No Battery Power ?

[cordox4]

Hi. We are new to this forum but not new to camping. Our current 5th wheel we have owned for 3 years now. It is a 2002 Wildwood 25' bunkhouse. We do a lot of dry camping and rely solely on battery power. This last weekend when we took it out, we had absolutely no power from the battery (brand new). But everything worked fine when it was plugged in to house power or to the pickup. Any ideas as to where to start looking for the problem? Would hate to take it in for repair if it is a simple fix. Thanks for helping.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by cordox4

Hi. We are new to this forum but not new to camping. Our current 5th wheel we have owned for 3 years now. It is a 2002 Wildwood 25' bunkhouse. We do a lot of dry camping and rely solely on battery power. This last weekend when we took it out, we had absolutely no power from the battery (brand new). But everything worked fine when it was plugged in to house power or to the pickup. Any ideas as to where to start looking for the problem? Would hate to take it in for repair if it is a simple fix. Thanks for helping.

If it worked before and not now, check all connections inside and outside for corrosion at fuse connections. The auto restetting ones too.

[cordox4]

Thanks for the reply. Is there a fuse just for battery power? Because everything works when plugged in. We've never had this problem before so not sure where to look.

[Herk7769]

The shore power converter provides 12vdc directly to the camper through the fuse panel.

The battery has an auto-resetting fuse, looks like a Lego block, with two posts on it. It could have a red plastic or rubber cover on it.

If those connections become high resistance due to corrosion, you will lose the connection to the battery.

There may be another similar fuse under the tounge or under the pin box to protect the tow vehicle from shorts. If so you must check there too.

[bikendan]

could you have accidently hooked up the new battery backwards?
this would have affected the resettable fuse.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by bikendan

could you have accidently hooked up the new battery backwards?
this would have affected the resettable fuse.

This is a good point because the converter has 2 40 amp orange fuses that prevent damage to the converter if the battery is connected in reverse even for a second.

Nothing off the converter 12dc will work until the fault and fuses are replaced.

[cordox4]

We'll have to check out that re-setting fuse this weekend. I have a feeling that is the culprit. Until this forum, we didn't even know it existed! Thanks for the advise.

[backin15]

I had the same problem with my new camper, discovered they never hooked up the negative wire to the battery!

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by backin15

I had the same problem with my new camper, discovered they never hooked up the negative wire to the battery!

Get out!

[Hokiehall]

Originally Posted by backin15

I had the same problem with my new camper, discovered they never hooked up the negative wire to the battery!

That is a very good reason you go over every inch of a new trailer when you get it home before you go anywhere. No matter how meticulous a dealer may be, he may still miss something. The fastest way to discover a problem is to camp at home in the driveway when you first get a new camper.

[backin15]

Believe me, my dealer was not meticulous. Last weekend was the first time we did not have a water leak. We had it back 3 times for leaks from the filter, water pump and faucets. By the way, we have a habit of plugging into shore power as soon as we get home and gampground power as soon as we unhook. The only time we tried using the battery was when we would pick it up at the dealer. Each time the battery would be dead and I would complain to the service manager. he would say "something must have been on" or "you need a disconnect switch, lots of parasitic drain in these modern trailers". Last weekend I unplugged then tried the slide and nothing. The reason I took the battery cover off was I was going to pull the battery and bring it to the dealer for a new one. Thats when I discovered I only had one wire to the battery. It didn't just fall off either, the wing nut was still on the post.

[cordox4]

Originally Posted by herk7769

The shore power converter provides 12vdc directly to the camper through the fuse panel.

The battery has an auto-resetting fuse, looks like a Lego block, with two posts on it. It could have a red plastic or rubber cover on it.

If those connections become high resistance due to corrosion, you will lose the connection to the battery.

There may be another similar fuse under the tounge or under the pin box to protect the tow vehicle from shorts. If so you must check there too.

Thanks again for the help. We went out today and sure enough that little re-setting switch was tripped. Everything worked fine once we re-set. So glad it was an easy fix!

[cfsoistman]

Originally Posted by Hokiehall

That is a very good reason you go over every inch of a new trailer when you get it home before you go anywhere. No matter how meticulous a dealer may be, he may still miss something. The fastest way to discover a problem is to camp at home in the driveway when you first get a new camper.

100% Correct!!!!!

We do the driveway camping thing every year, usually at the end of March just to be sure everything is functioning properly, other than the AC units but I turn them on as soon as it starts getting warm. Little critters like to climb under and make homes for the with. We had one that made a meal out of out propane line on our old trailer. Found it during a driveway camp out. Finding the problems at home beats the pieces out of finding it out on the road and then looking for a Home Depot or Lowes or RV Dealer.