battery issues in Glamis

[jareddustin]

2009 duramax, 2 red top optima 4 years old. dont drive the truck much it often sits for weeks at a time and then months at a time in the summer. but hooked up to a battery tender.

out in glamis my batteries get drained with in the weekend. and have to jump start it on sunday, this has happen a few times. but at home the truck can sit for a week and start right up. i live in the desert (palm springs area) so the conditions are about the same. 

i dont have an RV, i use a tent on the flat bed. i am in and out of the truck a lot as i keep the dry food and some other things in the back seats, but i have the interior lights turned off so no lights turn on when doors are opened, i take any chargers out of the cig lighters, i unplug the trailer lights. the past weekend i didnt even lock the truck all weekend. got in friday about 4pm and by sunday at about noon it would not start. 

im going to replace the batteries before the next trip but its just so odd that i dont have any issues when im at home but as soon as i get the glamis the batteries are dead with in a day and a half. 

anyone have similar issues or any ideas what might be going on. first thought is something is drawing power, but again i dont have the issues when its at home. if it sits for a few weeks at home the batteries will be dead, but never any issues like i have in glamis. 

 

[Intro2Rhino]

Does your flatbed have a 7way plug? Did you remove the plug to rule out the trailer somehow draining the battery? 

 

[jareddustin]

Does your flatbed have a 7way plug? Did you remove the plug to rule out the trailer somehow draining the battery? 

honestly i dont remember the plug, its just a 12' flat bed. but i unplug the lights from the truck once i get there. 

 

[Air450]

Maybe the trailer is putting a huge drain on the alternator so by the time you get there the battery is weak. Maybe idle the truck for a while with the trailer unpluged and see what happens.

 

[jareddustin]

Maybe the trailer is putting a huge drain on the alternator so by the time you get there the battery is weak. Maybe idle the truck for a while with the trailer unpluged and see what happens.

very possible did not think of that since only thing on the trailer is a set of LED tail lights. i could replace the lights, they are very cheap for the set. and i didnt really like the ones on there anyway. 

the trailer is still hooked up to the truck on the side yard of the house, i tomorrow night i will try to start it as that would of been about the same amount of time i was out in glamis. 

 

[Air450]

very possible did not think of that since only thing on the trailer is a set of LED tail lights. i could replace the lights, they are very cheap for the set. and i didnt really like the ones on there anyway. 

the trailer is still hooked up to the truck on the side yard of the house, i tomorrow night i will try to start it as that would of been about the same amount of time i was out in glamis. 

No electric brakes?

 

[Sausage450r]

Load test the batteries. That will tell the story.

Optima’s are garbage now last few i got failed pretty quick. Honestly i just run the walmart maxx batteries goin on 6 years in my diesel. Outlived the dekas in my excursion by 2 years and counting

 

[Brian Machnach]

Load test the batteries. That will tell the story.

Optima’s are garbage now last few i got failed pretty quick. Honestly i just run the walmart maxx batteries goin on 6 years in my diesel. Outlived the dekas in my excursion by 2 years and counting

not a fan of the optima's either.thay are dry cell batteries and dry cells don't like or dont recover like a acid battery dose when drained.after a few good drains the optima is shot and can not be brought back to life.i would do a check voltage and go from there.it thay are shot dont bother going back to dry cell.i went back to acid filled and never looked back.

 

[Cookie]

I am not a fan of Optimas as well.  With a Diesel truck, it only takes one batter to be the issue as well.  

 

[ROBERT L]

If it’s got trailer brakes make sure the breakaway switch isn’t activated.  I don’t remember who it was , was having a similar issue. 

 

[jareddustin]

If it’s got trailer brakes make sure the breakaway switch isn’t activated.  I don’t remember who it was , was having a similar issue. 

no breaks on this one.... i really do need a new trailer thats bigger and has breaks but this one has to work for me right now.

 

[L.R.S.]

