Coach Battery Removal

Topic: Coach Battery Removal (Read 1005 times) previous topic - next topic

Coach Battery Removal

November 20, 2015, 03:34:40 pm

My coach batteries indicate 12.75 VDC at the monitor panel with the inverter on. If I turn on the microwave the VDC immediately falls
and the monitor panel goes off.

I need to isolate the batteries and check them with a load meter. In the event that I need to R & R them how is it done?
I can remove the top one (with help) but the bottom ones won't clear the Joey Bed rail unless the upper battery support can
be rotated up further after removing the two screws in the front. Do I have to remove the Joey Bed rail?

Attached is a picture of my coach batteries.
If they need replaced will O'Reilly's crawl in there and R & R them for me, provided I buy the new ones from them?
And BTW how do their Super Start AGM 8D's compare with the MK's that I have in there now?

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #1 – November 20, 2015, 04:15:12 pm

It is called brute strength, I have done this with a fellow RV person.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #2 – November 20, 2015, 04:16:53 pm

I just found the MFG date of 03-12, so I'm thinking the batteries are fine.

The ground wire disappears up into the ceiling of the battery compartment. Where does the other end attach that
I can check for a good ground?

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #3 – November 20, 2015, 05:21:59 pm

It goes something like this:
1. Grab lift handles firmly.
2. Say "Gosh durn it" (or something to that effect)
3. Yank up and out while going UH-H-H!!! and then another Gosh durn it!! (or something to that effect)
4. Helps to have another body that can slip a flat bar under the battery so it can be slid up & out while saying Gosh durn it (or something to that effect)
5. Call Doctor for appointment to discuss necessary upcoming hernia surgery--and don't forget to say: "Gosh durn it" (or something -----)

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #4 – November 20, 2015, 07:08:49 pm

Disconnect your negatives, load test each. You may need to charge them first, too.

Removal is a pain, but lifting them back in is even more fun. I did it by myself, but I life 8Ds everyday.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #5 – November 20, 2015, 07:41:58 pm

Quote from: nitehawk – November 20, 2015, 05:21:59 pm

It goes something like this:
1. Grab lift handles firmly.
2. Say "Gosh durn it" (or something to that effect)
3. Yank up and out while going UH-H-H!!! and then another Gosh durn it!! (or something to that effect)
4. Helps to have another body that can slip a flat bar under the battery so it can be slid up & out while saying Gosh durn it (or something to that effect)
5. Call Doctor for appointment to discuss necessary upcoming hernia surgery--and don't forget to say: "Gosh durn it" (or something -----)

I hear ya!

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #6 – November 20, 2015, 08:25:04 pm

I guess I'm committed to removing the Joey Bed track to allow for battery removal.

It' always good to have a project.......NOT!

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #7 – November 20, 2015, 08:29:20 pm

We do not have a joey bed there so was able to slide out the bottom batteries, and I used a short stool to slide the top one out onto and then loser it to the floor. When I replace our with the O'Riely batteries found that the terminals were reversed to the ones on the mk batteries, so had to make one cable longer. I did not trust anyone else to change our batteries.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #8 – November 20, 2015, 10:47:21 pm

Quote from: red tractor – November 20, 2015, 08:29:20 pm

We do not have a joey bed there so was able to slide out the bottom batteries, and I used a short stool to slide the top one out onto and then loser it to the floor. When I replace our with the O'Riely batteries found that the terminals were reversed to the ones on the mk batteries, so had to make one cable longer. I did not trust anyone else to change our batteries.

Do you have the 160 lb batteries?

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #9 – November 20, 2015, 11:05:31 pm

One possibility you might consider to make re-installation and future replacement (years down the road) much easier is to use 2 volt batteries. Five years ago when my house batteries needed replacing, I replaced the three 8D twelve volt batteries with six Lifeline GPL-4CT-2V batteries hooked up in series to give 12 volts, essentially the same amp-hour capacity, about the same total weight and about the same total physical dimensions. The main difference is that each 2 volt AGM battery weighs about 65 pounds as opposed to the 120 pounds of each 8D battery.

I have been completely happy with my battery setup.

Just a thought.

Richard

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #10 – November 20, 2015, 11:37:27 pm

Richard,

Do the 2 volt batteries interconnect with each other, or do you need a separate cable for each one?

Trent

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #11 – November 21, 2015, 02:02:54 am

Quote from: Traveling Man – November 20, 2015, 08:25:04 pm

I guess I'm committed to removing the Joey Bed track to allow for battery removal.

It' always good to have a project.......NOT!

Really? why? Can you not reach the battery terminals with a battery tester with them in place?

It should be really, really easy to disconnect the negative from each battery and test each battery in place, without removal. Why remove them unless they need to be replaced?

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #12 – November 21, 2015, 08:04:05 am

That Joey Bed Rail is right in the way!Too bad that too shelf dosnt lift so you have clearence.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #13 – November 21, 2015, 08:38:36 am

Quote from: car54 – November 21, 2015, 02:02:54 am

Really? why? Can you not reach the battery terminals with a battery tester with them in place?

