Battery volts and jacks

[danrn]

My batteries have been dying in about 3 days after charging; even after ensuring everything was off, to include the battery switch was turned off. I am presently adding a dual battery cut off switch to insure ALL power is cut off when I turn these switches off. I tried to hook up my RW last weekend and the jacks would not work. At first when I hooked my truck to the RW the leveling switch beeps and will not work. After a while it stops beeping but again nothing really works. No display. I did have a light come on my left arrow (left, right up, down arrows). This light would go off and on when I pushed the power button, but that was all. I called the service department and they advised me that the batteries need to be 12.7 or better for the jacks to work properly. Although my batteries should be new, I still took them out and took them to a battery service center for charging and testing. I will know tomorrow if they are holding a charge or not. At least the service department said they would replace them if they are unusable, as they should. So, does this sound legit? When I plug in my truck, is all the power going to the batteries and nothing is getting to the leveling system? Yet when my truck is plugged in and the batteries are dead I can still open slides, and turn things on
This may just be the way it is wired, but still makes me scratch my head.

[Dave&Ginny]

First question.....what type of batteries are you using? are they the cheap no name batteries from the factory? Next thing to look at is the controller itself. I had to replace mine as have others on this forum. It's a 5 minute job but the service center has to mail you one.

For the record...I've used my truck to raise my jacks when my batteries were dead.

[danrn]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

First question.....what type of batteries are you using? are they the cheap no name batteries from the factory? Next thing to look at is the controller itself. I had to replace mine as have others on this forum. It's a 5 minute job but the service center has to mail you one.

For the record...I've used my truck to raise my jacks when my batteries were dead.

One battery is an interstate, the other is a black battery with no name on it, and is probably a cheap battery. Regardless if these are cheap batteries or not, the fact you are able to use the power from your truck to use the leveling system indicates that my situation is not normal.
Once I put the batteries back, I will see what happens. If I continue to have problems I will pursue getting a new controller.
Thanks for your reply Dave.

[Dave&Ginny]

If you have an absolutely bad battery, it could prevent any amperage from powering the coach.

Dan, I really want to urge you to have the batteries both the same. The smaller battery will draw down the better battery and these trailers are battery hungry.

I carry with me a battery charger and jumper cables. I have been in a situation where I couldn't get enough amperage to run the trailer but I could to run a battery charger.

[danrn]

Originally Posted by Dave&Ginny

If you have an absolutely bad battery, it could prevent any amperage from powering the coach.

Dan, I really want to urge you to have the batteries both the same. The smaller battery will draw down the better battery and these trailers are battery hungry.

I carry with me a battery charger and jumper cables. I have been in a situation where I couldn't get enough amperage to run the trailer but I could to run a battery charger.

Thanks again for the good info Dave. Like you I have learned to always carry a battery charger and jumper cables with me. In a way I am hoping my batteries are unusable so I can get new ones, and these ones will be the same.

[Rick and Mindy]

Dan, I think you'll find out that your battery cutoff switch does not cut everything off. It seems everyone has that problem and Redwood has designed it that way. Unless you reconfigure the cutoff switch wiring you will continue to see the battery drain when not plugged into shore power. The switch can be rewired to be a true cutoff switch. If you do not fix the cutoff problem you will need to keep the shore power connected to keep the batteries charged.

[markw]

You definitely need to get rid of the black battery and match your Interstate. Batteries in parallel need to be the same as much as possible.


Mark

[danrn]

Originally Posted by markw

You definitely need to get rid of the black battery and match your Interstate. Batteries in parallel need to be the same as much as possible.


Mark

Mark,
I was happy to hear from the battery shop today that my batteries were unusable. I plan to take them back to the dealer and get two new ones. I will make sure they are the same. Thanks for your advice.