We've had our Barth away from shore power since Sunday ev..(approx 4 days) The house batteries are already low on juice and we haven't hardly used any of the twelve volt stuff. Nothing has been left on to drain them. And they are full of water. Is this normal ? Four six volt.

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Jack and Daiva
1988 Barth Regal

Good batteries can sit in a totally disconnected state for a month or more with only slight discharge.There are several possibilities for your batteries discharging in just a few days.
1. You may have loads that you didn't know about such as radio? clocks? compartment lights on? using an inverter? Ignition on? You can check for this by disconnecting the + and inserting an ammeter (or even a 12v. light bulb)
2. One or more of your batteries may be failing. Just one bad cell can cause both batteries hooked in series to fail to perform. Any shop can test the condition of your batteries with a tester.
3. Corroded terminals and/or bad connection to ground. Remove connections, wash with baking soda-water, reconnect and protect with one of the jelly compounds you can find at the auto store.

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Gary & Edie
North Idaho
1988 28' P-30 454

One of the most common voltage suckers, (like that Bill?) is your LP detector...

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Thanks for the replies gentlemen. Well lets see, the batteries have remained connected. Theres the tiny digital clock on the switch panel, the digital clock on the stove,the LP gas alarm and the smoke alarm. Could these have been the cause of the drain ? She's bone dry now.

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Jack and Daiva
1988 Barth Regal

There is something that is drawing current that you have not found -- some light or appliance that has been left turned on (probably too dim to see now). Charge up the batteries, turn "everything" off, connect a simple ammeter in series with the battery + and start eliminating things by clicking off your circuit breakers (or fuses). Furnace? Hood light? mood lights? aisle lights? closit light? basement light? reading light? TV (12v style). It is something more than the memory in the radio and a couple of clocks that is draining your batteries so quickly.

[This message has been edited by Grizzlygiant (edited April 23, 2004).]

Thanks Grizzlygiant, I'll have to wait several days to charge the house batteries though. Currently shes sitting in a place where theres no place to plug in.

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Jack and Daiva
1988 Barth Regal

[This message has been edited by brandman (edited April 23, 2004).]

Leaving a battery in a discharged condition for very long (ie, weeks) will damage/ruin the battery. Always leave batteries fully charged. I have trikle chargers perm. attached to my batteries and I plug them in when storing. Cost about $22 at Wal-Mart and NAPA. All my batteries fired right up after storage from November to March at as much as -18.

Keep us posted re: your battery discharge cause.

It may be time for a sustained load test on each battery. For the real low down on deep cycle batteries I found this site interesting (I may have found it through Barthmobile.com but can't remember if that is true or not):
http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm#Starti...ep-Cycle%20Batteries

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Bill & Diane
1973 25'
454 CID P-30 Chassis
German Shepard Dog

OK. We have been keeping our Barth at a place where it is constantly plugged in. The converter is always on and charging the batteries. Is this the correct way to go about this or could we have damaged the batteries this way.

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Jack and Daiva
1988 Barth Regal

Some converters have electronic devices which measure the charging needs of the batteries and taper the charge when the battery nears 100%; most do not and often overcharge batteries if left on long-term. Either way, the converters charge only the house batteries leaving the starting battery charged only by the engine driven alternator. As I said before, I prefer separate trikle chargers for each (bank of) battery; these chargers will not overcharge and with two the starting battery is always at 100%.

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Gary & Edie
North Idaho
1988 28' P-30 454

I have had my coach plugged in 24/7 for 4 years, (except while on trips) with no problems at all. I also have cable to the coach and like to spend evenings out there sometimes. We like to sleep in it when it rains. Crazy huh??

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I would recommend buying a hydrometer. I believe Sears has one with a thermometer. at all levels of charge each cell should read the same. If one is lower than others, It is a bad cell. However. ot wpi;d tale ,pre than one bad cell to drag down 4 6 volt batteries. A fully charged battery should read 1.260 or so at all cells. Inserting an ammeter in the circuit will tell you how much current is being bled off. Pulling fuses one at a time will tell you which circuit is doing the drain. Don't forget the fuses in the generator ompartment.

I can recommend the TriMetric meter.

www.bogartengineering.com

It should pay for itself in a few years by helping you take good care of your battery by keping track of charge, discharge. Heck, it might pay for itself in a month or two if it prevents a deep descharge.

Here are two parts of another really great site that will tell you a lot about rv electricity:

http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm

http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volta.htm

quote:

Originally posted by davebowers:
We like to sleep in it when it rains. Crazy huh??

Not crazy at all, Dave. We do cocktails in the driveway when it rains. One of the few things we miss from previous RVs is the loud patter of rain. With Barth's solid construction and dense insulation, the rain is not as much fun.

Dave, one of the most favorite moments for me is when it starts pouring rain while my wife and I are in bed watching a movie in the Barth...we always look at each other and exclaim, "so cozy"!

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Larry and Heidi from CA

RE: However. ot wpi;d tale ,pre hmmmm, I think that happened to my battery one time!

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Bill & Diane
1973 25'
454 CID P-30 Chassis
German Shepard Dog