Did I kill my battery?

Kasimar1 · 05-13-2013, 12:02 PM

I'm wondering if I killed my battery that is in my camper. Last fall before I covered it up for the winter I took it out of my camper and stored it my basement on a wood pallet. A month or so later I took it out of the basement and hooked it up to a battery charger to check to see if it was still charged. It seemed okay so I left it alone. I'm thinking I should of hooked it up to a battery tender. This month when I put it in my camper it appeared to be dead. I plugged in my camper for a few days to charge the battery. Everything seemed fine, but last night when I went in my camper and turned on one of the dome lights I got nothing. What should I do? I've thought of taking it to batteries plus and have them test it.

TURBS · 05-13-2013, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasimar1

I'm wondering if I killed my battery that is in my camper. Last fall before I covered it up for the winter I took it out of my camper and stored it my basement on a wood pallet. A month or so later I took it out of the basement and hooked it up to a battery charger to check to see if it was still charged. It seemed okay so I left it alone. I'm thinking I should of hooked it up to a battery tender. This month when I put it in my camper it appeared to be dead. I plugged in my camper for a few days to charge the battery. Everything seemed fine, but last night when I went in my camper and turned on one of the dome lights I got nothing. What should I do? I've thought of taking it to batteries plus and have them test it.

If unit is plugged in even if the battery was dead the converter should have powered the lights.
You need a multi meter to start checking the battery voltage .
Did you hook the battery up wrong?
There's resetable circuit breakers as well.

garbonz · 05-13-2013, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasimar1

I'm wondering if I killed my battery that is in my camper. Last fall before I covered it up for the winter I took it out of my camper and stored it my basement on a wood pallet. A month or so later I took it out of the basement and hooked it up to a battery charger to check to see if it was still charged. It seemed okay so I left it alone. I'm thinking I should of hooked it up to a battery tender. This month when I put it in my camper it appeared to be dead. I plugged in my camper for a few days to charge the battery. Everything seemed fine, but last night when I went in my camper and turned on one of the dome lights I got nothing. What should I do? I've thought of taking it to batteries plus and have them test it.

A. If the battery was ok during the winter, it should be ok now. It sounds to me like the converter is bollicked up. Did you check volts at the battery during all this and what were the readings. What is the battery voltage now.

It is a good idea to have it checked, but you may need to look at the whole charging system to see if something is wrong there.

garbonz · 05-13-2013, 12:40 PM

Is the battery original? It may just be at the end of its useful life.

TURBS · 05-13-2013, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garbonz

Is the battery original? It may just be at the end of its useful life.

True .....
But converter should allow lights to work
Regardless of battery.

Some diagnostic work is in need here.

Turbs

myredracer · 05-13-2013, 01:22 PM

Battery hooked up with reverse polarity? The circuit breaker near the battery may have tripped? Disconnect battery and plug into shore power and 12 lights should come on then.

Kasimar1 · 05-13-2013, 07:39 PM

I think I might have mislead everyone. I plugged my camper in for 2 days to charge my battery. I then unplugged it from the house current and ran it off the battery. The inside dome lights worked the day I unplugged it. I didn't put any kind of load on the battery. The camper basically sat idle for a few days. I suspect that the battery was not 100% charged when I unplugged it from the house current. I called Batteries Plus and they told me that campers have a 2 amp trickle charger and that it typically takes 5 days to fully charge a battery. Last night I plugged my camper back in to recharge the battery again. I'm going to keep it plugged in for at least a week and then see if the battery will hold a charge for an extended period of time. Does that all make sense? I'm pretty sure everything is hooked up properly and that there is nothing wrong with my charging system. I'm not sure how old the battery is because it came with the camper when I bought it used last year from a private seller.

asquared · 05-13-2013, 07:45 PM

I'm still wondering if the battery was hooked up backwards. Checking battery voltage will give you a better idea.

Jeep4Two · 05-13-2013, 07:58 PM

Check the top of the battery, many have little date codes so the day of purchase can be marked by removing parts if the sticker to include the month and year.

If its getting up in age (5+ years) it could be the battery.

You can also check the fluid levels in the battery and add distiller water should it be low. That could cause issues with charging and holding a charge.

Also, batteries plus may be correct but many campers (most actually) have 3 stage charging. 1) bulk charge - most powerful 2) absorption - moderate and 3) float charging - trickle or maintenance charging.

