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Old 08-26-2013, 09:30 AM   #21
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Originally Posted by BarryD0706 View Post
If you have a voltmeter or circuit tester, check the RV plug in your truck between terminals 1 & 4. You should have 12-14 volts there if your truck is properly setup.
Attachment 38651
It should be 'hot' only if the truck is Running.....

If it is 'hot' when the truck is not running.... you have a problem. One big by-product of that is if you are parked for the night at a road side rest area for the night and the camper is left plugged in to the tow unit, the tow units batt could be 'drained' and you need a 'jump' from 'AAA' (etc). I always unplug my unit when stopping for the night 'on the road'. I know that my 'hot' wire will shut off, but there are other ways to drain your batt....leave running lights on... brake lights on and you do not know it. etc.

People do 'forget' to do what they know they do by 'habit' . Just got back from a trip to Colorado and went White water rafting. When it was over a bus took my family and an other couple back to the start area. The bus drive asked if "anyone here have a XXX type of Car?" The other couple said that was their car.... The bus driver said that their car had been 'running' in the parking lot ALL Day (eight hours)...... These people unloaded their car to go rafting and left their car running....not good
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Old 08-26-2013, 11:54 AM   #22
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It should be 'hot' only if the truck is Running.....

If it is 'hot' when the truck is not running.... you have a problem. One big by-product of that is if you are parked for the night at a road side rest area for the night and the camper is left plugged in to the tow unit, the tow units batt could be 'drained' and you need a 'jump' from 'AAA' (etc). I always unplug my unit when stopping for the night 'on the road'. I know that my 'hot' wire will shut off, but there are other ways to drain your batt....leave running lights on... brake lights on and you do not know it. etc.

People do 'forget' to do what they know they do by 'habit' . Just got back from a trip to Colorado and went White water rafting. When it was over a bus took my family and an other couple back to the start area. The bus drive asked if "anyone here have a XXX type of Car?" The other couple said that was their car.... The bus driver said that their car had been 'running' in the parking lot ALL Day (eight hours)...... These people unloaded their car to go rafting and left their car running....not good

On my Silverado the 12 volt supply to the trailer is always hot, I believe only Ford and Chrysler use cut out relays.
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Old 08-26-2013, 12:02 PM   #23
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On my Silverado the 12 volt supply to the trailer is always hot, I believe only Ford and Chrysler use cut out relays.
My 05 Silverado is hot all the time also.
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Old 08-26-2013, 12:18 PM   #24
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To answer the question about the frig running the battery down that fast is NO. The frig uses minimal 12v for ignition of the burner and holding the gas valve open and you have to remember the burner is not on very long at a time, maybe 15 minutes to maintain the temperature.
Neil,

There is a "climate control," basically a heater, is 12 volt DC. In older fridges' the climate control could be turned off with a switch when on battery. (see photos).

NEWER ones have climate control that can not be turned off (easily).
There is a mod that adds a switch.

New Dometic refrigerator problem - Page 2 - iRV2 Forums
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Old 08-26-2013, 12:19 PM   #25
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Neil,

There is a "climate control," basically a heater, is 12 volt DC. In older fridges' the climate control could be turned off with a switch when on battery. (see photos).

NEWER ones have climate control that can not be turned off (easily).
There is a mod that adds a switch.

New Dometic refrigerator problem - Page 2 - iRV2 Forums
<sigh> Late to the party as usual..... Sorry.
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Old 08-26-2013, 12:43 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by herk7769 View Post
Neil,

There is a "climate control," basically a heater, is 12 volt DC. In older fridges' the climate control could be turned off with a switch when on battery. (see photos).

NEWER ones have climate control that can not be turned off (easily).
There is a mod that adds a switch.

New Dometic refrigerator problem - Page 2 - iRV2 Forums
Do you know if the Norcold frigs have the same? We have a Norcold and I haven't found a switch.
BTW, what is the climate control supposed to do?
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Old 08-26-2013, 01:33 PM   #27
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Originally Posted by joenic53 View Post
On my Silverado the 12 volt supply to the trailer is always hot, I believe only Ford and Chrysler use cut out relays.
Quote:
OldCootMy: 05 Silverado is hot all the time also.
OK.... I have one of those 'Fords' that has a cut out relay....

I am glad that I don't have a 'hot wire' going from the front to the back of my vehicle that stays on all of the time. Just one more big reason to understand that if you have a bad batt on your camper that is dead/shorting out/draining quickly, etc. That bad batt will in effect pull out all of the juice out of your tow vehicle at a very fast rate and settle at the level of the bad batt. Don't be surprised if you are at a rest area parked overnight and you use your furnace, (which will pull a lot of 12v juice), that your tow vehicle is 'dead'...... imo..... unplug the tow vehicle from the camper if you are sitting for a while and the tow vehicle is not running to charge up its' own batt.
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Old 08-26-2013, 01:54 PM   #28
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OK.... I have one of those 'Fords' that has a cut out relay....

I am glad that I don't have a 'hot wire' going from the front to the back of my vehicle that stays on all of the time. Just one more big reason to understand that if you have a bad batt on your camper that is dead/shorting out/draining quickly, etc. That bad batt will in effect pull out all of the juice out of your tow vehicle at a very fast rate and settle at the level of the bad batt. Don't be surprised if you are at a rest area parked overnight and you use your furnace, (which will pull a lot of 12v juice), that your tow vehicle is 'dead'...... imo..... unplug the tow vehicle from the camper if you are sitting for a while and the tow vehicle is not running to charge up its' own batt.
Guess I've just been lucky, been towing trailers with Chevy tucks and a Cadillac El Dorado since 1975 and have never experienced a dead battery while overnighting and not unhooking. You do make a good point tho' and I might start unhooking the umbilical cord on overnight stops or put a relay on the 12v charge wire.
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Old 08-26-2013, 02:16 PM   #29
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From the OP's original post he stated that when he left, going home, the frig was working on propane. Upon arrival it was not and battery was dead.

