Factory battery disconnect?

[DECelt]

So...what exactly is the point or function of the factory battery disconnect on my Solitude.

I know that it doesn't prevent parasitic drain. Should I use it when hooked up to shore power to keep the battery from potential overcharging? Will anything that is 12 volt function if it is disconnected when plugged in.

Exactly what is its function? It seems like a poorly executed good idea!





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[jjbbrewer]

So...what exactly is the point or function of the factory battery disconnect on my Solitude.
I know that it doesn't prevent parasitic drain.

The disconnect on my Momentum kills everything except for ~50mA of drain. That is so small that it's not worth doing anything about unless I'm going to be storing the trailer for several months.

Do you know how much drain you're getting with the disconnect disconnected?

 

[DECelt]

The disconnect on my Momentum kills everything except for ~50mA of drain. That is so small that it's not worth doing anything about unless I'm going to be storing the trailer for several months.

Do you know how much drain you're getting with the disconnect disconnected?

Not yet, but we will be leaving on a long trip so I will have time to fully investigate. The history is that the battery has been dead all three times that it has been left in storage with a fully charged battery.

The first two times with the factory disconnect used, and the third with the battery disconnect on the negative terminal of the battery. The first time I blamed on a battery perhaps not fully charged from the dealer...the next two times have me at a loss. It could be just a bad battery...I had it tested by the distributor for the brand and tested good...but they gave me a new battery anyway. Go figure. I'll know more soon...but I sure miss having my rig stored at my house.

 

[bertschb]

So...what exactly is the point or function of the factory battery disconnect on my Solitude.

I think it's so the dealer can sell you a new battery when your original battery dies while your RV is in storage.

It's a well known issue that the factory battery disconnect switch doesn't disconnect everything from the battery. If you're going to park your RV for more than a few days while not connected to shore power, you need to remove a cable from the battery. Many owners add a true battery disconnect.

Your converter/charger will prevent your batteries from being overcharged so there is no problem leaving the RV plugged into shore power.

 

[JCR GD]

I think originally the switches were to completely disconnect the battery while stored. But then new rules came along requiring certain "safety" items to remain powered (CO/Propane detectors, trailer breakaway etc.) and then some convenience things added also (radio etc.) Of course all that defeats the original purpose. Now they are only useful for totally confusing folks and leading to a false sense of security.

In my opinion the OEM switch should be left alone and never used. If the trailer is going to be stored for awhile either remove neg. from battery(s) or install a new true cutoff switch that kills everything. BUT be sure if you do this you don't tow without reconnecting so the "safety" features will work.

 

[jjbbrewer]

There is some provable bad information on this thread and I really wish people wouldn't be posting stuff that they don't know is true for every trailer.

I have an ammeter on my batteries so I know *exactly* what current is drawn after disconnect and I have a pretty good idea of what's drawing it. It's not the detectors, trailer brakes, and radios. PM me if you want to know.

 

[PappaJohn]

FYI - Measured the battery draw on my 2021 310GK with the battery disconnect open and shore power unplugged. The draw was 160ma.

 

[JCR GD]

There is some provable bad information on this thread and I really wish people wouldn't be posting stuff that they don't know is true for every trailer.

I have an ammeter on my batteries so I know *exactly* what current is drawn after disconnect and I have a pretty good idea of what's drawing it. It's not the detectors, trailer brakes, and radios. PM me if you want to know.

Wow! First of all, no info on this site or any other is accurate for EVERY trailer. Secondly I did add etc. meaning there may or may not be other things also.

So... please share with us what you have found so we can all understand.

 

[bertschb]

There is some provable bad information on this thread and I really wish people wouldn't be posting stuff that they don't know is true for every trailer.

I think the point is the factory battery disconnect doesn't disconnect the battery. I think Grand Design should have a large label next to the "disconnect" switch warning owners that the switch doesn't disconnect everything.

 

[jjbbrewer]

So... please share with us what you have found so we can all understand.

On the unit I have in my .sig, everything is unpowered except:

• motion detection light in the front battery compartment
• motion detection light in the pass through storage
• the switch for the happi jack lift in the garage
• the switch for the front hitch lights
• the trailer breakaway switch

There is power directly connected to the hydraulic pump, but the leveling controller and the OneConnect panel are both unpowered. No detectors are powered except those that have internal batteries. The RockfordFosgate stereo is unpowered as is anything else I could find that runs on 12V.

I am not sure where the 50mA is being drawn, though. I'll try pulling some fuses to see if I can track that down.

 

[Ynot4me2]

I think the point is the factory battery disconnect doesn't disconnect the battery. I think Grand Design should have a large label next to the "disconnect" switch warning owners that the switch doesn't disconnect everything.

Exactly, we are still weekend warriors with a couple of trips per season. So ours is often stored. I don't bother anymore with GD disconnect switch. I installed my own directly on the battery instead and accessible from the exterior. It also cuts off the jack so I cant hitch up and accidentally forget to turn the power on which feeds the breakaway switch.