I meant in the event they need replacing.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #14 – November 21, 2015, 09:32:35 am

It cant come up over the rail? It looks like theres enough room to me. If not, thats the worst design ever.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #15 – November 21, 2015, 10:09:01 am

Well I measured it and if it can come over the rail it'll be tight and I didn't include the terminal height in the measurement.
I thought about removing the two bolts in the front of the top tray to allow it to be rotated upward if possible to give me
a little more room. The lower bolts are in the back I guess and inaccessible with the two lower batteries in place.
Maybe I'm over-thinking it, but it sure seems like a PITA.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #16 – November 21, 2015, 10:16:10 am

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #17 – November 21, 2015, 10:26:41 am

I've had the batteries on charge all night plugged into shore power. Now I'm going out and do a load test with my cheap
HF load tester. In the event I have to remove the batteries I've got a call in to "Bubba" to help me.

The Joey Bed has a couple of stickers warning about not exceeding the weight capacity, but nowhere does it give the capacity.
Maybe that's a safety feature..........................having to remove the Joey Bed before the batteries can be removed.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #18 – November 21, 2015, 11:03:31 am

Take the cables off of each battery in test each battery separately from the other one bad battery can make them all seem bad

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #19 – November 21, 2015, 02:07:22 pm

I lift my 8D battery out of the well under the steps in our '89 GV, carry it (after turning around) over and set it in our Saturn Vue. When we get home I lift it out of the Vue and then slide it into the "winter storage shelf" I built for it.
Then I go in the house, take three Aleve (sometimes 4), remove my back brace, fill the tub with hot water, climb in & soak for two hours, get out, call the chiropractor (if I didn't beforehand), take more Aleve and then go to bed.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #20 – November 21, 2015, 02:59:56 pm

I just tested the batteries and found one that's weak. The good news is that it's the top one.

I tried the inverter with just the two good batteries hooked up and got the following results;

Battery monitor indicates 13 VDC when inverter is initially turned on, and it indicates a 2 amp draw.
Turn on microwave and the batteries indicate 11.,5 VDC with a 100 amp draw.
Turn off microwave and amp draw goes back to 2 amps with batteries going to 12.25 VDC initially and
then bouncing back and forth between 12.25 and 13 VDC.

I plan to get a new battery to replace the bad one, but will that help? I read where people who don't dry camp
often or for lengthly periods of time need only one or two batteries. I'm afraid to run my microwave and a
percolator at the same time for fear of having the batteries crap out.

I didn't have the microwave on for more than 30 seconds total, so why has my DCV dropped so much using
two good batteries?

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #21 – November 21, 2015, 05:32:52 pm

Quote from: Jan & Richard – November 20, 2015, 11:05:31 pm

One possibility you might consider to make re-installation and future replacement (years down the road) much easier is to use 2 volt batteries.

I like this idea. Where did you get the 2V batteries and are you able to get them in AGM gels? I used two 6V AGMs in series to replace two 12V lead/acid batteries in my previous MH and it worked great.
Has anyone made an attempt to redesign the battery space?

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #22 – November 21, 2015, 05:40:04 pm

I removed the upper battery myself this afternoon. I pryed up the front of it and pulled it forward enough that it was on top of the angle iron framework. The difficult part was prying up the back end so that it too could be on top of the angle iron. Once it was sitting on the angle iron it was level and able to be moved to the right, allowing it to clear the plastic sheet that's attached to the ceiling of the storage bay, you know the one that's bowed down from all the wires behind it.

Once I had it in that position I pushed the Joey Bed in and placed a moving pad over the steel bed side and pulled the battery out
letting it slide down the floor.

Installation should be easier by using a real milk crate to set the battery on, then sliding it into the compartment.

I ordered a battery like the (3) that Tulsa Trent got last year from O'Reilly's for $449.00 plus tax and my old core.
It will be here Wednesday.

If and when I need to replace the two bottom batteries I may cut the Joey Bed rail to the right of the battery compartment, add a couple of "L" brackets on either side of the cut with through bolts that will allow me to remove that section of the rail that's in the way. Or make a fish plate that bolts the rail back together.

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #23 – November 21, 2015, 06:25:00 pm

I am sure you have been told this, but the conventional wisdom is that all the batteries that are part of a team should be replaced at the same time, and that all batteries need to be the same chemistry. I think the later part of that is self evident in that the charging profile will not be optimal for the odd one out, and could greatly shorten its useful life. It perhaps could be argued that the first part regarding the relative age is in the category of "would be ideal, but not strictly necessary". Regarding the second point, the MK's that you have in your coach are Gels, and the O'Reilly's 8DAGM that you reference is an AGM. The charging profiles are different and that could be a problem. Just sayin'...
Don

Re: Coach Battery Removal

Reply #24 – November 21, 2015, 07:13:01 pm

Quote from: Don & Tys (AKA acousticart) – November 21, 2015, 06:25:00 pm

the MK's that you have in your coach are Gels, and the O'Reilly's 8DAGM that you reference is an AGM.

How did I miss that?
Thanks Don.

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