Battery Theft

[SSteinmetz]

Do we need to purchase a lock kit for the batteries on our trailer? There are a couple of different options out there.

Anyone experienced battery theft?

[spock123]

Never lost a battery

[onetonford]

Only one time when my old fiver had it mounted just behind the hitch and when it was parked in the driveway it was close to the sidewalk. After that I built a cabinet for the propane tanks and put two batteries their never lost any after that.

[NV555]

Just get a sticker DANGER HIGH VOLTAGE that should help!

[DonD]

Originally Posted by SSteinmetz

Anyone experienced battery theft?

Not on my rig, but it does bring back one of those memories from long ago.

* For security reasons the following story MAY or MAY NOT be true*

On a warm Friday night 35 years ago when I was in the Army, my buddy and I decided to go downrange to sip a few brews. My buddy's car battery was dead enough that the car would not turn over.

I said," No Problem, Sgt XXXX is on leave for another week and he has a similar car. Let's just swap out with his battery and we will swap it back before he returns."

So we unhooked my buddy s battery and carried it to the far end of the parking lot. We climbed under the front and got the hood release to open and then took out the other battery. We proceed to install our dead battery into his car and once the positive was hooked up we attached the ground cable. At that moment his parking lights came on

Yes, his battery was more dead than ours. I decided at that moment I was not a very good thief.

I don't remember if we made it to the clubs that night but I never tried anything like that again.

don

[onetonford]

Signs never stop them anymore. When I was working we had a contractor trailer out back that was hooked up with a 480V three phase cord with signs and during the night somebody came and tried to steal that cord. When I came in that morning they said their trailer wasn't working so I followed the cord around and found a pair of burn't wire cutter on the ground where they tried to cut it they must have gotten a good jolt out of it and left all their tools in a tool bag near by also.

[rsdata]

Anyone experienced battery theft?

I really think that 99% of campers in a campground and even visitors to the campground will not steal your battery... however, where do you store your camper? In a storage lot? Is the opportunity there? It is a good idea to disconnect while in storage without shore power, so why not just take it home with you?

If boondocking, then I would lock it up...

[wabakami]

Yep!
Had two 6 volt GC batteries (only 8 weeks old) on the front of my new Rockwood, stopped by the yard it was parked to pick-up some tools I'd left in the TT. Pulled out the battery switch and found I had no lights, first thought was flat batteries, went to check them and found one missing.

Keep in mind this was a Sunday June evening, my TT was stored on private property, about 150' from the highway, close to a house. This highway, #60, is the main entrance from the west into the 2000 campsite Algonquin Park in Ontario, so I assumed someone was going into the park and found their battery was toast on their camper and decided they needed mine worse than I did.

I kinda chuckled (after turning the air blue) thinking they were in for a surprise when they found out how slow their pump would run and how dim their lights were when run on a 6 volt battery.

We had a new Club Car being dropped off on the next day so I ordered a new 6 volt battery and had it brought in with the new cart. I stopped at the TT on the way into town the following Sunday and put the new battery inside the door until my next week's day off; did a walk around, everything was fine including the remaining battery.

A week later (2 weeks after the theft) I go to the TT to do some mods, I take the new battery to the front of the trailer and see the 6" battery jumper laying on the ground, I opened the other battery box and find the bleep #### ***** bleeping Bas**** had come back and stolen the other battery in the last few days!

Within a month I had modified the lower part of the rear storage into a battery box and moved the now 2 new batteries into it, a bonus was the bats were now within 24" of the converter/fuse panel instead of 33' away.

I borrowed a friends business sign and put it out front for a month with a throw away phone # and email address on it offering a $1000 for info resulting in conviction of the thieve(s), no takers.
I would've paid that for the satisfaction of seeing them nailed.

On other threads there are many people claiming it doesn't happen but as a friend on the OPP told me, RV equipment theft is very common all over North America.

Geoff

[SSteinmetz]

Thanks for the replies...my husband is looking at some battery locks that are not inexpensive. So I thought I would do a little checking .

We are storing in a secure indoor facility. His only concern is while we are camping.

[JohnD10]

On both my previous TT's I purchased battery boxes and cable locked them to the tongue of the trailer.

That is about all you can do.

My 5'ver has a separate and lockable battery compartment.

I also have cable locks on both propane tanks!

