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I have a battery question relative to my house batteries that need to be replaced. I currently have 2 12v Lead Acid batteries. It is difficult to service them because of how they are situated in my coach so I'm thinking about changing. I think I read somewhere that changing to Lithium batteries could be a problem and I'm not really wanting to spend that much money. Are there issues with moving to AGM Batteries? Are there any issues with moving to a single 200 Ah AGM battery rather than purchasing 2 100Ah batteries. I'm pretty sure that I know the answers to these questions but want to be sure before spending the money.

We have two battery disconnect switch’s on the inside panel (main switch and aux switch). Along with those we have an on/off switch on inverter, and another in the bay where the dirt devil vacuum is. if we are dropping off for service or storing without power, what do we turn off to avoid ruining the batteries. Thank you. FW Discovery 2022

Can any one tell me where the list of battery vendors that will be at Tuson Rally.. I'm looking to replace 2 start batteries with the Life line batteries. Thank you for your help.

I have a 33' Grand Design Reflection travel trailer. It came with one Ultra Power RV24 battery. We sometimes dry camp for up to 2 days at a time. The one battery doesn't last long enough, and I would like to minimize generator use. I would like to replace this one with two new 12 volt batteries wired together. I would appreciate any thoughts and recommendations on what to buy. Thanks, Paul

I have a 2008 Tiffin Phaeton with a Cummins ICS 360 and need to replace both 12V chassis start-up batteries. The batteries that were in it when we purchased it in 2012, was Staab name brand with 700 CCA. I always thought these underperformed because I could never get the 10K genset started on the first attempt, but that’s a different story all together. (Part of that problem was a White-Rogers solenoid valve was improperly mounted horizontally instead of vertically from the factory! It took me 4 years to resolve that issue, thanks to Cummins Mid-South in Fenton, MO.) Yesterday, I went to O’Reilys to get 2 Super Start batteries (AGM) that had 950 CCA. Perfect! The genset started on the first try. Of course it’s like 90 degrees outside too! MY PROBLEM, is I need to go back to the deep-cell fill type acid batteries because I CANNOT mix battery types with my BatteryMINDER, MODEL NUMBER 12112. I was going to get a different BatteryMINDER to fix this issue but the quicker solution is to take these nice batteries back and get the fill-type, which they don’t have! UGH! WHAT IS A GOOD CHOICE (NAME BRAND) AND CCA FOR START-UP BATTERIES FOR MY RIG? I like INTERSTATE, which is what my coach batteries are. Thanks!

Hi Folks, My house batteries will not recharge when I am driving. How do I test the isolation solenoid? Nan

I have a 2015 Fleetwood Excursion 35E ... bought it used ... so, don't have all the manuals. I am trying to find out if there is/are any other battery disconnect buttons for the house and/or chassis batteries other than the battery disconnect rocker on/off switches on the main control panel. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Eric

I have no power to anything that the house batteries power, and the generator will not start, even using the "battery boost" switch. My batteries are fully charged, I get 12.6v from them and through the master switch as far as the cable that disappears into the nether regions of the bus (2002 Monaco Diplomat 40ft). I have looked at every fuse that seems applicable and flipped every breaker that seems applicable, including the one on the generator, inverter, and the 50 amp in the bedroom as well as the GFI reset in the master bath. In the electrical panel below the driver's side window is a terminal with a large cable labeled "House" and when I hook up my meter to this, I get no reading. I am assuming this cable is the same one that exits the battery box in the rear (?) in which case it should have 12.6v but it does not. So either that supposition is wrong, or I am not getting a good ground with the clamp on my meter (hooked to the suspension, exhaust, and any other metal I could find...) or there is a breaker or fuse that I have missed, or that cable has broken. Any ideas on what fuse, breaker, or switch I have missed, or what else might be wrong? Thanks in advance! Tim

I store my motorhome outside (Wisconsin) no power available, looking for an solar setup of some kind to keep the batteries charged while stored. I have one start battery and two house batteries all 12 volt and lead acid. Would like a complete plug and play system or a step by step piece by piece instructions. Thanks Mel

