Battery Problems again

[Old Campers]

Last year, my battery went dead probably because I left in on the trailer all winter. Luckily, the battery had about 2 weeks left on the replacement warranty and I got a new one, no charge. Last winter, I put the battery in our garage and kept a trickle charger on it. When I installed the battery in May, it was fully charged. I took the trailer for the annual PA safety inspection in early June and everything was fine. Since then, the trailer has been hooked up to a 30A line. Two days ago, out of curiosity, I checked the tongue jack. It was dead. I put a meter on the battery and it showed 3 Volts. So I put it on the charger. The jack worked fine. This morning, a day after removing the charger, the jack still worked.

My question is....... Is the battery supposed to be charging when the trailer is hooked up? I thought that with the trailer hooked up, the battery would remain charged.

Or, do I have to keep the battery on a trickle charger when I am not using the trailer for several months??

Rich

[Rick the Rocket]

Yes, it should charge. Take the cables off at the battery, you should measure 13.6 VDC while plugged in. If not you'll have to figure out why.

This somewhat depends on what converter your trailer has.

[bikendan]

Also please post year, make and model of RV that you are asking about since you don't have it listed in your profile.

[tomkatb]

Lots of ways to goof up the battery.

With it plugged in it should charge unless the disconnect was off maybe?

A fully charged battery is about 12.6 volts. Under 50%, unusable is 12.2 volts. Over 12.7 volts is surface charge.

[Old Campers]

Our trailer is is a 2015 Forest River Cherokee Gray Wolf 26RL. It has been somewhat troublesome and we are not frequent users. Besides 2 battery problems, we had 3 problems with the Swintech slide motors, and the CO2 detector has failed. We have also had more normal problems: the interior became overcome with mold on the surfaces that I now have to keep up with and all 4 wheel valves had dry rot. As a friend says, they are just like another home.

Right now the battery has held the charge for 2+ days and I am starting to think the battery charger has failed. Does anyone know where it is and how to test it?

Rich

[tomkatb]

Don’t know where yours is. Often in or near the electrical,panel.

The converters are generally three stages depending on the battery level.

Deeply discharged they run for a short period on bulk. You will hear the cooling fan.. Voltage about 14.

Regular charge up to 80% or more charge about ,13.7.

The final sort of trickle of 13,1.

Sort of How mine works. Measured at the battery or leads to the fuse panel.

Takes about 48 hours to recharge a low one.

Never go below 50% discharge.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by Old Campers

Our trailer is is a 2015 Forest River Cherokee Gray Wolf 26RL. It has been somewhat troublesome and we are not frequent users. Besides 2 battery problems, we had 3 problems with the Swintech slide motors, and the CO2 detector has failed. We have also had more normal problems: the interior became overcome with mold on the surfaces that I now have to keep up with and all 4 wheel valves had dry rot. As a friend says, they are just like another home.

The CO/propane detector has a 5 year life. Most of the newer ones alarm in some way when they reach end of life. That should have been an expected problem.

Likewise, trailer tires - especially if exposed to lots of sun - only have a 5 year life. Consider yourself fortunate that the valve stems rotted first instead of a tire failure. Check the tire dates - if they are more than 5 years old replace them before you have a blowout on the road - those usually cause real damage in the wheel well area of the camper.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time