Battery Power

[gizzys]

Hello,

We were out camping this weekend and had a power site. We plugged in our Rockwood 2501ss and we had power for things like the microwave, air conditioner and plugs. For some reason the battery did not charge while plugged in. Nor did the batteries charge when we drove to the campground. When we got to the campground, we seen that the indicator only showed our battery partially charged. We began to panic when the check light on our fridge turned on. Anyhow, when we got home, husband checked the batteries and they showed just under 6v each (we have two 6 volt batteries). Even though the batteries showed almost full we were unable to retract our slide. Husband checked the power box under our fridge and couldn't see anything visably wrong. Everything was working fine 2 weeks ago when we were camping. We are guessing something is wrong with the trailer power box. Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be?
Thanks.

Giselle

[TWO4THEROAD]

It's interesting.... I just finished having the exact same problem. Almost to the letter. My batteries wouldn't charge when hooked up to shore power or to my truck. I had my battery charger with me, so I hooked it up and charged the batteries that way, seemed to do the trick for a temp. fix. Like you, I checked the circuit breakers etc and all looked fine. When I got home, I took it to the dealer and they found that my Converter was bad. They replaced it and now all "seems" to be o.k. I'll find out in a week when we take off again. I have an 07 Flagstaff 5er ultralite.

[grandpaofthree]

Giselle,

Seems issue is between the converter and the batteries. With the shore power plugged in, you can check for current from the converter to the battery by using a voltage meter at the wires leading to the batteries. You should have about 13.5 volts there if the converter is working. If you don't get the correct reading, the issue is either the converter itself or the connection from converter to battery. You can check at the converter to see if current is flowing out to the batteries. If you have flow, then I would look for a blown fuse in the line. I can't tell you where to look because I am not familiar with your unit.

Good luck

[gizzys]

After doing all sorts of checks we brought our RV in to warranty the converter. It has now been replaced. We are heading out to camp this entire next week so I will let you know how things go. I hope now with a new converter we won't have any problems. Thanks for the advice...
Giselle

[TWO4THEROAD]

Good luck on your upcoming trip. Glad you got everything working again. Keep us posted on your trip and rig. We're going out again in 2 weeks, drycamping so I'm hoping that all goes well with no issues...

[gizzys]

We received our trailer back within two days of bringing it in to the dealership to have the converter looked at. It ended up getting replaced. Luckily we have extended warranty and only had to pay the $50.00 deductible. We also got the slide lubricated and adjusted for $70 out of pocket. We camped at Waterton Lakes National Park with full hookups and everything ran wonderfully. Then we dry camped at Little Bow Park and everything continued to work well. Whether it was just a bad converter or if we did something to wreck the converter who knows. Hubby thinks maybe it had something to do with our generator and him trying to charge the batteries with it rather than just using the generator like shore power when we need to run something more than 12v. But all is well now. Next week our family is heading off to camp at Silverwood (Farragut State Park) in Idaho for a week with friends. The kids have been talking about this trip for the last two months so we are all looking forward to next week.
Hope everyone is enjoying the camping season....

Giselle

[Hokiehall]

It was probably a bad converter. I have had a couple replaced over time in other trailers I have had so it is not unusual.