Greetings! I am buying new chassis and coach batteries. I would like to augment my research with experience from fellow forum members. I have a 2002 Winnebago Adventurer 35U. The batteries are housed in the stairwell and are well ventilated under the carriage.I bought my rig, Addie, with 2-12V group batteries. I do not know if they are 24 or 27/31. I plan to do a lot of dry camping this year. I will likely be running the AC/Furnace/Heat Pump, and the TV/DVD/Radio/CD, as well as charging phones, tablets, and lap tops, and using lights and sometimes vacuuming when "at home". So, here are my curiosities: What is your experience with 24 and 27/31 group variety batteries? What kind of CCA/CA, AH and RC ratings should I be looking for? Considering the price of a liquid cell maintenance battery plus watering system cost, what is the difference in price between the AGM or GEL variety. I recognize among the varieties there are differing considerations depending on my RV lifestyle, so, if you have any perspective +/- among the 3 varieties I would greatly appreciate hearing them. Sharon

Forgive as this is long - but I wanted to give the details. We are having an issue with the batteries charging. I have a 2010 Fiesta 34B, purchased used last year, been working fine through the summer trips. Keep it attached to shore power with A/C in operation. Two weeks ago I noticed the A/C short cycling (about 30-60 seconds). Went inside to find dashboard radio flickering, all 12 volt lights were dim, etc. Immediately though the the converter/charger was not working. Opened the area behind the power center to access the converter. It was difficult to tell if it was functioning. I check the output with the multi-meter and the voltage was fluctuating all over the place. I checked the cost and ordered one to be delivered that Sunday. I immediately dug out the other chargers to see if I could bring the batteries back up. I left those chargers in place for the week and they appeared to recharge fully. I replaced the charger with the new one and hooked everything back up and removed the external chargers. I also checked every in-line fuse to make sure it was still good - no issues there. I left everything off for a few hours and checked the readout on the dash. They were at 13.68 and 13.56 about 4 hours later. I turned the refrigerator on and let it sit overnight. Yesterday afternoon the voltage was still hanging close to the 13.6, 13.5 range. This afternoon I checked the voltage and both are down to the 13.1 range. While I realize the resting voltage of a 12-volt is lower than this I don't recall it dropping off this much previously while being plugged in. Am I right in thinking something is still wrong? If so, any idea where to turn next? Is there some fuse I haven't though of? I appreciate any assistance you can provide. Thanks

I have a 1994 Winnebago Chieftain. I just recently purchased it and am working through the bugs. The Magnetek converter was bad when I got it and was frying my batteries. I don't have a volt meter available to know what level it was charging at. It did cause a fuse to blow in my refrigerator as well as burn up the eyebrow circuit board. I have upgraded the converter and all seems to be working well, except the coach battery charge indicator is showing less than 9 volts (lowest reading) even with a new battery. Everything seems to work well on battery power, Any ideas? do you think the converter fried the monitor? Any help is appreciated.

Last December, we purchased a 2007 Fleetwood Revolution LE. Based on the records, it had new Interstate batteries (both house and chassis) installed in January 2014. We have been getting a strong rotten-egg odor in the interior of the coach under the following conditions: a) when on the road for a couple hours or more; or when we have the generator running and charging the batteries; or c) when we are connected to shore power. The odor is strongest in the battery compartment in the basement, so I am convinced the odor is coming from the batteries (and not the gray or black water systems, as one dealer suggested). At least two of the house batteries are consuming water.....I have to add water to three or four of the cells of two of the batteries on multiple occasions. After the last road trip, I found one of the house batteries had "blown its top"......the case is slightly bulged, one of the caps was blown off, and battery acid was sprayed about in the battery compartment. I talked to the Magnum folks to make sure the inverter/charger settings are correct for my batteries, but I have not made any functional checks of the operation of the inverter/charger. I checked the voltage of the house batteries, found them low, and found the specific gravity of the batteries to be in the "red" zone of the hydrometer. I'm concluding my house batteries are shot and need to be replaced. I am looking for advice on some checks I can make to my charging system before I just put in four new house batteries. I don't want to repeat the cycle of damaging good batteries. Thanks!

Disconnecting a battery on today's vehicles can be costly whether it be your motorhome or toad. With today's computers control autos and trucks you will find many different computers (module) wired in to a complex system to control just about everything your vehicles does. All of these modules are programmed to do what it is needed for the vehicle for which it is installed. If the battery is disconnected at the wrong moment it could affect the programming of just about any modules in the vehicle. The first is the modules may have to relearn when the battery is reconnected or memory may be corrupted. Relearn is normal for many modules but when memory gets corrupted there is a problem. Sometimes it may require as much as a reflash of the module or even a replacement. How the avoid programming or memory problems is allow the modules to go to sleep before disconnecting the batteries. Modules are communicating with each other up to 20 minutes after the vehicle is shut off. If the communication is interrupted during that time information may be lost or corrupted. Sure there is back up power you can try but procedure with those can be tricky with vehicles be different than the other. The key here is to wait for 20 minutes before disconnecting the batteries so you can be sure all modules has went into sleep mode. If you don't it can be a expensive mistake.

