Slides work off battery power, not land power

[R Reese]

I know I'm doing something dumb and just can't see the forest thru the tree's.

The main two slides in the trailer work as long as the battery switch is on. As soon as I turn the battery switch off the two large slides no longer work. The trailer is connected to a 50 amp source. The power source is good. I checked all the breakers and fuses. To include flipping each breaker off and resetting them. Everything else in the trailer works including the bedroom slide with the battery switch off.

The trailer is a Crusader 315RST.

Any ideas what I'm doing wrong would be appreciated. It worked when I put it up the 1st of December.

The simple solution, leave the battery switch on, however, it use to work either way. What am I not seeing.

[ScottBrownstein]

You are probably doing nothing wrong. The big slides take a lot of current and your converter can't provide enough. The small one makes it off of the converter. At their peak, the slide motors in my unit take over 80 amps.

[5picker]

As Scott said, likely nothing is wrong, it's just how they are wired for the reasons he mentioned. When the battery disconnect is open, no current flows from the battery (or the converter) to the bigger slides.

[R Reese]

I'll be. I guess my memory needs updated. I would have sworn I used it with the battery switch off. Thats probably our old trailer.

Thank you for your replies.

[rracer5]

Also, no need to turn the battery switch OFF if you're going to leave it plugged into shore power. Because your are "disconnecting" the battery, your converter will no longer be able to maintain proper charge in the battery.

[R Reese]

Originally Posted by rracer5

Also, no need to turn the battery switch OFF if you're going to leave it plugged into shore power. Because your are "disconnecting" the battery, your converter will no longer be able to maintain proper charge in the battery.

Question; If the battery is left in the on position will it not over charge the battery. After charging the entire winter will this cause the battery to go dry, ruining the battery? This was explained to me when we bought our first trailer so I always followed this rule of thumb. Never really questioned it as true or false.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by R Reese

Question; If the battery is left in the on position will it not over charge the battery. After charging the entire winter will this cause the battery to go dry, ruining the battery? This was explained to me when we bought our first trailer so I always followed this rule of thumb. Never really questioned it as true or false.

Most newer RV's & your Crusader, are equipped with "smart" multistage converters. They monitor the charge/discharge state of the battery and charge/maintain the proper charge automatically. Just keep an eye on the water level in the battery every 6 months or so.

[Comanchecreek]

I do not leave my 315 plugged in. I use a millivolt charger (battery maintainer) through the solar hookup next to the front compartment to keep a small charge going into the batteries. You can buy the maintainers cheap at Harbor Freight and they work fine. (5 bucks on sale). I changed the battery terminals with the plug that matches the solar plug in. Don't remember the number but if you research these pages you'll find the number and I think you can buy them on amazon. I just remember they were not available through the dealership. That may have changed by now.

[chuck4420]

we have a 04 surveyor with a small slide for the sofa, it will not work with the battery disconnected, sounds crazy to me

[Oaklevel]

We have never had a trailer that has had a disconnect switch for the battery so the battery is always "on" and in theory being charged when on shore power. In all our campers we have never had a battery overcharged. Our current battery is 6 years old.

[bob caldwell]

Check your power center....see where the fuse or circuit breaker is located..12 volt or 120 side

[bob caldwell]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

We have never had a trailer that has had a disconnect switch for the battery so the battery is always "on" and in theory being charged when on shore power. In all our campers we have never had a battery overcharged. Our current battery is 6 years old.

X2

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by Stevemc

rracer5 do you happen to know if a 2013 Cedar Creek would have a multistage convertor to prevent overcharging?

Can't say for sure but, probably. If you have your manual or can find the model # on the converter, a quick internet check with the manufacturer will tell you.

[kohai]

My batteries do NOT charge if connected to land power and the batteries are disconnected via the switch. Learned that the hard way last winter. My landing gear DO work on the battery even if the disconnect switch is flipped -- they seem to be directly connected. That confused me and led me to think the batteries were charging no matter the state of the disconnect switch.

[Stevemc]

Same with ours. If the battery disconnect switch is in the off position there is no juice going to the battery for charging. The disconnect switch just keeps juice from being drawn out of the batteries from things that are never off like the co2 detector, etc.