[JohnD10]

Only one time when my old fiver had it mounted just behind the hitch and when it was parked in the driveway it was close to the sidewalk.

After that I built a cabinet for the propane tanks and put two batteries their never lost any after that.

Don't think it is a good idea to have the battery and the LP tanks in the same cabinet...

I'm guessing that they are kept separate from the manufacturer for a reason!

[wannabeowner]

We've heard a couple of stories about batteries being stolen from campers who were boondocking, or from storage. A fellow told us he used the product below. We have the same battery box shown, as well. It may not stop someone with time on their hands but it would slow them down. BTW - the disc locks that come with the brackets are pretty cheap. They're hard to cut but easy to pick. We bought a couple of Abus 20/70 locks to replace them.

https://immobilize.com/component/hik...-g00305-6-volt

[babock]

One of the reasons I decided to go lithium is that I can put them inside. I kept the battery box on the tongue as an empty decoy.

[onetonford]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

Don't think it is a good idea to have the battery and the LP tanks in the same cabinet...

I'm guessing that they are kept separate from the manufacturer for a reason!

First off it was a cabinet I built with three compartments second the way it was built they are well ventilated was never any chance of shorting out or exposed to each other I do know what I'm doing when I built it.
Batteries in their own compartment I still don't understand your comment as most trailers have their batteries and propane tanks on the front the only thing separating them is the battery is in a plastic box and some may have the propane in a separate cover. A old scottsman trailer I had the battery was mounted right behind the tanks with out a cover.


Here I found a pict of cabinet the batteries were in the side doors.

[dbarr]

Local recyclers give $7 per battery. Pretty good night for the individuals that hit 20 campers in a local lot near me.

[marinerjoe]

I’ve not had any problems with theft, but I’m storing my camper in a gated storage lot on a military base. However I did decide to go from one battery to two, and I wanted to keep the batteries charged while not using the camper. So I went with a TorkLift box with the solar panel. It keeps the batteries locked and charged. BTW, I also got the lock for my dual 30 lb propane tanks. Again, I’ve had no problems so far, but I’d rather be the “hard target” and encourage those so inclined to look elsewhere.

[babock]

Originally Posted by marinerjoe

I’ve not had any problems with theft, but I’m storing my camper in a gated storage lot on a military base. However I did decide to go from one battery to two, and I wanted to keep the batteries charged while not using the camper. So I went with a TorkLift box with the solar panel. It keeps the batteries locked and charged. BTW, I also got the lock for my dual 30 lb propane tanks. Again, I’ve had no problems so far, but I’d rather be the “hard target” and encourage those so inclined to look elsewhere.

I was going to do the same but didn't want the extra weight on the tongue. My trailer was already tongue heavy so I switched to lithium and put them rearward inside the trailer.

[HappyCamper1962]

I had one stolen off my TT years ago while it was parked in my "back 40" - years and years of storing there, happened that one time. When I called the police to report it (not expecting to recover it, of course, just an fyi that it happened) they said there had been a rash of battery thefts in our city. Gee, I guess "someone was going solar" Anyway, I did purchase the clamp-style lock and kept my battery locked until a few years ago when we added a tall privacy fence with locked gates back there and no issues since. I don't worry about someone stealing my battery while camping. Maybe I should, but I don't

[JohnD10]

I don't worry about someone stealing my battery while camping.

Maybe I should, but I don't

In this day and age I would think that this should be a worry no matter where a camper might be at any given time.

And when out on the road it is out in the open where anyone can see it.

Not to mention that you just never know who might be 'shopping' around a campground these days.

I even bought a lock system for my 5th-wheel slider hitch after someone tried to steal it out of the back of my truck on Christmas Eve morning of 2016 in broad daylight in a subdivision in the north Denver metro area.

If I didn't religiously keep my tailgate locked (another theft of easy opportunity)...that hitch would be long gone!

Like someone else has said above...

If somebody really wants it...they'll take it, no matter what!

But most of the time these things are thefts of opportunity, and if a lock is seen the hope is that they'll move on to the next opportunity that doesn't have locks on them.

Before, my slider hitch had four pins holding it in...that's all.

Now, it has those same four pins, but with a padlock on each one and would take tools and time to get it out.

[youroo]

The most important thing is after they steal your Battery they will Come Back for the "NEW ONE" because they know you will replace it with NEW!Youroo! !