Power ???

[Chillbilly]

Ok, I parked my 5th wheel in a very remote area which has no AC. Now my trailer battery is dead. I have no way to charge it and have no jumper cables. When I hook up the truck to the 5th wheel, will I be able to raise the legs?

[fx2]

You should be able to once hooked up to the TV


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[MMattox]

I think most all trailers come with a manual over ride like a crank handle to raise them manually look thru your books.

[MMattox]

Another idea you could remove your battery from your truck stick it in the trailer to move the landing gear then put the battery back into the TV.

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by MMattox

I think most all trailers come with a manual over ride like a crank handle to raise them manually look thru your books.

X2 you should have a manual crank for when the motor or / battery fails but hooked to the truck the legs should work again as well.

[Backcountry]

My battery has died twice on my trailer from leaving a light on inside. Plugging in to the TV immediately puts power to the electric tongue jack.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by Chillbilly

When I hook up the truck to the 5th wheel, will I be able to raise the legs?

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on how dead the battery is. I had an occurrence last year when a delivery driver came to get my camper. I forgot the keys and the battery was dead- he was willing to haul it without a battery, but we couldn't get the legs to raise/lower.

Mine from last year:
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ing-53776.html

On edit, the weird thing is- with NO battery, I can use the pigtail from the truck and then they work fine. It was just this really depleted battery that caused issues.

[Timex]

Just be sure you are hitched up good and don't have a situation where you become unhitched. If the trailer battery is dead, the emergency brakes will not work. The insurance company might not like that idea if a claim were to be filed.

[Jim34RL]

I posted this on your entry (thread) on another site.

On my first 5er I was learning all but using and storing a 5er. I would put the 5er away in the storage yard after every camping trip and when I went to tow the 5er out the battery would be dead. The electrical parasitic in the camper would drain the battery dead.

What I found out was I could simply plug in the camper umbilical cord to the truck’s 7-way plug and start the engine and used the alternator with the truck electrical system to rise the legs on the camper with no issues what’s so every. By the time I got the camper home from the storage yard the truck alternator would charge the campers’ battery up enough to power the legs down without be hooked to the truck.

At least on Chevy’s and Ram trucks this will work I cannot say about the ford trucks since I will not use one and have no experience with one pulling a 5er.

I have since learned to have a battery disconnect switch and use this; mine complete disengages the negative cable from the battery.

Jim W.

[glen1971]

Just a question... Is it not common practice to extend and retract the landing gear and position the slide(s) with the TV still connected? Where practical of course.... Since our current trailer is our first with a slide, I figured the slide would be a larger draw on my TT's battery so I've always operated mine while connected to either shore power or to the TV..

[Backcountry]

Originally Posted by glen1971

Just a question... Is it not common practice to extend and retract the landing gear and position the slide(s) with the TV still connected? Where practical of course.... Since our current trailer is our first with a slide, I figured the slide would be a larger draw on my TT's battery so I've always operated mine while connected to either shore power or to the TV..

I usually roll my slide out before I level the camper, which means it is still hooked up to my TV before I back over my leveling blocks. Not sure it matters much though, you're not going to burn through a whole charge of the battery just by running the little electric motors that turn the gears on your slide.

[ykdave]

yea, the hyd pump motor for hyd jacks will be alot more load then the slide motors.

Either way, never hurts to keep the TV connected (and running) when possible during setup (opening slides, dropping jacks, ect) if your not at a powered site or have to run a genset to charge.

But, this is all granted that the trailer is properly wired to allow the 12v aux power from the 7pin connector to charge/power the trailer. One thing to watch for, is that some trucks have the 7pin connectors 12v aux power hot only with the key on, and some will be hot all the time. if your trucks 7pin has a hot 12v feed all the time, keep in mind that you could kill your truck battery if you leave it connected!

[Flybob]

Based on your signature, it looks like the 5er was stored in an area where the temp got well below freezing for some time. A totally dead battery will crack if frozen. You might want to check it. Also if it is totally dead connecting the 5er to the TV may blow the fuse in the TV 12V aux circuit as the current demand of the battery will be very high. You may have to disconnect the battery ground on the 5er to prevent this. Also a totally dead battery is usually damaged such that it will not regain full capacity. If it is 2-3 yrs old, you might consider getting a replacement and installing it before you try to move it.

[ykdave]

yes, take care to check for a frozen battery!

A battery at a 60% charge (12.2v) can freeze at temperatures as 'warm' as -16f. a battery at 40% (11.9v) can freeze at +5f. a battery at 11.5v or lower will freeze just below the freezing temp of water!

When a battery freezes it usually leaves a telltale bulge in the battery case, though not all the time. sometimes their can be some slight or isolated freezing in particular cells. Typically when the electrolyte freezes it causes damage to the cell plates and can cause an internal short in the battery (thus the reason you should never try to recharge a frozen battery). if a battery has been froze, and your lucky enough there wasnt catastrophic damage (broken case or internal short), the battery will never fully recover, it will need to be replaced.

Even if a battery hasnt been froze, if it has been discharged below 11.5v (20%) it will have a drastically shortened capacity and lifespan

[Blackhat6mike]

One 100 watt solar panel and a small controller will assure you never have another dead battery IF the unit is stored where it can get sun light. I got tired of watching my batteries go way down in two weeks. I started pulling fuses of the parasitic circuits when I would leave it.
Then I installed disconnect switches to both batteries. That worked, but was a pain remembering to cut them off each time.
Installed one 100 watt solar panel, 20 amp MPPT controller and then started just leaving all switches on and fuses in place. Batteries are now always at or above 12.8 vdc.
This was a $250 fix that I should have done when I first bought the Aviator, but hey, live and learn.
I know NOTHING about cold weather effects on batts as I avoid cold weather like the plague!