Today, was sitting at a shipper for over 5-6 hrs in chicago, idling. Finally get into a door and get loaded. Idling the whole time. Get a knock on my sleeper, i turn the truck off to better hear the broken english from this guy, then when i go to turn the truck back on....it has ZERO power. NONE. CB went out...no dash lights, it was almost as if someone unplugged my batteries. While on hold with On-road, i turn the key to 'power' and all of a sudden i have power again.

Now i dont know if this was some fluke thing, or if other drivers have had problems like this. FYI..i drive a mid roof 2009 volvo. Never have had this happen before. However, about a week or so ago, I drove darn near 7 hrs straight (15 min break about half way thru) then get to drop the trailer at a Costco. When i turned the truck off, i almost immediately got a buzzer warning from my inverter, telling me the battery power is low. I turn the ignition to 'power' and notice my volts went from 13.8 to 11.1 and got a 'low voltage' warning on my dash. Once i disconnected, it seemed fine...so i figure it was an issue with a short in the trailer....

anyway....just curious if this has happened to anybody else...

 

Make sure all of the cables on all of the batteries are tight and corrosion free.

 

Happened to me on my granddad's John Deere farm tractor when the starter solenoid was messing up. Everything would be fine, start up originally but if I stopped for lunch it would not fire back up the next time. Had to hit the starter solenoid with a hammer while turning the key.

Like sgreer said, check your terminals just in case, my pickup did the same thing once while driving home from Cincy. My positive cable was a little loose.

 

I agree with the above. Check and tighten all the battery cables. And clean the corrosion off.

 

I have not had that happen, but I had a truck next to me trying to leave a loading dock, and he had a fire in is battery box because of a corroded connection. It got hot... VERY HOT. When we got the fire out, he had a bare wire between batteries. Sure does funny things to the plastic cover over the batteries. Entirely new design.

 

I drive a 07 Volvo 780 and had battery problems. The old junk batteries would hold a charge about 5 hrs with the inverter on, after that it was a guess whether or not it would start. The inverter draws quite a bit of amperage and can cause other problems too such as giving out false codes on the system due to low voltage. Have the batteries load tested and if any of them are on the marginal side of worn out, replace them all or you could stand a chance of being stuck somewhere. The terminals have to be kept clean as dirty ones reduce the amperage to the system.

 

I run a 400w inverter that plugs into a cigarette outlet. Now i know if i left the truck off, and ran the inverter, the batts would die.

i got the truck NEW in Feb. of 2009. within a week, i needed a jump cause i sat for a day. I was 10 miles from the terminal, so they sent out a terminal guy. He replaced 2 of the 4 batteries. Just a couple months ago, i said to the shop (cause i was in for preventative maintence) "can you check the batteries"...and he said they did that as part of their routine checks. The truck was finally done about 11p. By this time i was checked into a bunk room upstairs and slept there for the night. I went out in the morning at about 9a...to start the truck and guess what....yep....needed a jump !!! I went back asking if the batteries were checked and they checked out....how do i need a jump? So i went inside to talk to my driver manager, and ended up getting the fleet manager involved. I asked for each battery to be tested. They found two that needed replaced....one of the originals and one of the replacements. I did find that the guys who did the PM need to requalify on the reading section of the exam because they obviously didnt catch the instructions of putting back on the coolant and oil caps. Found them to be missing a few days later. (granted i should have caught them if i had done a PROPER pre-trip) =) So it is possible that the contacts are loose. will check that out. i am due for another PM in a couple weeks.....i'll be sure to have it done in Columbus, OH where i seem to NEVER have any problems.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I would also write it up, and let the shop know that they may need to check the starter/solenoid.
The slightest movement in your battery cables could cause them to not have enough contact to have enough voltage. It could be the simplest things that causes a breakdown.

 

A loose battery cable can cause problems when trying to start. Only a few months ago I was in Virginia at a truck stop and when I came out after breakfast the truck would not start. It turned out to be a loose battery connection. A couple of weeks later I had to replace a couple of batteries. It is a good idea to check battery cables every few weeks. In fact, it would not hurt to take a look every week. Any corrosion should be cleaned off immediately and any loose cables should be tightened. Either can shorten battery life. Using an inverter without the engine being on can also pull down batteries very quickly, especially if any of them are weak. It takes a little more effort to check batteries and cables, but it can save you from having to replace batteries more frequently and keep you from having to call road service for a boost. By the way, you can buy a battery tester for about $15.00 from Harbor Tools and check them yourself.

 

One other thing I remembered, there are lights under the bottom bunk for the side boxes, I've left them on and forgot about them. They don't draw much, but any draw on weak batts can hurt.