Motorhome electrics

[sulli]

I got a new battery for our motorhome last year but left it for a while and it went flat. Jumped it ok, and took it for a rn, but it went flat again. I know the alarm is a bit of a drain but I think something else is draining it quick as the battery is new.
What's the best way to check what may be draining it? I have a multimeter and some basic knowledge of auto electrics.

[donaircooleone]

sulli said:

I got a new battery for our motorhome last year but left it for a while and it went flat. Jumped it ok, and took it for a rn, but it went flat again. I know the alarm is a bit of a drain but I think something else is draining it quick as the battery is new.
What's the best way to check what may be draining it? I have a multimeter and some basic knowledge of auto electrics.

What alarm has it got and how long did you leave it between starts?

A battery will lose a fair amount of charge when cold and left for good long while.

[Fishtigua]

Check through each system and make sure it's turned off. Something like the waterpump could be pressurizing to keep up to bar, cycling on and off. Trickle chargers are cheap and will save you money and heartache in the long run. Just check if the battery is acid type flooded or gel filled as they charge at different rates and won't like being fed the wrong charge.

[Wacky Racer]

Has it got a Carbon Monoxide detector wired in anywhere?

Do you have a power supply nearby where you can wire in an accumate to the battery, that's what we do with our motorhome. Left it once for a month once without and the battery went flat.

[sulli]

Thanks for replies. We left it a couple of months, and it has reached some fairly cold temperatures. It's just that after a run of around 30 mins I thought it would be charged, but after had left it an hour or so after that run, battery was flat again.
The water pump only runs off the leisure batteries I think and the 12v that runs of that is off anyway. In fact most things, I think run off the 2 leisure batteries and I think the newish battery only runs the normal stuff that it would in a car/van.
The alarm is a toad system.
I think I will plug it in to the mains, although not sue whether that charges the leisure batteries and/or the normal car one. May have to get a trickle charger.

[donaircooleone]

sulli said:

Thanks for replies. We left it a couple of months, and it has reached some fairly cold temperatures. It's just that after a run of around 30 mins I thought it would be charged, but after had left it an hour or so after that run, battery was flat again.
The water pump only runs off the leisure batteries I think and the 12v that runs of that is off anyway. In fact most things, I think run off the 2 leisure batteries and I think the newish battery only runs the normal stuff that it would in a car/van.
The alarm is a toad system.
I think I will plug it in to the mains, although not sue whether that charges the leisure batteries and/or the normal car one. May have to get a trickle charger.

Battery is has likely to have sustained some loss of charge capacity if its been sat that long, really it needs to be on mains 24/7 assuming it has a decent OEM charger that also tops the engine battery (get a multi-meter to test or dig out paperwork / both).

You can get trickle chargers that take charge from the leisure battery to keep the engine battery topped up or you could go solar if its outside (you can get regulators that charge both hab and engine batteries ).

[sulli]

We have got a solar panel but not sure what it charges, think it does the leisure batteries ......
Probably need someone to look at electrics......

[jimtech]

probably a problem within the battery itself or possibly a drain, with a motorhome of your age i would wire in permanently a smart charger to the motorhomes 240 electrics so when its hooked up will charge the engine battery at the same time

[sulli]

Car battery was completely dead! Luckily under warranty with halfrauds, and despite no having receipt I knew the date I bought it so they replaced it with a grand spanker, so all sorted. Also got an intelligent charger to keep it charged.
Cheers : o)

[Fishtigua]

sulli said:

Also got an intelligent charger to keep it charged.
Cheers : o)

Good call. Will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

[nagsheadwarrior]

Weve spent the last week moving our 65 stock vans to a new site,20 or so were flat,i never want to jump start a van ever again!
Lots of vans just eat batteries,the ones with alarms are worse but there are ao many other consumers.
A weekly start and run to temp or a trickle charger is the only way.

[TIGERSIX]

Our RV is constantly plug in to mains so onboard charger trickles charges chassis and leisure batteries all the time keeps them tip top condition just check the electrolyte level every month then bought an auto filler and just check it and top it up as needed every two months simples