Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 13, 2025 ...

8D batteries

November 09, 2011, 04:10:13 pm

Hope I can find some information and advice.
Checking the batteries for the coach I (unfortunately) found one with the positive terminal corroded through.  It is at the end of the multiple connections.  We are in Salina, KS and will be leaving for Mesa, AZ in a couple of weeks.
Can the coach operate on two of the gel batteries, should I disconnect the neg. terminal on this battery or just leave it alone until I can find another one?  Which brings me to another question--Where do I find such a battery?  Have never had a problem like this before.
Thanks for your help
Richard Anderson
1999 U320, 40'

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #1 – November 09, 2011, 04:12:46 pm

Yes, you can drive/camp with 2 instead of three 12 VDC batteries.  Particularly if you don't dry camp, this is not a bid deal.  If you dry camp, you will just have reduced battery capacity.

No, you don't need to remove the negative/ground from the bad battery.

BUT, you do need to secure that loose positive that went to the bad battery so that it can not contact any ground-- either on a battery or the chassis itself.

How old are the remaining batteries?  If over a year or so old, it is not a good idea to connect batteries of different ages/conditions in parallel.

If they are close to new, contact the battery maker for possible warranty coverage (depends on what failed) AND for suggested dealers along your route.

Another option, particularly if the batteries are old is to shop for 3 new replacements.

Brett

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #2 – November 09, 2011, 04:28:36 pm

Thanks Brett.  I fear that I must shop for three batteries as these are at least 3 years old although I have no idea what kind of warranty comes with these.
Thanks again.

Richard Anderson
1999 U320, 40'

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #3 – November 09, 2011, 04:45:04 pm

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these are at least 3 years old

For what it's worth, my MK 8D's are approaching 8-years of-age and are still performing very well. At least they were before a repair facility our coach is visiting for some minor body-repairs ran them down to 9.4-volts. We'll see how they survived that deep-cycling experience .....

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #4 – November 09, 2011, 05:12:28 pm

I am amazed that sealed gel cells  could corrode terminals, normally corrosion is an issue with lead acid batteries.  So I learned something new today, Gel Cell batteries will corrode the terminals ?

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #5 – November 09, 2011, 06:29:10 pm

I was surprised, too.  The rest of the terminals are all completely clean and shiny. Just this one positive terminal was involved.  I usually check the batteries frequently but have had some health problems so did not get to it.  I should have been more observant but missed this one. 
Richard Anderson
1999 U 320, 40'

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #6 – November 09, 2011, 06:45:41 pm

I would seperate the bad one from the others (had to do this last year) or it may cause the others to go faulty if there is any problem with the connection. I would (if it was mine) take the cable off and clean it all up and make sure that there is a good connection with the bad post to the cable in some way or another then it would be ok to leave in line. Brett is the expert though
John

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #7 – November 09, 2011, 07:45:54 pm

John,

As long as the positive cable is off the battery, that battery IS disconnected.  Could he remove the ground as well?  Sure, but electrically without the positive, it is meaningless.

Brett

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Re: 8D batteries

Reply #8 – November 09, 2011, 07:56:40 pm

sorry did not read that it was off, just thought the post was in real bad shape. You are correct (your da man !!)

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