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Old 02-21-2021, 06:17 PM   #1
Gopipco
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Low Battery

I have a 2017 Montana 3150 RL. On occasion I have let my battery run down to the extent my hydraulic jacks will not go up or down. I have it hooked up to my tow vehicle and there is still not enough power to lower jacks. Have to hook booster pack up. Is this normal or should truck batteries “loan” enough power to let jacks down?
 
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Old 02-21-2021, 06:22 PM   #2
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That pump motor can draw in excess of 80 amps, the charge line from your TV is enough to put a trickle charge when running, but usually not much help if your house batteries are dead or just about dead.
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Old 02-21-2021, 06:33 PM   #3
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I only have 1 RV battery so am going to add a second battery and a battery cut off at the battery compartment. Believe it should have been equipped with two from factory because of the amp pull from the jacks.
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Old 02-21-2021, 06:45 PM   #4
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Bob,

Welcome to the forum!

Batteries should always be replaced as pairs vice adding a new battery to an old battery. Make sure you get deep cycle vice starting batteries.
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Old 02-21-2021, 06:46 PM   #5
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Their is also a bulletin out from Lippert to put the hydraulics on their own 80A circuit breaker. I believe there is a copy of it in the files section.
If you have lead acid battery, check your fluids, take it in to an auto parts store and have them test it.
If you do decide to add another battery it is recommended that they are very close in age and capacity. If not replace the current one and buy two that are the same (deep cycle).
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Old 02-22-2021, 09:11 AM   #6
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Just replaced battery so I will get equivalent
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Old 02-22-2021, 10:00 AM   #7
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One thing to remember, when you run your conventional batteries down too far they will probably be damaged and not able to maintain the charge they originally could.
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Old 02-22-2021, 10:17 AM   #8
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If you are not boondocking you probably don't need two batteries. You need to quit letting your battery get in a discharge state. Need to try and figure out why battery is discharging. A common issue is unhooking from commercial A/C for more than a couple of days. If this is the case remove the negative cable from your battery to prevent a discharge. Your battery disconnect switch will not prevent parasitic drains.
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Old 02-22-2021, 10:17 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gopipco View Post
....Believe it should have been equipped with two from factory because of the amp pull from the jacks....
The number of batteries installed is up to the dealer so they are the ones to blame. The Montana ships without batteries or propane tanks. One healthy battery is adequate to run the slides, but as you have found two are better.

I take it you leave the rig parked without power for periods of time. If you don't totally disconnect the battery(s) the parasitic draws will drain them.
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Old 02-22-2021, 01:37 PM   #10
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I've learned the hard way that there are only so many discharges a deep cycle battery can survive. Roughly 30 for an RV battery. Talking wet-cell here.
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Old 02-22-2021, 02:01 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by Gopipco View Post
I have a 2017 Montana 3150 RL. On occasion I have let my battery run down to the extent my hydraulic jacks will not go up or down. I have it hooked up to my tow vehicle and there is still not enough power to lower jacks. Have to hook booster pack up. Is this normal or should truck batteries “loan” enough power to let jacks down?
totally normal, mine acted the same way
add a disconnect at the battery and flip it when not in use
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Old 02-22-2021, 04:38 PM   #12
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Now we are on batteries. I would like to replace my camper batteries with a lithium battery but I don’t know what I need. The price for a 100 amp hour ranges from <$600 to $900>. So what do I need? Any help would be appreciated because I haven’t got any a clue.
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Old 02-22-2021, 06:29 PM   #13
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I've learned the hard way that there are only so many discharges a deep cycle battery can survive. Roughly 30 for an RV battery. Talking wet-cell here.
This not true unless you are talking a complete discharge. Everything I have read is you get 500-600 (something like this) cycles. I would assume that would be down to 40-50% then back up.
If you don't boondock, they should stay charged pretty well. I have gotten 5-7 years on mine and I am on the road 3 months a year and then it sits with battery disconnected the rest of the year.
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Old 02-22-2021, 06:49 PM   #14
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Now we are on batteries. I would like to replace my camper batteries with a lithium battery but I don’t know what I need. The price for a 100 amp hour ranges from <$600 to $900>. So what do I need? Any help would be appreciated because I haven’t got any a clue.
Lynwood
Maybe a new thread But here we go...
You need to figure out how much you need. They call it an energy audit. What you want to run, how many amps it draws, how long. Then you know what you need.
I bought 4 used Valence U27-12XP 12 volt 138Ah batteries. 552Ah.
First 2 bought on Amazon $500 each. Next 2 bought from private seller $350 each.
So far they have worked flawlessly. These are not for everyone. They do NOT have a built in BMS (battery monitor system). You have you build your own. Laptop with windows 10, adapter, software, configuration, etc.
Start a new thread. I'll bet you get a lot of input.
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Old 02-22-2021, 07:44 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by mlh View Post
Now we are on batteries. I would like to replace my camper batteries with a lithium battery but I don’t know what I need. The price for a 100 amp hour ranges from <$600 to $900>. So what do I need? Any help would be appreciated because I haven’t got any a clue.
Lynwood
Here is a good video on the subject. I'm a big fan of Battle Born myself.

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Old 02-28-2021, 02:27 PM   #16
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If you are not boondocking you probably don't need two batteries. You need to quit letting your battery get in a discharge state. Need to try and figure out why battery is discharging. A common issue is unhooking from commercial A/C for more than a couple of days. If this is the case remove the negative cable from your battery to prevent a discharge. Your battery disconnect switch will not prevent parasitic drains.
Quick question. If I shut off all the breakers and turn off the battery cut off switch, will there still be parasitic drain? This is what I have done, but left the negative battery cable attached.
Thanks so much!
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Old 02-28-2021, 03:42 PM   #17
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Leonard,

There are items that are hooked direct and do not go through the disconnect switch or circuit breakers. You need to install a true disconnect or unhook one of the cables. I recommend two batteries even if you don't boondock. They should be replaced as a pair and true deep cycle vice starting or marine batteries.
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Old 02-28-2021, 03:56 PM   #18
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The CO/Propane detector continues to draw current even when the disconnect is off. We lost four 6v batteries one year because the RV dealer that was doing repairs let the batteries freeze. We used to take our batteries out in the winter but disconnecting the ground does the same thing if you don’t want to add another disconnect.
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Old 02-28-2021, 03:56 PM   #19
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For about $60 on Amazon I bought a solar panel and a solar charge controller and it keeps the battery at 13.00v when it is not in use. Replaced one battery previous to the solar installation and that convinced me to keep it charged. Very happy knowing my battery will be fully charged when I am ready to hookup and go.
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Old 03-01-2021, 06:40 AM   #20
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To test batteries: do one battery at a time, that is if you have two. I used this method for the past 40 plus years, (I am heavy equip. mechanic). With cables disconnected, take caps off fill holes, then take a multi meter hook one lead to a post. Then take the other lead and put it into the water in first cell. You should get a reading between 1.5 and 2.0 volts. Before you panic, what your looking for is consistency between cells. The next one should read 2 to 4 volts, the third 4 to 6, etc. until you come to the other post. If you hit one cell that doesn't increase in voltage, that a dead cell. Now connect lead to the other post and measure voltage going the other way. You have just tested for a dead cell. You can have a reading of 12 volts from post to post and still have a dead cell. Secondly, with cables hooked up, disconnect the negative cable on one battery. Take a 12 volt test light and hook one side to battery and the other side to the disconnected cable. If the test light lights up, you have a current drain. Then start by turning off one breaker at a time watching light. If the test light goes out, you have found the circuit that's draining the batteries
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