Question Novice, rookie, wet behind the ears...trying so hard to keep up.

[Neal]

Ha. I will be replacing my chassis batteries in December… they are originals, so at nearly 8 years old, they don’t owe me anything.
I do leave them on a trickle charger at all times at home… so maybe that helped.

I just don't ever want to find myself someplace in a no start condition. They are cheap to replace, in fact I had FL Gaffney replace mine, very affordable to have them do it.

 

[Richpatty]

I just don't ever want to find myself someplace in a no start condition. They are cheap to replace, in fact I had FL Gaffney replace mine, very affordable to have them do it.

Yea… maybe I pushed it a bit, but it starts great… and I could bridge the house batteries if it failed. But they will be replaced at Gafney in Dec.

 

[Tproepper1]

Replaced both chassis batteries yesterday, not too bad a job for a barley mechanical guy. Thankfully, engine stared right away, generator started as well. To my surprise the ac unit turned on, the Silverleaf screen was all lit up and everything seemed normal.
Just as I was looking at the Silverleaf, I noticed it said "inverter fault" on the display. I went to look at the DC Power Screen, and it went blank. Bang
Still blank a day later..."killing me smalls."

 

[Neal]

If your batteries drained to where the low battery cutoff (LBCO) was reached to cut off the batteries to prevent further drain, that will trigger an inverter fault. Not sure how to clear it in Silverleaf but was simple in the Magnum control head.

 

[rvkev]

This might be a little late, but, other members can take advantage of on line at NAPA.

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I purchased 2 D8 Batteries at NAPA. Went to the local store and the manager, told me order them on line and take advantage of 20% off. I exchanged my batteries the next day. I saved over $100.

 

[wildebill308]

Ha. I will be replacing my chassis batteries in December… they are originals, so at nearly 8 years old, they don’t owe me anything.
I do leave them on a trickle charger at all times at home… so maybe that helped.

I found a deal on chassis batteries at my local Freightliner store. They had original equipment start batteries for $85.00 ea.
Bill

 

[Rich W.]

Got seven years out of mine before doing a preventative change out and they still worked fine but I didn’t want my last start to be in the boonies somewhere so I changed them before they left me stranded. It would be interesting to see how long they can actually last.

 

[Ed H]

Novice, rookie, wet behind the ears...trying so hard to keep up. Can I plug my 50amp into a standard 110 outlet and get batteries charged?

Yes. I plug my motor home in at home and all we have 110 to plug it into to. You need and adapter, and you can run things like a refrigerator, tv's, but not the airs.

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

2020 New Aire 3543, Xantrex Freedom inverter/charger. Ran up from Dallas to St Paul, parked for four days unplugged and had no juice on day 4.

Your New Aire made it up to four days? That's a record!

Seriously, they are quite known for vampire drains, especially if factory lithium as 1) the silverleaf will join the batteries in what some call a "deadly embrace", running both house and chassis down to nothing; 2) your factory solar (if optioned) may not be doing anything if they built with the wrong solar controller model (there is a service bulletin for replacing the controller).

If parking for more than a day or two without power, unfortunately the best practice for New Aires is to go beyond the "salesmen's switch" and turn off the breakers (on Spartan Chassis) or disconnect switch (Freightliner) right at the chassis batteries. Otherwise, you can plug in to 120VAC using a dogbone as others have suggested, but just make sure you have your unnecessary loads turned off (like the oasis electric heater elements, etc.) and the charger turned on.

Morning all, and thanks for all your comments and information. Very helpful! So I had both chassis' batteries charged with trickle charger (external) to 100%, plugged in the 50 amp plug, by way of converter overnight. This morning, she is dead as a doornail again. Not even enough chassis power to "click" even the generator, let alone turn over the engine.
These also look like original batteries, which would make them at least 4 years old, and I have no record of how they were maintained. Silverleaf also has no power, so there is no way to "see" what's happening with the power distribution.
I am now looking for two replacement batteries, at least then I will have a known starting point.

Wet behind the ears in St Paul!!

My chassis batteries from the dealer on my "new" 2023 New Aire didn't last but a couple of days after driving the rig off the lot as they wouldn't hold a charge more than a few hours given how much they had been ran down before I had purchased it. I had no choice but to buy new chassis batteries. Once replaced they would both charge and hold a charge. That said, when not plugged in I made sure to disconnect them as they still wouldn't last but 2 or 3 days sitting there without 120V AC plugged in.

UPDATE: Ugh... And I now see that I missed page 2 of this thread somehow. I'm a day late and dollar short. Hope the new batteries are working out for you. That said, disconnecting them when not plugged in is the way to go.

Best,
-Mark