Battery on Rpod dead
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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=8691
Printed Date: 26 Jun 2025 at 6:54am
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Topic: Battery on Rpod dead
Posted By: Jewel59
Subject: Battery on Rpod dead
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2016 at 8:41pm
| I've had a great summer getting much use out of my Rpod. The Rpod has sat for the last 3 weeks. I'm taking it out Labor Day weekend. Today I went to the covered storage where I rent a space to store the rood. I found the lights wouldn't come on inside the Rpod. Nothing would operate (slide out) suggesting the battery is dead. I am planning a trip this weekend (with full hookups), will everything else remain uneffected in the Rpod even if the battery won't recharge? I really don't have time to get a new battery. I'm going to bring the Rpod home tomorrow and plug it in. Hopefully the battery will revitalize. I only now learned you should disconnect the battery when the Rpod sits. I didn't the battery would go that quick. With that said, I left a plug in air freshener in the kitchen outlet. Could that have discharged the battery? |
Replies:
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2016 at 8:54pm
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If you have to store the pod where it can't be plugged in, either remove the battery, or install a battery cutoff switch as soon as possible. There are a few phantom loads in the pod that will run the battery down in a couple weeks. And.. No the plug in didn't do anything, the outlets are on the 120v side. ------------- |
Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2016 at 9:02pm
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The RPOD and most other modern campers have a propane detector that draws current from the battery continuously. The RPOD has a small additional load from the thermostat. These loads will deplete a battery in a few weeks. That's why you should disconnect the battery or keep a trickle charger on it when you store the Pod. Having discharged the battery once it will have a shorter life, but should recharge when you plug it in at home. Charge it over night to make sure. Depending on how you use it you may never notice the degradation. Most experts recommend not discharging a battery more than 50% and to never leave it totally discharged for any length of time. The plugin deodorizer will have no effect because it runs on 120V, not 12V.
------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: Jewel59
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2016 at 9:26pm
| Thanks for easing my mind, it can't be charged where I store it so I guess I will learn how to disconnect the battery. Hopefully it will charge up. I don't anticipate much use of the battery so hopefully I didn't cause it to enter into an early death. Live and learn on this one (I'm still new with the the camper thing). I was shocked when i went into the Rpod today and no lights. |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 29 Aug 2016 at 9:40pm
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A battery cut-off switch will simplify things for you. Otherwise, you should disconnect the NEGATIVE (-) lead from the battery. Disconnecting the POSITIVE (+) cable can cause some unexpected fireworks if it should contact metal A cut-off switch will keep you from having to mess with the battery terminals. It is not too hard to install. There are several pictures of different ones in the forum including the one shown in my mods. It has come in handy when I was doing some work where I wanted the power cut off. It has also been handy for when I had to take my R-Pod to the dealer for some warranty work.
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: M&M
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 10:19am
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Jumping in here. If I have a battery cut off switch installed, and have it switched on, will the TV recharge the R-Pod battery while we're driving? Thanks, Marty ------------- 2017 179 "Big Sexy" 2012 Honda Pilot |
Posted By: john in idaho
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 10:49am
| Check the water in the cells. |
Posted By: furpod
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 12:02pm
If it charges them now, it will charge them then. ------------- |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 12:05pm
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+1. If the switch is on, it charges.
------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Artistlin
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 6:41pm
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If I have 2 batteries on my rPod, do I need 2 switches...one for each battery? (I am currently recharging my dead batteries that dies despite a trickle feed). Thanks. ------------- Cheers, Lin |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 7:15pm
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Short answer: No. Only one switch is needed. 2-12V batteries: Wire in parallel. Positive to positive and negative to negative. On the connections going to the R-Pod, connect the positive wire directly to one of the positive terminals. Connect the other R-Pod wire to the switch and use a short jumper wire to connect the other terminal of the switch to the negative terminal of one of the batteries. You will then have 12V power when the switch is ON and no power when it is OFF. Make sure that 12V batteries are only wired in Parallel. Wiring them in Series will give you 24V, which will damage your R-Pod. R-Pod------------Switch--------(-)Battery(+)---------------------------R-Pod | | Parallel connection (-)Battery(+) 2-6V batteries: Wire in Series. Connect the negative terminal on one battery to the positive terminal on the other battery. Connect the positive wire to the R-Pod to the other Positive terminal. Connect the Negative wire to one terminal of your switch. Use a jumper wire to connect to the open Negative terminal. You will now have 12V power when the switch is ON and no power when it is OFF. Make sure you wire 6V batteries in Series. Wiring them in Parallel will give you only 6V, which will be too low for your R-Pod. R-Pod---------------------Switch-----(-)Battery(+)--------(-)Battery(+)---------------R-Pod Series connection This is how mine is wired since I am using two 6V deep cycle golf cart batteries. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: Artistlin
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 7:17pm
 Thanks StephenH!------------- Cheers, Lin |
Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 30 Aug 2016 at 7:20pm
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Glad to help. I revised the post to add some more information. ------------- StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
Posted By: jkr98116
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2016 at 12:49am
