Loss of Battery Voltage on 2018 Coleman Light - Page 2 - Dutchmen Owners
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Old 11-09-2018, 03:27 PM   #21
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Thanks Guy. This is probably the reply that helps me the most since your 2018 is doing the same thing. I guess I'll be resigned to the fact that this is normal and I'll install a quick disconnect or just pull the negative cable.
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Old 11-09-2018, 03:32 PM   #22
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Thanks franktafl for this reply. It's also good to know that this poor craftsmanship is "normal". Probably done by minimum wage unskilled workers.
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Old 06-01-2019, 04:55 AM   #23
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Old thread, but SteveW, did you ever figure out if there was something draining your batteries more than normal, or if it was just what to expect? We just bought a 2018 Coleman Light used from its original owners, and I currently have it in front of my house. It immediately didn't hold charge for very long at all with hardly anything on. Took the batteries to be tested and they were bad.

So I bought new 12 volts today, installed them around 1pm, and the In-Command panel showed something like 12.6 volts. I decided to wait to plug in to shore power and to let it sit without anything on (except whatever phantom power is being drawn), and by 9pm it was down to 12.2 volts, which if I read my charts right is something like 60%???

We're planning to get solar anyway, which I saw earlier in this thread was one person's solution. And will probably install a battery cutoff, too. But it still doesn't seem right that it would go down that fast with totally new batteries.
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Old 06-02-2019, 03:17 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeloretto View Post

So I bought new 12 volts today, installed them around 1pm, and the In-Command panel showed something like 12.6 volts. I decided to wait to plug in to shore power and to let it sit without anything on (except whatever phantom power is being drawn), and by 9pm it was down to 12.2 volts, which if I read my charts right is something like 60%???

We're planning to get solar anyway, which I saw earlier in this thread was one person's solution. And will probably install a battery cutoff, too. But it still doesn't seem right that it would go down that fast with totally new batteries.
The battery may not have been fully charged. New batteries may need a long charge to start.

It takes 14 to 18 hours to fully charge a lead acid battery. It does not matter what size it is or what the charger capacity is. It takes a long time to fully charge. The dealer may not have fully charge it.

To test, disconnect the battery so no charge or discharge for 4 hours (cheat a little use 1 hour). Measure the voltage. Get the battery discharge chart from batteryuniversity.com. Read the state of charge (SOC) from the chart. 13 volts for a new AGM is fully charged. 12.7 volts is sometimes used for older flooded cell batteries.

One test reported in another thread demonstrated a full charge reduction time switching from 30 amp to 60 amp charger. It reduced charging time by 22 minutes. The batteries still need 14 hours for full charge.

There will be large or small parasitic loads present. How large depends on the appliances in your TT. Even a low parasitic load with large batteries will run the batteries down eventually (2 or 3 weeks). Overnight is very quick. Maybe a refrig is on.
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Old 10-02-2019, 03:11 AM   #25
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We have a 2018 Coleman camper, we just purchased. Battery seemed fine (NAPA deep cycle) when we first got it home. I replaced the manual tongue jack with an electric one, wired positive to the battery. Got to the campsite this weekend, and the battery was completely dead. Jack wouldn't work, no power to radio, etc. Once plugged into shore power, it was fine to unhook. I am not sure if I did something by installing the tongue jack or not. Go to come home, and the truck has charged the battery now while driving, if I am not plugged in, the battery runs the tongue jack, no problem... however, nothing inside works. It's like the connection from the battery is not going to the trailer, just the jack. Will attempt to disconnect the jack this weekend, and see what charges, etc are still there and see if I can't get it to power the camper again.
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Old 10-10-2019, 06:14 PM   #26
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Coming from the boating world I always had to keep my boat plugged into shore power at the marina. Unless you turned the battery switch off there was a draw from the anode system plus the CO2 monitor. You could be fully charged and come back the next weekend to a dead battery.

I had a similar issue with a truck I bought where if you drove it every few days it was fine but if you let it sit for a week the battery would die. By accident I discovered the problem was the aftermarket stereo with a CD player. Every so often the CD player would cycle to see if a disc was installed which was killing the battery. So if you have a stereo with a CD player or maybe a 12V TV with a DVD player I would explore those as culprits.

I keep my trailer connected to a wall outlet in the garage using a 15a adapter and I've had no issues. You could also try for about $20 some type of solar trickle charger.
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