Hey Guys,

Today, I attempted to unlock the van and noticed no alarm and then to eventually find out that Both Van and House batteries are completely drained! What's strange is that I'm connected to Shore power and yet both batteries are drained.

Here's the background...

- Replaced house batteries ~6 months ago
- Replaced Starting batteries 1 yr ago
- Van is used only once a wk for short day trips and when stored it's connected to shore power.
- Last wk she was working fine and took her for the day to spend at SF beaches w/no problems
- When I stored her in my driveway, I connected her back to shore power and left the Fridge on(at level 5!, i think my son left it at this level)

What I did so far and noticed...
- confirmed that there was power coming into the Van(measured at the Power cord)
- even though Im plugged in, none of my appliances are on and my voltmeters read nothing
- I did notice that the circuit breaker for my Van batteries was tripped

Can any one provide me some pointers before I take her to Ford? Thanks in advance for any help!

You reset the breaker and you still don't have power when you're plugged in? Check to see that the GFI plug is also reset. I read that the GFI plug being tripped can cause a similar problem of not getting power when plugged in.

Is your house battery and starter battery isolated from each other? If they're isolated, I can see your house battery being drained, but your starter battery should be fine.

__________________
2005 E350 Chateau - V10 - Agile Offroad 4x4
2012 CTS-V Wagon - For the baby...

Yes, I reseted the breaker and checked the GFI and still don't have power.

I have the 1315-200 installed but I disconnected the "Smart Assist" circuit by unplugging the "wire" from the Prong. I always wanted to separate the house batteries from the Van batteries when starting the van. I did this so that I can "monitor" the Van batteries.

I'll be calling Tripp Lite customer service to ask for some help since the Inverter doesn't show any power.

Are you sure the charger is putting out and the separator is working? What kind of starting battery do you have?

On shore power (with the charger activated) you should see the battery voltage jump from the low state to about 14+ volts on the house side of the separator. If the separator is working correctly it will close (provided the shore chargers working) and show the same voltage on both sides. If the starting battery is toast it might pull the charge voltage down causing the separator to open and close and not allow the battery to charge up. Test the voltage at the separator. Ford won't be able to help you with that in most circumstances.

__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures

My starting batteries seem to only last two years. Third set in four years. I wonder if plugging in is boiling them thus reducing their lives.

Z

__________________
'06 RB50 SMB Diesel

https://www.tomsinclair.net

Z-do you have AGM for both start and house? A mix or just flooded? They should last longer than that.
ucsundog-check all the connections going in/out from your charger, it sounds to me that it's not functioning and has a loose wire or ground or has gone bad and needs replacing. There is also a plug, at least on mine (a converter/charger) that plugs into an outlet to run the rest of the house outlets, check any other breakers under there as well, but I suspect there's something going on with your charger if you threw the main circuit breaker. And I agree, not a Ford thing, try going to a local RV place that does service, they should be able to sort it out.

__________________
'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
(de)SMB'd Custom RB-50
Quigley 4X4 w/Deavers & Agile Offroad's R.I.P. package
CCV High Profile Pop Top

Hell I was lucky to get them to last a year and a half. Threw in a couple of Odyssey's and the trouble stopped. If I'm letting the fridge run 24-7 I always plug into shore power but leave the charger off. I was still loosing wet cell starting batteries and I think the solar was the catalyst but that's JMO.

__________________
2006 Ford 6.0PSD EB-50/E-PH SMB 4X4 Rock Crawler Trailer

Sportsmobile 4X4 Adventures..........On and off road adventures

Hi Ref,


I spoke with Peter from Sportsmobile and he thinks that my GFI just tripped and not allowing any charge to come into the VAN and not charging the House and VAN batteries. Since my van was sitting a for a week it must have sucked the House batteries dry. I did have the "radio" switch to use the Van batteries and probably sucked the them dry but I'm finding it hard to believe that the van batteries would be used up even if the radio was on but it was just turned down low where you couldn't here anything???

In any case, Peter said that I can try recharging both batteries for at least 5 hours from inside and then grounding from underneath the Van. This way the Inverter will get power and start the charging both systems. He told me that since the reset button is "spongy" still on the GFI outlet that indeed the system reset.

I'm looking to buy a charger to try this out. Wish me luck and thanks for the responses everyone.

Are you in the city or ??

__________________
Ray
Beastie 3: 2002 7.3 EB Cargo: Agile TTB, CCV High Top, Custom Walk Through, Lots of stuff added. www.BlingMyRig.com

FWIW, a typical stereo head unit can draw 7-8 Amps. That can be a significant drain, though I can't say for sure how much it varies with volume.


Herb

__________________
SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.