty battery) will really limit how much of a charge you can push down the wire. Even a half a volt drop will make a large difference in the charge rate.

Eric
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Old 03-16-2005, 12:40 AM   #13
Montana_265
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Would the rechargable flashlight or the lp detector cause the battery to drain. In the beginning our battery went dead all the time. The dealer replaced it, dead again. We now always plug in when not in use and have not had a problem since. In the 5 years we have owned it, we did replace the battery one time (other than the one the dealer gave us).
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Old 03-16-2005, 01:23 AM   #14
Montana_2785
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Sissyph,

Absolutely. It isn't a large drain on the battery compared to leaving a light or two on, but is is a much higher drain than the self discharge the battery will do if completely disconnected.... Depending on your battery amp hour capacity, a few days or a week or two & you have a dead battery.

Eric
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Old 03-16-2005, 05:43 PM   #15
Parrothead
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We had our battery go dead on one of our other units just from age - did not have that much use but got old - then the detectors all went off!!! What fun. BTW our 2005 (early) 3400 came with 2 batteries. (no secret place but 2 batteries)
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Old 03-17-2005, 03:15 PM   #16
Wordsmith
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I went out to the Montana this afternoon to put the slides in and get ready to hook up in preparation for leaving tomorrow for our first trip. After the bedroom slide went in, there was a noticeable power drop and then the second slide stopped retracting. The only way that I could finish retracting the slides was to directly “jump off” the battery from the truck. The battery that came with the unit was dated Aug. 2003, and I remember that the former owner also had to jump it off with his truck when we first looked at the unit and then charged it before he took it to the dealer to have the SuperGlide plate installed.

I went tonight and bought another battery and it worked fine when extending the landing gear to hook up. It looks like the other battery just will not hold a charge.
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