Perplexing Battery Issue

LPS

New Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2024
Messages
4
Location
Dallas TX
This all started with a very sluggish slides on my 2023 3100RD I thought it was the battery, so I purchased a new Interstate 750 cranking amp marine battery and replaced the old battery. Within 3 months the new battery had dead cells. It showed 13.5 volts but all the cells showed very low using a battery cell tester. Upon further diagnosis I discovered that the battery monitor showed that the battery had 13.5 volts but also showed 10.5% charge and .5 amps. I also own a 2022 22MLE, so I removed the battery from that unit and put it in the 3100RD. It also showed the same results, so I put the 3100RD battery in the 22MLE and It showed 100% charge and 100ah. I thought that there may be something wrong with the charge controller so I swapped them. (no difference). The problem seems to be in the 3100RD, Any ideas?
 
don't trust the built in battery life indicator.....get a multimeter of some sort they are very affordable on Amazon or harbor freight.

without a multimeter every answer is just a guess
 
This all started with a very sluggish slides on my 2023 3100RD I thought it was the battery, so I purchased a new Interstate 750 cranking amp marine battery and replaced the old battery. Within 3 months the new battery had dead cells.
I'd guess your charger isn't charging. Easy enough to check. Get a good battery, connect it, put a meter on it, record the reading, turn the charger on, check the reading - it should be higher.

Is you charger set to charge the type of battery you have (wet cell, AGM, Li)?

It showed 13.5 volts but all the cells showed very low using a battery cell tester.
This doesn't make sense. If each cell is low then it can't be 13.5 volts. And 13.5 volts means it is likely connected to a charge (or was in the immediate past). Battery has to sit for some time before it is tested. Preferably with a good load tester.

Upon further diagnosis I discovered that the battery monitor showed that the battery had 13.5 volts but also showed 10.5% charge and .5 amps. I also own a 2022 22MLE, so I removed the battery from that unit and put it in the 3100RD. It also showed the same results
Stop relying on whatever is showing you 13.5 volts and get onto the battery directly.

, so I put the 3100RD battery in the 22MLE and It showed 100% charge and 100ah. I thought that there may be something wrong with the charge controller so I swapped them. (no difference). The problem seems to be in the 3100RD, Any ideas?

Overall - thinking you have connection issues.
 
This all started with a very sluggish slides on my 2023 3100RD I thought it was the battery, so I purchased a new Interstate 750 cranking amp marine battery and replaced the old battery. Within 3 months the new battery had dead cells. It showed 13.5 volts but all the cells showed very low using a battery cell tester. Upon further diagnosis I discovered that the battery monitor showed that the battery had 13.5 volts but also showed 10.5% charge and .5 amps. I also own a 2022 22MLE, so I removed the battery from that unit and put it in the 3100RD. It also showed the same results, so I put the 3100RD battery in the 22MLE and It showed 100% charge and 100ah. I thought that there may be something wrong with the charge controller so I swapped them. (no difference). The problem seems to be in the 3100RD, Any ideas?
Is your battery switch on? Your battery will not charge with the battery switch off. (if the red key will come out, it is off)

If the battery switch has truly been on, it could be your converter.
You will need to test with a "real" voltmeter and see what the voltage of the battery is with the converter on and off.

Welcome to the best GD forum. KEN
 
And if your battery is hooked up and your coach is on shore power, you're just reading the output of the charger, not the battery so disconnect the battery to measure
 
And if your battery is hooked up and your coach is on shore power, you're just reading the output of the charger, not the battery so disconnect the battery to measure
Shore power was disconnected on both the 22mle and the 3100rd while conducting the test.
 
Shore power was disconnected on both the 22mle and the 3100rd while conducting the test.
Has to be disconnected for hours or have a load applied to remove surface charge. Most all conventional lead-acid batteries available to consumers will never read more than 12.65V at rest. Trojans are the exception at 12.7V. Anything higher is surface charge and isn’t useful information.

The most important measurement for diagnosing battery charge issues is the current flowing in or out of the battery.
 
I'd guess your charger isn't charging. Easy enough to check. Get a good battery, connect it, put a meter on it, record the reading, turn the charger on, check the reading - it should be higher.

Is you charger set to charge the type of battery you have (wet cell, AGM, Li)?


This doesn't make sense. If each cell is low then it can't be 13.5 volts. And 13.5 volts means it is likely connected to a charge (or was in the immediate past). Battery has to sit for some time before it is tested. Preferably with a good load tester.


Stop relying on whatever is showing you 13.5 volts and get onto the battery directly.



Overall - thinking you have connection issues.
how do we know without a volt meter?
 
Problem Solved!

Turns out, the factory never set the Furrion battery monitor on the 3100RD and that was the reason that there was a discrepancy between the 22MLE and the 3100RD.(see original post). Turns out, you need to reset the monitor each time you replace the battery as well as check it periodically as your battery will change over its lifetime (according to Furrion). See the link below.

 
Leave it to lippert. that is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. zero volts or 13 volts are measured standards that never change
 
Leave it to lippert. that is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. zero volts or 13 volts are measured standards that never change
Voltage based monitors are close to useless. These are shunt based and measure charge going in and coming out.
 
Voltage based monitors are close to useless. These are shunt based and measure charge going in and coming out.
Absolutely.
This is what I use for charge/discharge rates. Cheap & simple, but it seems to be accurate.
20210405_100112.jpg
 

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