Another Battery question from New Owner

[roned2]

We picked up our new 3124KS a month ago from Ohio. We brought it home and plugged it into our house power. Took it to our storage area and left it for about 3-4 weeks. We went to hook up after this time and the jack would not work as there was no power. Hooked it up to the tow vehicle and away we went.
My question is how long will the battery last when sitting in storage? I don't know yet if this is a charging problem or not. We were plugged in at the campground recently so we will see what happens next month.

Your battery will go dead pretty quick from the CO/Propane sensor and the radio. You need to pull the main fuse at the battery while in storage. Leaving the TM plugged in to shore power will cook the water out of the battery(ies) and overcharge them so that's not an option either. Also check your tow vehicle to trailer connections to make sure the car charges the battery on the TM.

So when the TM is at home in the driveway and plugged in I should pull the main battery fuse?

Fuse out for storage. Fuse in for charging but don't charge for weeks on end. Just charge for a ouple of days.

Got it. Thanks. Wish they put a switch on the thing somewhere more convenient than where the battery is on mine.

Phil

[ShrimpBurrito]

That is something many folks have done here, and something you could easily do yourself.

Alternatively, if you are only keeping the TM plugged in at the house to keep the battery charged, you can get a 3-stage battery charger and keep that plugged in 24/7. Then you'll always have a charged battery, not have to worry about overcharging the battery or periodically charging the battery to maintain it.

I'm going to confirm this the next time I set the TM up, but I think the only parasitic power draw when folded up is the radio. I believe the LP detector turns off when you fold down the bathroom wall....I think that's the beeping noise when you do that.

Dave

The dealer's RV Tech told me that the lp detector does not shut off and will drain the battery eventually. I put in a battery switch when I added a second battery. I haven't heard about any problem with the radio. My 2004 model has an old cassette player/radio and doesn't seem to have a standby mode. Am I missing something?

BK

[ShrimpBurrito]

If you have an LCD display on your radio, you probably have a clock and the radio probably has station presets. Either of those functions require power. I have a Link 10 battery monitor, and I will measure the current draw of these things later this week.

Dave

Between the propane and CO detector, at least one of them is disconnected when the bathroom wall is lowered. I know this because I can hear it beep.

If I remember, I will specifically test the power to both detectors and to the radio when I close it down for a trip on Thursday.

There is a small red LED light on the radio antennae. I assume, but have never tested, that it goes off when the radio fuse is pulled.

I never worry about it, because I added a switch for my bank of two batteries.

Be aware that the smoke detector uses a 9v battery and is not powered by the house batteries. I learned this when mine started beeping for low battery when it was closed and parked in the garage. It took two years to kill the battery. So I now try to remember to replace it annually.

Good point. My radio only loses the stations only when the main battery fuse is pulled. So it draws a bit. It should go many weeks though. A car does on one normal battery.

Otherwise I recall the CO beeping too.