In my coach I have a Magnum Energy ME2012 charger inverter with inside panel. Every so often I would glance at the readout of the panel and usually it maintained a charge of about 13.5v. I seen several charge rates but mostly at float charge. Today I saw a charge rate of 15.5v and 45 amps and the word equalization on the readout. As expected I checked the batteries and the house batteries are bubbling as they are being overcharged. I shut off the charger at the panel. I checked the owners manual and it has a one paragraph that states it is to break up deposits. I tried doing a soft factory reset to cancel as I don't like overcharging batteries but it continued when the charger is switched back on. It's still on after a couples of hours and I think way too long. I'm thinking about shutting it down overnight for it is already causing corrosion on the terminals. I don't want them to catch fire but they don't feel hot yet. Anybody else have problems like this? I have 4 6v CG2200P 220ah batteries wired to give 12v. They are only 1 1/2 years old so should not be bad. I'm thinking of doing a hard reset but that means removing all power. Setup seems correct for flooded batteries set to 400 amp hours.

Recently went to check the condition of the batteries and found the starting batteries almost dead. I found that there is a digital echo charger made by Xantrex that quit working. Unfortunately if it get a little damp it will fail and is not repairable. It supposed to have a solid green LED light lit when charging, flashing means a fault exists and no LED means it is fried. I have another one coming and it will be here Friday. I like to spray the batteries once a year with cleaner and hose off then coat the terminals with sealer so I may of caused it to a certain extent. Other cause is the batteries are in a area where salt spray can get to it and corrode it. I'm going to see if I can relocate it near the inverter where it stays dryer and has a fan and filters to keep it clean and cooler. I will keep you posted what I do.

Alright friends, dumb question that all ya smart types know off the top of your head. Ok, I need to replace the battery cables on my house batteries. Why? The ends are falling off and they look "cheap." I don't like ugly cables.... I have 16 220AH 6V AGMs wired in series/parallel. They are in two eight battery banks feeding two Xantex SW3012 inverters in a stacked configurations. Please, don't ask why... (Hint...DW like POWER) Normally, this should be easy, EXCEPT Monaco failed to use battery cable that was labeled. They probably save money by buying it without the proper markings.... :-) OK, this is big stuff but how big I don't know. I'm guessing 2/0 or 3/0 SGT. Am I close? As you know, some of these are real short cables so I can't go lo large or I will never be able to bind them enough to install them. Thanks in advance for the wisdom.....

My 8 year old Trojan T-105s in our 05 Expedition likely need to be replaced. I am on the East coast (ME now and FL before long) and looking for where I can get the best price on 4 new T-105s??? I have never equalized the batteries and wonder if doing it will extend their life or performance??? Thanks, Amby N.

We drove 250 miles yesterday on our maiden voyage & towards the end a strange smell started filling the RV. Father n law said that the battery was starting to boil because the alternator was overcharging it & that we should run with the headlights on and that will take care of the issue. Any thoughts??

Hello everyone. A little help for a rookie if you don't mind. My father purchased a 1999 5th Wheel Monaco McKenzie three years ago. It has sat untouched due to an illness he had. It is in brand new condition. (Literally never been used). I own a HVAC company so I am somewhat Tech Savvy, but I have no experience in dealing with DC systems or RV's. Any advice on the following problem would be appreciated. 1. The problem I am experiencing is with the 12 V system only. If I plug into house power all the appliances, pump, refrigerator, water heater, everything works just fine. 2. I have really weak power on a couple of the lights and the refer is on only during the day, which leads me to believe that it is only running off the solar system. 3. I installed 2 brand new 12 V marine Deep cell batteries, and triple verified that they are fully charged. So I can rule out battery problems 4. The issue is that I have no 12 V in the coach. I read a bunch of forums with regards to salesman switches, battery solenoid switches and battery disconnect switches. I can't find any of that anywhere on the RV. 5. It sounds to me like I have a failed solenoid switch, but I simply can't locate it. There are two switches as you enter the door, but turning those on does nothing. I have deduced from the forums that one of those switches shuts the battery off to most everything in the coach. The important stuff like the CO detector, and the fridge being the exception. The solenoid is rather large and I should be able to find it easy, but I can't find it anywhere don't even know if it has one. Thanks Dean