Our coach is approaching three years old, we've used it extensively for boon docking and often have run the batteries into the ground in storage. There isn't a cutoff for the house batteries and I had never taken the time to figure out exactly what wire I should disconnect to really turn off the juice. As a result, our house batteries were toast. They wouldn't last two hours with a Fantastic Fan on the last trip out.
A few days ago I set out to replace them. I figured it would be simple to just lift out the old ones and stick in some new ones, what could be difficult about that, except of course the 75 lb. weight and all that nasty acid.
The wiring isn't straight forward at all. There are about a dozen heavy cables, each one has to be connected back exactly right or the inverter will be fried. I had my refrigerator repaired under warranty last year and the tech told me a "funny" story about an owner who connected his wrong and did about $5000 worth of damage to his coach - lesson learned there. I took pictures, labeled everything and was extremely careful. Keep that in mind if you plan on doing this yourself as well. One wrong connection and POOF! Bad day.
I removed the old ones and there was a lot of corrosion under and behind the batteries. A lot of metal was eaten up and everything needed cleaning with a wire brush, lots of water and elbow greese, then repainted. No big deal, I've done that before. It took me about 3 hours. Turned out nice.
Buying new batteries was fairly straight forward. The old ones were the Interstate U2200's, standard in most coaches. I went to Sam's and got their equivalent, Everready G2's for golf carts ($71 each). They seemed to be exactly the same size although there was no rating on them. No big deal, bought 4 of those and brought them home.
When it got down to installing them, they went in easily, it seemed like everything was exactly the same. I started lining up the cables and the first I tried, an interconnect between two batteries, was too short! The terminals on the new batteries were slightly farther apart, about 3/16" each, so two of my old cables were 3/8" too short! They have zero stretch, so that was a big scare. Luckily, my local NAPA had exactly the right cable, connectors and even made them up for me at no additional cost. Perfect job, saved the day. If you have the same problem, before you panic, see if you have a NAPA in your area. May save your day too.
Anyway, after another 3 hours of careful cleaning of the cables, I used a NAPA terminal cleaning spray that worked very well, I had it all assembled and everything worked just as expected. For a final finish to the job, I used a terminal sealer (also from NAPA) that is supposed to keep them from corroding. Looks like it will work.
So, to sum it up, if you do this job yourself, make sure you're very careful, know where the local NAPA is and keep your sense of humor. You may need it!
2007 Mountain Aire 4528
2006 CRV SE
Based in Memphis area
2oldman wrote: Good job. Without disconnecting them won't the new ones be toast too?
Now, that is a GREAT question?????????
Jim and Deanna
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Me, Wife, Boy/12, Boy/9, Girl/7
1985 Toyota 4Runner FIVE quads, THREE kids, TWO motorcycles, ONE wife, ONE dog, ONE cat!
the answer is periodic charging while in storage, go over there and run the generator for a few hrs every month, charge batteries and exercise the generator
and remember to use the genny while dry camping, don't kill the batteries
Options, always have options, and the journey goes much smoother ....
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If I may offer a suggestion; there is a watering system for your batteries that keeps the corrosion to almost nothing and it also allows you to fill all four batteries from one or two sources depending on how you choose to set it up. I put this system on my MH in April 2008. The main reason I put it on was because it is really hard to access the two back batteries on my MH for checking and filling water levels. I am able to top off the cells by just connecting the squeeze bulb and tube to the filler tubes. I choose to run two filler tubes. The added bonus to this is I have had no corrosion on my batteries since I installed them in April 2008. Just a thought. I believe they are called Pro Fillers, someone correct me if I'm wrong. BTW, if I ever buy another MH with a battery slide out tray so it would be easy to check the cells, I will still install this system just for the way it keeps the corrosion from forming.
Just checked it out--it's called Flow-Rite
* This post was
edited 09/05/09 06:29pm by SGTJOE *
MrWizard gave good advice. I run the generator to exercise it while I take a spin. Exercises brakes, tranny, engine fluids, flexs the tires. Since you have your confidence about the job, a trip back to Napa to get yourself a battery disconnect to mount at the batteries might be a project. Most cut off the postive to the house because it is most often the one near the cabinet door. Also, baking soda and water mixed does a great job of neutralizing the acid and helping clean the corrosion. And if you can get it to the house or some where, it might be a good time to invest in a smart charger with a desuplphate function. That goes a long way to help you get a better charge. Your rig might have one bult in, Of course, you are checking the battery water level with all that boon docking. I guess some folks rather have all that done but to me that is part if knowing more about the rig and how to head off problems with a little routine maintenance.
Tommy USMC,Susie USN Ret, Dog Buddy
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2002 Ford Ranger XLT 3.0L 5 Spd Man
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Are We There Yet?
Good job of replacing the batteries. By the way, you do have a battery disconnect for the house batteries. On the panel with all the switches and indicators there is a switch labeled USE / STORE. Press STORE and the light beside it should go out. The batteries are now disconnected.
Norm Payne wrote: Good job of replacing the batteries. By the way, you do have a battery disconnect for the house batteries. On the panel with all the switches and indicators there is a switch labeled USE / STORE. Press STORE and the light beside it should go out. The batteries are now disconnected.
Yes, I know about that disconnect. It doesn't completely disconnect the power though, it's still flowing albeit at a low rate but enough to deplete the batteries after about a month. The only way I could absolutely cut off the batteries from use is to remove the positive cable that runs into the house systems.
I wish there was a hard switch for the house side like there is for the chassis, I may install a switch but that will be another day. A couple of turns with a 1/2" socket will allow me to remove that cable and cut the power.
I've seen knife switches sold for this. I have a electric switch and it went bad. Thinking of puting in the kive swith instead. The batteries are under the steps with easy access.
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