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I have also been surprised by the amount of standby current in the RPod. By standby current, I mean current consumed by devices, such as the sound system or the gas alarm, when everything is turned off, as opposed to leakage current, the unavoidable internal discharge of the battery. I added a small solar panel to try to offset the leakage current during storage, but there is too much standby current drain (~200 mA). Several contributors here suggest a battery switch. Why do we need one? Why was one not built in? Certainly many (like myself) store without access to A/C power. This blows my mind. It should be easy to totally shut down standby current drains. I have determined that there will be no substitute for detaching the battery negative from the trailer ground. It turns out that on my Zamp-wiring equipped model (like most these days I think), there are two white ground wires attached to the battery. The larger one carries all the standby currents. The smaller one connects to the Zamp connector. This is nice, as I can disconnect the large one, and all the standby currents, and still connect to the battery using the Zamp connector, which is convenient to the little solar panel I am hoping will cover leakage current. I have also been wondering whether it is worthwhile to detach sources of standby current when boondocking. The glow on the sound system when it is off is noticeable, so I wondered how much current supported that (and other sound system functions while off, possibly Bluetooth sniffing?). I did a little investigating with an ammeter. With all appliances, lights and such off, the standby current passes through three fuses: #2, 3 and 6. None passes through the circuit breakers. Absent a master disconnect, routing these currents through easily operated circuit breakers would have been nice. Removing fuses requires removing the front panel of the electrical distribution module, an unwelcome nuisance. Fuse #2 carries the sound system, etc. current. At standby this is ~30 mA. Fuse #3 carries currents for the gas detector and the fridge (and other stuff I expect). At standby this is ~80 mA. Fuse #6 is one of three fuses for lights. The others do not have standby current, and I don't know what the standby current for this one comes from, but it is ~30 mA. Even if you pull all of the fuses and open all the circuit breakers, there is a small (13 mA) standby current. This is why there is no substitute for disconnecting the battery. For safety and convenience, it makes sense to leave fuses #3 & 6 in place always. I could save 30 mA by pulling fuse #2 and killing the sound system when I don't want it (most of the time), but that would make it a pain to replace the fuse when I do want the sound system. So, I was considering installing a panel switch in series with the sound system to turn it on or off when I like. However, as the sound system contributes only ~20% of the standby current, I'm not inclined to bother right away. These are small but not trivial currents. For perspective, one of the smaller LED lamps consumes ~350 mA. So, supplying the sound system around the clock is roughly equivalent to leaving one of the smaller lights on for two hours (or one of the larger for an hour). If I get to the point that I'm being stingy with the lights, I may pull fuse #2 until I can get the battery charged again.
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Posted By: CharlieM
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2016 at 8:45am
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IIRC from my Pod days, the thermostat is part of the standby current. That's the price of the nice wall mounted digital model. BTW, almost any appliance that has a momentary push button on/off switch will have a small standby current. A tiny circuit is waiting for you to push the button.
------------- Charlie Northern Colorado OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2016 at 9:59am
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Welcome jkr. If you add solar go with at least a 100 watt panel, 200 if you do serious boondocking. From what I understand manufacturers can't install a cutoff switch because that disables the LP detector. I don't know if RVIA code demands this or if they are just worried about lawsuits from a blown-up camper (I've seen reports where this has happened). From an owner standpoint, you need the cutoff switch primarily because of the LP detector but also because of the fridge brains, radio and the thermostat. Instead of a switch you can install a 30 amp fuse in a weatherproof enclosure. Or, you need to keep it plugged in all the time, or use a trickle charger (if it outputs more than the standby loss). ------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: ToolmanJohn
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2016 at 11:51am
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The battery cutoff switch is convenient, if you remember to use it... Never mind how I learned this.... I have a dual switch (Blue Sea systems 4 position switch) for my (2) 12 Volt batteries. OFF, Batt 1, Batt 2, Batt 1+2 (parallel). I use only the OFF and Batt 1+2 position. It must be at BATT 1+2 in order to charge both batteries, whether from shore power or the Tow vehicle. I bypassed the battery disconnect switch for the trailer emergency break-away switch. I never want to be in a situation where the break-away doesn't work because I forgot to turn the power on. As long as the break-away isn't activated, it cannot drain the battery (battery 1). So the break-away is hardwired to a terminal connected to battery 1. Other people have already noted the parasitic drains namely the propane detector (safety device) and the stereo system ( I removed my terrible combo Television-Radio system , I sold it to a coworker for $50. i haven't watched TV in my camper in a few years, even though I have a small LCD TV in the dinnette seat storage wrapped in the original bed sheet. I always find something to do if it rains on a trip. When I first purchased a camper, I didn't realize the need to disconnect the battery between trips. The stereo on my former 1st camper (2013 Starcraft 17RD) was also hardwired. As long as the battery was connected it would drain it. And worse, when the battery was installed the stereo would boot up and play!! If the volume was down, I didn't hear it and it would kill my freshly charged battery in a couple days.... It took a small amount of detective work to figure that out the first couple times it happened!! What a terrible design flaw... ------------- 2017 ATC 7X20 Custom Toy Hauler 2013 R-Pod 177 (SOLD) 2013 VW Touareg TDI |
Posted By: jkr98116
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2016 at 1:54pm
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I figured lawyers were in the mix on the cutoff switch. I have a 200 w solar for use while boondocking. The little one I referred to is only for trying to maintain the battery during storage, where I don't have access to AC. There is not room to deploy the larger panel in that setting.
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