inverter and battery issues 2008 Beaver Patriot

[Ante Peros]

We have a 2008 Beaver Patriot Thunder. We seem to have either a battery drain or a faulty inverter (?). We took it out of storage after a month with the battery switches turned off in the battery bay and the house batteries were dead... We had checked that the Battery cut-off switch inside the front door of the coach was off - nothing was lighting up so we assumed we were good. We had checked the big lithium house battery as it had a bulge in the front but it was not dead but low. We ordered a new one but it was not delivered in time to install it so we stored the motorhome and crossed our fingers. We picked it up today after a month of storage. First we turned the battery switches inside the battery bay back on and the RV started a bit slowly but started.  We warmed it up for a bit but no matter what we did there was no power in the house. We turned the generator on for a half an hour nothing. We drove it for a half an hour and still nothing. The battery cut off switch has never had a light go on or off so we had the original switch replaced - but still no light. We have to check it by seeing if all the lights won't work. No matter where the battery cut off switch position was nothing happened. We installed the new battery and voila everything was working. We've been told that due to the complications of the wiring in these rv's there might be battery drain practically anywhere. We have started looking at putting in a battery cut off switch at the battery - but which battery since there are so many... Are there other battery switches that we are missing? In other words how do you store this RV to ensure that there is no battery drainage? Are we missing something.

I know when I am traveling the inverter needs to be on but does the inverter need to be on when we are plugged in to shore power?

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Ante,
There is no need to have the inverter on when plugged into shore power as the shore power supplies the AC that the inverter provides when not on shore power. So you can turn off the inverter to decrease the battery load but be sure the battery charger portion of  the inverter is still on.
From your write up it sounds like the chassis batteries were low and the house batteries dead. Do you have a dash display (e.g Aladdin) that shows house battery voltage? Did you happen to notice what voltage was displayed prior to replacing the batteries?
The schematics in the 2008 Patriot wiring diagrams show that the chassis battery switch disconnects the battery(s) from the rest of the coach.. However, since it is connected to the battery with a 4 AWG cable, I am pretty confident there is at least 1 smaller AWG wire connected to the  + terminal that doesn't go through the cut-off switch to keep the ECU powered. Over a month or so this small current draw can pull the batteries down. So if stored without shore power it is wise to run the generator or engine for 30  min or so every few weeks to keep the batteries charged. This is especially important if stored inside where the solar charger will be degraded or non-functional. (The preceding assumes wet cell batteries. I'm not familiar with Lithium charge/discharge characteristics).
The house battery disconnect switch does not isolate the batteries completely. The wiring diagrams show that the cable from the battery runs to a rear run box terminal and then back to the disconnect switch from a separate terminal. It's not clear to me what current draws are present there. A DC current meter may help determine if there is a draw present.
The battery switch diagrams are on pgs 155 & 158 and the rear run box is shown on pgs 33-136 of the 2008 Patriot wiring diagrams in Coach Assist.
Steve

[Ante Peros]

Dear Steve
  Thank you so much for your reply. You sound much more knowledgable then we are! We do not have a way to read the battery loads. It might be something we need to add to our tools! We will also check out the pages you suggested. Always learning.....

[Ante Peros]

We do have a Surge Guard RV Power Monitor (4250 Transfer Switch) and it shows usage. We are traveling now and the inverter is on and running with 13.7 volts and 0 amps. When we were attached to shore power we turned the inverter off and the charge on - but it really depleted the batteries - so we switched the inverter back on and the battery power ramped up again. We did not have hot water or heat this morning but since we were only staying the night we did not fill the aquahot tank very full - it was about 1/4 this AM. I tried trouble shooting the aquahot water levels to no avail. This brings up another question. Is the Aquahot tank the same as the clear water tank? I haven't seen any other clear water tank in the bays? So much to learn and know....

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Ante,
Do you get the same symptoms of the batteries showing low voltage with the inverter off when running the generator rather than shore power?
Steve

[Keith Moffett]

Ante, Here’s my 2 cents worth.
The Aqua Hot doesn’t run if there is a low battery fault so if your batteries ran down the AH  wouldn’t kick on.
The fresh water tank is in the plumbing bay but can also be seen on the passenger side where the ‘T’ shaped drain valve is.  It is next to the Aqua Hot in the large passenger side bay.  This gets only fresh water unless you are winterizing so no Aqua Hot fluid in the fresh tank….ever!
The Aqua Hot over flow tank is either in the fueling bay or in the bay with the aqua hot or in the engine compartment (like ours).  It is  about 1 gallon sized plastic container that says cold at the bottom and hot about 3/4 the way up.  The mixed boiler fluid goes in there and can be red or green/yellow depending on which was used before.  Don’t mix the two colors.  Use distilled water  or pre mixed  boiler fluid.
It sounds like your charging system needs looking at. 
How old and what type batteries for house and for chassis?
On shore power with the inverter on and charger. On you should be able to read the batteries with a multi meter.  It sounds like they are only charging from the alternator which could mean a bad inverter or a bad relay in the rear run box. 

[Ante Peros]

Dear Keith,
 Thanks for your 2 cents worth - totally valuable ideas and shared experience. There is always something....Ginny and Ante