1. Battery disconnect was not disconnected. Frig would have never worked on propane
2. Battery dead in this short of time indicates bad battery
3. Charging from truck should have kept frig going, unless: There is no charging coming from truck or excessive draw from battery blew supply fuse in truck.

I may be wrong, but everything points to a bad battery.

Just my 2 cents
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Old 08-26-2013, 02:28 PM   #30
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From the OP's original post he stated that when he left, going home, the frig was working on propane. Upon arrival it was not and battery was dead.

1. Battery disconnect was not disconnected. Frig would have never worked on propane

By Brother Les:
Was He absolutely sure that the fridge was working on 'Propane'? Plugged into 110. the converter will work the fridge fine with no batt at all connected... ie. my thought of a batt disconnect. Once starting down the road and batt on unit already 'dead' and no power coming from tow vehicle OR batt already dead and the DEFAULT off on fridge happened before the tow vehicle is started or even plugged into unit



2. Battery dead in this short of time indicates bad battery.

By Brother Les:
I think that the batt was 'already dead' and was never 'charged or charging'.


3. Charging from truck should have kept frig going, unless: There is no charging coming from truck or excessive draw from battery blew supply fuse in truck.

By Brother Les:
A hot wire that is 'on' will do no good for the fridge if the 'striker' timed out or never worked from the time the 110 was unplugged to the time the camper was plugged into the tow vehicle. The 'check light' would have came on the the 'fridge' was always 'off' from the time that the 110 was unplugged an no one noticed....


I may be wrong, but everything points to a bad battery.

Just my 2 cents

Every thing that I wrote in 'blue' is just thinking out loud and more info needs to be learned to find the cause.

Blessings


I mean cheers...
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Old 08-26-2013, 03:33 PM   #31
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Do you know if the Norcold frigs have the same? We have a Norcold and I haven't found a switch.
BTW, what is the climate control supposed to do?
Sorry Neil, I don't even have a manual for a Norcold
The thread is Dometic so I was pretty sure about the climate control post.
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Old 08-26-2013, 03:36 PM   #32
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From the OP's original post he stated that when he left, going home, the frig was working on propane. Upon arrival it was not and battery was dead.

1. Battery disconnect was not disconnected. Frig would have never worked on propane
2. Battery dead in this short of time indicates bad battery
3. Charging from truck should have kept frig going, unless: There is no charging coming from truck or excessive draw from battery blew supply fuse in truck.

I may be wrong, but everything points to a bad battery.

Just my 2 cents
I was 99.9% sure too it was a bad battery but appears I was wrong!

Battery was fully charged this morning even at 1.25 amp charge rate by battery tender. Carefully checked all fuses & breakers in control panel. Checked the F150's 7 pin wiring slots 1-4 with meter as recommended. Nothing, with key even in accessory position. Ran truck, checked again and full 12 volts measured thankfully.

Next, plugged in trailer and attempted to check charging from trailer, no battery installed. At first, at battery cables, with red probe on + and black probe on - cable, meter needle didn't move. Feeling helpless that trailer controller was toast in some desperation scratched around with probe on + cable and needle magically, but briefly jumped to 12 volts! Cable ends looked OK but with the help of some steel wool discovered those cables weren't supposed to be a nice shade of grey! Look nice & clean now, like copper color (lol). Constant 12 volts reading on the meter now so feeling I had at least fixed part of the problem.

Unplugged trailer from house, installed battery (after cleaning battery posts too) and tried to start fridge on propane only setting with no 120v. Started with one click like a charm!!!! Ran it for 45 minutes on just trailer battery, with no problem. Problem appears to be solved, although significant discharge of trailer battery over the weekend (likely wasn't charging for a few days) is always a possibility. It really was discharged significantly I imagine. However it recharged easily overnight so may be OK I hope.

Hope I'm right, but it all makes sense if the battery cables and posts were more corroded than I realized it would fit the symptoms I experienced. Learnt how to check/confirm charging levels from truck and from trailer of the trailer battery thanks to those who posted steps.

Also emphasized for me to think it through rationally and/or see if you can eliminate any possibilities easily. Checking the charging of trailer battery in hindsight logical first step!

Sorry for long post, maybe it will help another forum member sometime. Amazed at all the help I received within a day. Thanks to all!

Have another issue about tire alignment but will start a new thread!
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Old 08-26-2013, 03:40 PM   #33
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Sorry, had meant to emphasize if battery gauge in trailer reads low it could also mean bad or corroded connection at the battery, not necessarily a bad or discharged battery.
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Old 08-26-2013, 03:54 PM   #34
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Glad you tracked down the issues of no contact.

Your Ford truck 7 point connection seems to be working fine.

Now.... take the batt off the trailer completely and recharge to full, then take it to a auto store to where a 'load' tester can test the sustainability of the batt. being 'low' for a long time and not charging may have 'shot' the batt. No one should charge you to load test a batt.
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Old 08-26-2013, 04:22 PM   #35
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Glad you tracked down the issues of no contact.

Your Ford truck 7 point connection seems to be working fine.

Now.... take the batt off the trailer completely and recharge to full, then take it to a auto store to where a 'load' tester can test the sustainability of the batt. being 'low' for a long time and not charging may have 'shot' the batt. No one should charge you to load test a batt.
Shall likely take it to RV dealer nearby who sold me the battery last Fall for a "load test". Thanks again for great advice!
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