1st Trip ever in Pop Up

[Heymirth]

Hey All who have helped --- I took the new Battery back and exchanged it for a New One.
Question--- how can I check to see if the converter inside the pop up is keeping the battery charged while i am driving.
Also- how can I check to see if the winch has a short or if there is a short in the Camper itself?

[Asrabbit]

When you are plugged into shore power, your lights and fan should work regardless of your battery. You have two separate questions to deal with. First, why are the lights and fans not working? Second would be your battery questions. It might help you to first determine what is going on when you are plugged into shore power and still have no working lights. If you get that solved, it may make solving the second set of questions a little easier.

Also, if you do not have a battery discount, or if you are not turning off your discount when not plugged in, you battery could brain in a matter of a few days due to things such as the propane detector. Again, even with a dead battery, or no battery for that matter, you 12 volt side of things should work when plugged into external power.

[Heymirth]

Originally Posted by Asrabbit

When you are plugged into shore power, your lights and fan should work regardless of your battery. You have two separate questions to deal with. First, why are the lights and fans not working? Second would be your battery questions. It might help you to first determine what is going on when you are plugged into shore power and still have no working lights.

Also, if you do not have a battery discount, or if you are not turning off your discount when not plugged in, you battery could brain in a matter of a few days due to things such as the propane detector. Again, even with a dead battery, or no battery for that matter, you 12 volt side of things should work when plugged into external power.

So you are saying that if I disconnect my battery And If I am plugged into Shore power 110--- the lights and fan should work?

Then 2 things I need to check is the Galley Switch and a fuse?

I called Flagstaff and they gave me a idea on how to check To see if the converter is bad. I will try both.

Thanks

[Asrabbit]

Yes, that is what I am saying. The converter should produce 12 volt DC power when connected to shore power. The 12 volt side of things should function at that point without regards to the battery, (if the battery was dead, the converter should be charging the battery). So, if you figure out why your 12 volt side is not working on shore power, then it may be a littler easier to then deal with all of the battery questions.

[rockfordroo]

In post #22, the word "discount" should be "disconnect." You may have a battery disconnect that prevents running down the battery.

[kalichela]

I own a Viking Epic and encountered a similar problem on our first, second, and third trip. Very stressful. Now, I have trouble understanding all this electrical stuff (amp hours, draw, volts = amps divided by my age... whatever...). But, I do have a suggestion or two for you.

First, are you running a fridge? More importantly, are you running it while traveling in route to the campground? Yea, I know, it is charging from the car when driving. BUT, my experience is the fridge draws power faster than the car charges the deep cell battery. I was leaving the house with a full battery, and getting to the camp with an empty or almost empty battery. The charge through the plug when driving just does not charge the battery fast enough. My solution was to get it cold using house current (also charging the battery). I then turned it off for the couple of hours of travel. It stays cold enough. Then, switch to propane for the fridge on arrival. I also carry a second battery, and charge with jumpers when needed. My problem is solved. Also, watch the furnace: that fan really sucks power. The battery charges fastest from a house plug ("shore power" , they call it). The slowest charge seems to be when driving. The service guy told me that the deep cell will take 2 or 3 days of driving to fully charge. One day use of the fridge will drain the standard deep cell. Not what I expected.

[rockfordroo]

I ran the fridge in my Coleman for 20 yrs on the power from the tow vehicle. (I didn't have a battery!) I'm wondering if he even HAS power from his tow vehicle. He needs to put a voltmeter on the 7-pin connector on the back of his vehicle and make sure he has power.

[Mainframe]

I bet you need to flip the breaker switch on out at the post, where you plug your camper in.

[m35a2]

Originally Posted by Mainframe

I bet you need to flip the breaker switch on out at the post, where you plug your camper in.

His 110 stuff works, unless I misread.

Does your jack work?
A multimeter would be really helpful.

[Heymirth]

Ok all. Here's some answers.

Yes the breakers are flipped at the Post at Campground.
I do not have the fridge on at all.
All the fuses are good.
I did use the campgrounds battery charger and after 4 hours and I rehooked up the battery I had the lights and fan power for the rest of the weekend (I didn't hook up the winch)

So yesterday I bought a D.C. Volt Meter but have not had a chance to check the 12v side of things.
I now have a brand new battery
I will go thru all the things Flagstaff told me to check and will get back to you all in the next day.
This has been a great learning RV experience so far and I THANK YOU all for helping me and the comments on what to check.

[m35a2]

Ok bear with me here.. (and teach me something about popups.)

When you say winch, are we talking about the thing that raises the popup?
Do popups have electric jacks?

[howie70]

Originally Posted by m35a2

Ok bear with me here.. (and teach me something about popups.)

When you say winch, are we talking about the thing that raises the popup?
Do popups have electric jacks?

The winch part has me confused also.

[ronheater70]

SOrry I know this sounds stupid, but, it happened to me so just give it a check. After a weekend of thinking I was on shore power and finding my batteries dead, I came to find out my outlet on the post for my site had a small short in it.. Meaning if the plug wasnt in just right, wiggled even, then it wasnt working. So Before y ou tear your camper apart, make sure that you actually have power at the post on your site, dont assume so just because it switched on..

[howie70]

Originally Posted by ronheater70

SOrry I know this sounds stupid, but, it happened to me so just give it a check. After a weekend of thinking I was on shore power and finding my batteries dead, I came to find out my outlet on the post for my site had a small short in it.. Meaning if the plug wasnt in just right, wiggled even, then it wasnt working. So Before y ou tear your camper apart, make sure that you actually have power at the post on your site, dont assume so just because it switched on..

I'm pretty sure he said his receptacles was working in one of these posts so he had 120 volts.

[Heymirth]

The receptacles worked perfectly. I have a surge protector that would of notified me of that

When I say winch-- YES - the devise that raises the roof. The manual calls it an electric winch or lift assist system.

[325BH]

Originally Posted by f5moab

What is the actual amp hour of the battery; I cannot read it from the photo (looks like 80)?

What were you powering with the battery? Fridge (on DC), lights only, heater, etc.?

No AH listed as it is not a true deep cycle battery. It lists 675 CCA.

[325BH]

If no 12 volt items work, the converter is not functioning or is not connected or turned on.

A totally dead battery or no battery at all will not prevent 12 volt items from functioning if the converter is working and you are plugged in to shore power.

I ran a popup for four years without a battery installed.