Kasimar1 · 05-13-2013, 08:05 PM

I kind of was wondered if I was I hooking it up correctly when I 1st installed it. I consulted with my brother-in-law, we traced the wires back and was able to determine which one was the ground and based on that we figured out how to hook up the battery. Also once I placed the battery in the battery box I remember how I had it hooked up last year. If it was hooked up wrong would the battery still charge?

Jeep4Two · 05-13-2013, 08:13 PM

Normally a reversed polarity will either trip a resettable breaker near the battery, or blow a fuse. So would it charge? I so t think so.

Kasimar1 · 05-13-2013, 08:51 PM

How do I know what kind of charging system my 2005 Rockwood Premier has? I double checked the wiring and it appears to be correct. The white wire that connects to the negative side of the battery comes done off the battery and splits in two. One end is connected to the tongue of the trailer and the other end goes to the wiring harness that gets hooked up to the car. The black wire is connected to the positive side. It comes down off the battery and splits in two as well. One end goes to the wiring harness and the other end goes up a hole that leads into the camper. I checked the date code on the battery it says Jan, 2010 (Everstart from Wal-Mart). I would presume I should have a couple of more years left of life out of the battery. I think before I take the battery out at the end of this year I'm going to label the wires so I know what is what.

Jeep4Two · 05-13-2013, 09:14 PM

Maybe someone with a similar model can help on colors. My 2011 A126 has red for positive and white for negative. Your colors are also common with white neg beg and black for positive I think.

3 years for a 'car' battery versus a deep cycle marine battery might be pushing it. Regular 12v car batteries don't hold up to deep discharge or being left uncharged for long periods as well as deep cycle marine batteries.

I'd give it a week on charge as you plan and see where you find yourself. Get a multimeter, even a cheap one at Walmart is fine, to check the battery voltage both while charging and while resting (not charging).

Resting fully charged (with the camper unplugged for at Least 2 hours) should be 12.6 volts DC or real close. Charging at float (trickle) should be 13.5 or so. Measure the voltage using a meter across the positive and negative terminals of the battery.

You can read up on some good battery info here: http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

Kasimar1 · 05-13-2013, 09:33 PM

Thank you for the useful information. For the record the battery is a marine battery and not a standard car battery. I will invest in a multimeter and will check the voltage. Are all marine batteries deep cycle batteries?

Jeep4Two · 05-13-2013, 09:59 PM

Typically yes, the label should indicate the type. The meter will be your friend. I checked my interstate battery after winter unhooked and stored in my garage and it showed 12.6v this spring, so that indicated at good battery.

When plugged back into the camper it tested good with only the float charge level.

jeeplj8 · 05-13-2013, 10:10 PM

Keep in mind your unit has a propane detector, stereo and other things that draw the battery down. After several days it will draw down a healthy battery. A fully charged battery should least more than a few days though.

bakken · 05-13-2013, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeeplj8

Keep in mind your unit has a propane detector, stereo and other things that draw the battery down. After several days it will draw down a healthy battery. A fully charged battery should least more than a few days though.

And if the battery was already a bit weak, it wouldn't last long at all.

Capt. Mike · 05-13-2013, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kasimar1

How do I know what kind of charging system my 2005 Rockwood Premier has? I double checked the wiring and it appears to be correct. The white wire that connects to the negative side of the battery comes done off the battery and splits in two. One end is connected to the tongue of the trailer and the other end goes to the wiring harness that gets hooked up to the car. The black wire is connected to the positive side. It comes down off the battery and splits in two as well. One end goes to the wiring harness and the other end goes up a hole that leads into the camper. I checked the date code on the battery it says Jan, 2010 (Everstart from Wal-Mart). I would presume I should have a couple of more years left of life out of the battery. I think before I take the battery out at the end of this year I'm going to label the wires so I know what is what.

I have a lot of experience with Everstart deep-cycle batteries from Wal-Mart on boats that I and friends have owned. You are over 3 years on that battery, and regardless of what the warranty is or how long Wal-Mart says it will last, you are on borrowed time with a 3 year old Everstart battery. We had three batteries in our boat, and we simply figured on replacing one every year, and then starting over again....and again...and again.

farfetched · 05-14-2013, 07:33 AM

getting the battery tested is a quick and simple test with the right diagnostic tool. Marine repair or any garage should be able to do it usually at no charge. They want to sell you a battery

Jeep4Two · 05-14-2013, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farfetched

getting the battery tested is a quick and simple test with the right diagnostic tool. Marine repair or any garage should be able to do it usually at no charge. They want to sell you a battery

I agree. Testing is easy, just haul it to autozone, advance auto, pep boys, wherever you like. In 5 minutes you'll have confirmed or eliminated the battery as a potential problem.

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