A lesson we learned when buying a new RV. You are excited to be getting your new RV and going through the walk thru and trying to absorb all the information but you may want to take a look at the battery(s) you are getting. We discovered, (after getting less than optimum performance from it) that our brand new RV came with a 14 month old battery that was two months past the battery manufacturer’s twelve month warranty period when we got it. We didn't discover this information until we took the battery to the local 'authorized' dealer to have it checked, (charged and load tested). Battery manufacturers put a code on the battery that tells when the battery was actually made and each manufacturer may have a different coding system. The next time we buy a new RV I will find out the brand of battery we will be getting and do some research to find out how their batteries are date coded and check to see that the battery(s) is not over 90 days old. We did get a new battery from our RV dealer at no charge but the agitation from having a bad battery could have been avoided if we had even thought about the battery at the time of purchase. We just assumed that a new RV would have a new battery.
Depending on whether you are buying from a dealer or a private party, ask about how the battery has been maintained. If they say it has been on a battery minder, that is a good sign. If they say "we charge it every few months," that is a bad sign.
Of course, they could be lying, but if they admit to poor practices, you can believe that!
Also, remember to lock your battery (and propane tanks) to your trailer. Would not want that new battery stolen. Unfortunately I learned the hard way, when our battery was stolen in our front yard.
My new RV has a battery that is how old?
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