 

[Dalek20]

There are items that are still connected when battery disconnect is off. My CO2and rear camera stay on. This drains the battery in 2 weeks of storage. I fixed it. I rerouted the cables and EVERYTHING runs through the disconnect switch. Additionally I moved the switch over to the side by the Level Up panel (where I raise and lower jacks). Now everything is off and I can store for months without draining batteries. Who needs the CO2 monitor to work when it is in storage???

 

[jjbbrewer]

On the unit I have in my .sig, everything is unpowered except:

• motion detection light in the front battery compartment
• motion detection light in the pass through storage
• the switch for the happi jack lift in the garage
• the switch for the front hitch lights
• the trailer breakaway switch

There is power directly connected to the hydraulic pump, but the leveling controller and the OneConnect panel are both unpowered. No detectors are powered except those that have internal batteries. The RockfordFosgate stereo is unpowered as is anything else I could find that runs on 12V.

I am not sure where the 50mA is being drawn, though. I'll try pulling some fuses to see if I can track that down.

So, I took the voltmeter to the fuse panel and it's completely off with the disconnect switch off. So then I disconnected the cable on the Level Up system and switched off the compartment lights.

None of those had an effect on the 50mA draw. I doubt if the toggle switches for the happi jack & hitch lights are leaking, so that leaves the breakaway switch?

Before taking that apart, I think I'm going to pull the positive terminals on the batteries to see if this is ammeter inaccuracy. It'd better go to 0, right?

 

[brandtb1919]

So...what exactly is the point or function of the factory battery disconnect on my Solitude.

I know that it doesn't prevent parasitic drain. Should I use it when hooked up to shore power to keep the battery from potential overcharging? Will anything that is 12 volt function if it is disconnected when plugged in.

Exactly what is its function? It seems like a poorly executed good idea!





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I had a similar issue with our 310 as well. I have had great success with a 20W solar panel from Amazon to maintain the battery when in storage. It's is always at 12.5 when I get there. I even added a Furrion solar charge port to the front of the unit to plug into. The panel mounts on the pin box with magnets.

Brian

 

[JCR GD]

So, I took the voltmeter to the fuse panel and it's completely off with the disconnect switch off. So then I disconnected the cable on the Level Up system and switched off the compartment lights.

None of those had an effect on the 50mA draw. I doubt if the toggle switches for the happi jack & hitch lights are leaking, so that leaves the breakaway switch?

Before taking that apart, I think I'm going to pull the positive terminals on the batteries to see if this is ammeter inaccuracy. It'd better go to 0, right?

Interesting that the Happi jack is powered. Is the entire rear panel powered? (if your model has one) or just the Happi Jack? No power at my rear panel.

 

[jjbbrewer]

Interesting that the Happi jack is powered. Is the entire rear panel powered? (if your model has one) or just the Happi Jack?

Nothing on the rear panel other than the happi jack is powered. I have 2 awning switches (rear & patio) and 4 light switches.

I'm not sure what the thinking is in powering the bed/couch. Hmm ...

 

[DJPellegrino]

There is some provable bad information on this thread and I really wish people wouldn't be posting stuff that they don't know is true for every trailer.

I have an ammeter on my batteries so I know *exactly* what current is drawn after disconnect and I have a pretty good idea of what's drawing it. It's not the detectors, trailer brakes, and radios. PM me if you want to know.

REALLY???
Now why wouldn't you just post the info instead of having people pm you?
That's the sort of thing that makes you not credible...

 

[hartcentr]

So...what exactly is the point or function of the factory battery disconnect on my Solitude.

I know that it doesn't prevent parasitic drain. Should I use it when hooked up to shore power to keep the battery from potential overcharging?

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It needs to be on even if on AC so that if the power goes out, your fridge will switch over to propane. No power (120VAC or 12 V DC), no fridge.

 

[rjweidman]

Disconnect on my Reflection 290

So...what exactly is the point or function of the factory battery disconnect on my Solitude.

I know that it doesn't prevent parasitic drain. Should I use it when hooked up to shore power to keep the battery from potential overcharging? Will anything that is 12 volt function if it is disconnected when plugged in.

Exactly what is its function? It seems like a poorly executed good idea!





Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

If I use the disconnect, everything seems to be off but front jacks. It always maintains a charge when I use the disconnect.

 

[jjbbrewer]

REALLY???
Now why wouldn't you just post the info instead of having people pm you?
That's the sort of thing that makes you not credible...

The reason for PMing is I didn't want to get into arguments about what's powered on and off - which has happened in the past.

But I ended up posting my findings on this thread anyway - https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/sho...ery-disconnect?p=382220&viewfull=1#post382220

Is my credibility ok?

BTW, some background - I bought my unit in December and had to put it immediately into storage. 5 weeks later, someone posted here that the cutoff switch "didn't work" and that my battery will die in a few days. Believing what they said, I hurried over to storage, pulled my battery, and brought it home to hopefully salvage this brand new battery. I got home and the battery was 60% discharged.

https://www.mygrandrv.com/forum/sho...se-on-Momentum?p=343939&viewfull=1#post343939

I was pretty annoyed that incomplete or untrue info about the cutoff switch function was being posted.

What I believe IS true is that not all units have the same 12V cutoff switch functionality - some leave power sucking devices connected, others don't. I believe that unless you measure your own trailer's current draw with the switch off, there's no way to know what it is.