House battery

[Bruceper]

According to the owners manual and the label in the breaker panel/fuse box, I have a house battery. Where is it? I've opened everything and just can't find it or any cables.

My house lights only work when plugged in, so the battery is dead or missing. Any hints/tips/clues?

[markopolo]

I'd look under the floor in the rear of the van. Check under the carpet etc. The battery would have originally been a wet-cell that required regular checking of the water level in the battery so it would be in an accessible location.

You could also try to trace the wires that come in to the converter/charger in the photo you posted. Look for the thick wires. Something like 8 gauge size.

[Bruceper]

I checked under the two beds, nothing but storage and wheel wells. I looked up front by the front seats. Opened all the external vent covers etc.

Would it be under the carpet? And by under the carpet I mean a whole piece of carpet and not just a cutout for an inspection cover?

I tried looking on YouTube as well, no luck there.

[gerrym51]

Underneath the van-not in cabinets in the van.you'll have to crawl underneath and look for a battery box. you may or may not have access from inside-there may be an access hatxh in the floor of the van-or not

also maybe access panel on side of van. old style batteries that give off gases usually not put in van itself


tell us brand ,model,and year. that might help

[Bruceper]

Year, make and model are in my profile. 1992 Dodge B350 based Pleasure-Way TW

[Davydd]

They were putting in lead-acid wet cell batteries back then so it would have to be an accessible spot as they need periodic maintenance. I would think maybe a pull out tray battery on the side of your van. The manual they sent you did not give any clues but did mention that if you plugged it in your converter would charge your battery. The converter would most likely be inside. One caveat I learned from experience and that manual implies it, they were not providing 3-stage intelligent charging back then so if you left it plugged into shore power you could boil your battery out. If you can't find a floor hatch for a battery under the floor (which I doubt) look for a slide out tray or possibly under the hood. For sure back then you only have one house battery from Pleasure-way.

[LesM]

My van is a '95 P'Way on a Dodge 350 chassis. The battery is slung beneath the floor at the rear, right hand corner of the van. Access is via a panel in the floor in the right rear corner of the "underbed" storage that is only accessible through the open rear van door. The panel is carpeted. There are actually 2 access panels under there. One is access to a storage area for, e.g., water hose, tool bad, wheel jack, etc., but the other houses the battery.
Of course things might have changed between 92 and 95

[Gryphon]

I found this discussion over at rv.net. Same situation - 1992 Pleasure-Way & the owner couldn't find the battery. It turned out to be under the carpet in a space behind the converter.

http://forums.motorhomemagazine.com/...6162136/print/

Edit: Sounds like the same space that LesM is talking about.

Edit #2: And here's a set of photos of a 1992 Pleasure-Way that show the battery location:

http://www.plantlife.ca/campervan-re...novation-tour/
http://www.plantlife.ca/campervan-re...-the-interior/

[Bruceper]

Davydd good point about the charging. I'll have to look into that. No compartments on the side of the van contain the battery. I opened every single one lol. Looks like the answer came just after you but thank you for the info and assistance.

Gryphon and LesM thank you very very much!

Those pages did not come up in my search, and they're great. It's raining right now, and dark, and the van is covered so it'll have to wait until tomorrow after work so I can see what I'm doing. I'll keep you updated.

Gryphon, that link to plantlife hit the spot. That is my van exactly. It's gotta be there. I was also unaware of the tool compartment as well. Looks like I have two goodies to explore in the morrow.

Thanks again.

[Bruceper]

Bingo!

When I bought the van the original owner didn't remember there being a second battery. I looked where instructed and there is a battery compartment there. There is no battery, no battery terminals, but the wiring is there. Could it have been optional? There was junk in there, so he knew the compartment existed.

And the tool compartment was found as well. It's huge!

Thanks again for the assistance.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Gryphon

I found this discussion over at rv.net. Same situation - 1992 Pleasure-Way & the owner couldn't find the battery. It turned out to be under the carpet in a space behind the converter.

http://forums.motorhomemagazine.com/...6162136/print/

Edit: Sounds like the same space that LesM is talking about.

Edit #2: And here's a set of photos of a 1992 Pleasure-Way that show the battery location:

http://www.plantlife.ca/campervan-re...novation-tour/
http://www.plantlife.ca/campervan-re...-the-interior/

Nice bit of sleuthing, LesM and Gryph.

[Davydd]

It most likely came with the battery. It was probably just removed when it first died and never replaced, and I bet it died fast from neglect by an owner who didn't know. As you can see the manual you got, it was there but the info was sketchy.