I ran two yellow top Optima batteries in my 06 Duramax for 250k miles. Swapped them once. I run dual Optima blue tops in my prerunner and after sitting from March to Oct they were still charged up enough to start the car. 

Optima batteries are fine. Your electrical system has an issue. The batteries are not getting charged or there's a load on them while sitting. 

 

[jareddustin]

not a fan of the optima's either.thay are dry cell batteries and dry cells don't like or dont recover like a acid battery dose when drained.after a few good drains the optima is shot and can not be brought back to life.i would do a check voltage and go from there.it thay are shot dont bother going back to dry cell.i went back to acid filled and never looked back.

i was not planning on going back to optimas. they have been drained multiple times since the truck does more sitting than it does driving. it was just really odd how i dont have the issue at home but i do in glamis

 

[Duster]

Maybe get one of those portable solar trickle charge panels, set it up while you're there.      

 

[jareddustin]

Maybe get one of those portable solar trickle charge panels, set it up while you're there.      

i was looking at those last season i really dont know why i didnt get one, thank you for reminding me of those. 

 

[wopachop]

This is a fun brainstorm!! Get yourself a clamp meter. It would answer a lot of questions and do so very quickly and easily. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=true+rms+clamp+meter&crid=37FBYM7KY9DYE&sprefix=true+rms+cla%2Caps%2C213&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_12

From what you wrote my first guess is something like a small light bulb in a door or side mirror is drawing power when you open the doors frequently to grab food. That seems to be the only difference compared to being parked at home. 

I would buy/borrow a clamp meter and do this: 

1. Open hood and stick your clamp meter on the POS battery cable. With the keys out of the vehicle open a door and see if there is a small amp draw. If there is see how long it lasts. Close the door and see how long until it shuts off. Could be the answer right there. I think a small 1 or 2 amp draw would be enough when the battery is already toast. 

2. Start the truck and take note of alternator charge amps. Google what is normal for your model. Then plug in the trailer and see if anything funky changes. I think newer vehicles do not supply a high amp charge for long periods. So like others mentioned it could have to do with showing up to glamis with batteries that were not fully charged during the drive. You could also turn off the truck and measure amp draw with the trailer lights plugged in versus not. If its just 2 LED brake lights it shouldnt be more than 1amp i would guess. 

3. If youre lucky enough to catch the mystery load with the key out of the ignition start pulling fuses until it disappears. We had an Escalade that was randomly draining a battery overnight. With no lights left on. Nothing in cig plug. Using a clamp meter and dozens of attempts i came to discover the circuit for the radio would turn on in the middle of the night. Enough to kill the battery. I believe the cause was a dirty fuse plug that was filled with wet looking dirt and grime. The clamp meter was showing something like 1amp draw and pulling the radio fuse stopped it. You might be able to do something similar to trace down where the power draw is coming from. 

 

[Jersey_Jeff73]

there is a higher power trying to keep you in Glamis....   are you leaving chargers pluged laptop dvd player 

 

[Lord of the Dunes]

Another possibility is you have one bad battery drawing down the other one. If you get them capacity tested, you'll know just what condition they're both in. I've seen it before and the temporary fix was to just disconnect the bad battery and let the truck run off of the good one.

As to why you're only seeing this in Glamis, that is an interesting one. It would appear to be related to how often you open the doors out there, vs how seldom you do it at home. There's probably a relay sticking that's putting an unseen load on the battery for a while after the door is opened.

 

[Jersey_Jeff73]

Another possibility is you have one bad battery drawing down the other one. If you get them capacity tested, you'll know just what condition they're both in. I've seen it before and the temporary fix was to just disconnect the bad battery and let the truck run off of the good one.

As to why you're only seeing this in Glamis, that is an interesting one. It would appear to be related to how often you open the doors out there, vs how seldom you do it at home. There's probably a relay sticking that's putting an unseen load on the battery for a while after the door is opened.

i was righting the same thing just have to disconnect them and check the resting voltage individually