Hi Everyone -
I am going to chime in on this one too- hate to steal your thread, but it is new enough maybe people will respond to both of us. :)
Similar problem to the person in June with battery draining while parked- but I was plugged into full electrical at the campsite all week. RV wouldn't start and had to have the battery charged before it would start.
I have a 2 week old battery 700 cold cranking and 950 max cranking? It is a much larger battery. The alternator is 5 months old and the belt broke on the alternator last week because the bolt busted - again and had to be replaced and a specialty mount fabricated. All 3 belts were replaced last week. Starter is 4 years old.
We were at a full service campsite and the RV was plugged in with both the pole and inside circuits in the "on mode" and we left at least one overhead light on all week, because our campground was so shady. We charged electronics in the outlets all day long and the outlets worked, so I know that I was on Shore power and not on the House Batteries.
I installed a second house battery three weeks ago and daisy chained them - and they are fully functioning.
So since having the new Alternator belt installed - a week after buying the new larger Engine battery---- there seems to be a fast drain? We are having to jump start the RV half the time. Today with the RV sitting for 7 days the RV Engine battery was 100% dead and drained. AND When I went to unplug the electrical the one overhead light inside was super dim and the battery level was in the red and critically low. I had been on Shore power all week with two House batteries installed.
There has to be something causing the drain - but I can't figure out with being fully hooked up how I drained 2 marine batteries and the engine battery.
So my question:
1. any idea about the 2 week old Engine battery completely draining?
2. any idea about why two house batteries would work on their own, but not be charging when plugged into Shore power?
3. Comments/suggestions./ ideas?
we have done new engines, shocks, tires, starter, battery, alternator, radiator, etc...etc...etc.....
It gets really old hearing your boys 6 and 10 years go "why does our RV break down every trip we take?" ----considering we camp 40 days plus a year.....it gets old sitting on the roadside waiting for towing service :( I won't even banter about the back end that's separating and I have to figure out how to fix...
It sounds like you have a ghost drain in the engine. You'll need to do some testing to see what is pulling power. Voltmeter is your friend. If you've had engine work done, it's possible they wired your choke bypassing the ignition. My choke was actually connected to the house battery and bypassed the ignition and drained my house battery within a couple days.
You could put a shut off switch at your engine battery and flip it when you're parked.
Unless you've rewired, the house should not pull from your engine battery. The standard wiring only allowed the house battery to charge off the alternator when running. Also, your engine battery will not charge from shore power, only from the alternator.
Another thing you may consider is wiring your system so that the house battery can jumpstart your engine battery. It's easy to do and eliminates the need for jumper cables, another vehicle, etc. With a simple switch on my dash, I can jumpstart the clipper.
my old 77. was rewired to the end of the world. till i fix it all up. the shop who did it. wired my choke, & it bypassing the ignition,. took all weekend long to find it out,. if it helps, i can send you a pic of what it looks like now,. now after i fix it, it won't pull the Engine battery, or the house battery,. just the alternator, i also have a shut off switch for it to,. now i don't do this a lot, but if u lived close to me,. i will be more then happy, to do the work for you,. & do it the right way,.
Yes please may pictures of the choke in the actual engine or Sven repair manual too- I still have to find one 😁
That's even a pict of the repair manual. I need to find one.
i did this, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwIg5TngLFE when i fix it,. repair manual, https://www.amazon.com/Haynes-Repair-Manuals-Plymouth-information/dp/B000CHVC2Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1503949482&sr=8-3&keywords=dodge+b300.