Electrical system problem

[BMackinnon]

Looking for some help -I'm electrically challenged. I was getting my 2016 Grey Wolf 26 RL ready for a weekend trip and found that my slide won't slide! It just hums for a second, wiggles a little, then nothing. Also, my awning seems to be working at about half speed. The lights, jack and other 12V stuff seems OK.
Hooked up to shore power (from my garage) and everything works normally.
First stop was my 3 month old deep cycle battery. The TT system showed it fully charged. My Volt meter shows 13.4 V and my Black & Decker smart charger also shows 13.4 V. Cleaned and tightened the terminals/connections anyway but that didn't help. Hooked up to my backup battery (also showing around 13.2 V) but no change.
Next stop was connecting the TT plug to my RAM truck and... everything works great (including the slide)!
What am I missing? Something simple I hope.

[crunchman12001]

Battery cutoff switch?

[CedarCreekWoody]

Unplug youth trailer from the 120 volt power (shore power) and then check your battery voltage. When plugged in your converter is trying to charge the battery and you are reading voltage from the converter. It sounds like a bad battery.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by CedarCreekWoody

Unplug youth trailer from the 120 volt power (shore power) and then check your battery voltage. When plugged in your converter is trying to charge the battery and you are reading voltage from the converter. It sounds like a bad battery.

X2, you cannot check the true voltage of your battery either by the onboard monitor or a volt meter when connected to shore power (with the RV's converter, which is charging the battery). What you will read is the output from the converter.

Check the batteries, without any shore power connected and see what you get. Then you can go from there.

[boondocking]

As stated above unplug the shore power cord, but let batteries sit for a couple hours then check voltage and report back with voltage reading.

[lmiken]

Which circuit is the slide or awning on. Most likely they are on different circuits (fuses) than other items. What is the voltage on the slide or awning (is it different than whats on the battery)? Could be something on that particular circuit that is sinking the voltage, or a bad ground on the circuit.

[SecretSquirrel]

Sounds like a bad battery. Low current draw devices ok but high current draw devices not. Bad cell. Battery load tester at Harbor Freight fairly inexpensive and they work.

[BMackinnon]

Originally Posted by BMackinnon

Looking for some help -I'm electrically challenged. I was getting my 2016 Grey Wolf 26 RL ready for a weekend trip and found that my slide won't slide! It just hums for a second, wiggles a little, then nothing. Also, my awning seems to be working at about half speed. The lights, jack and other 12V stuff seems OK.
Hooked up to shore power (from my garage) and everything works normally.
First stop was my 3 month old deep cycle battery. The TT system showed it fully charged. My Volt meter shows 13.4 V and my Black & Decker smart charger also shows 13.4 V. Cleaned and tightened the terminals/connections anyway but that didn't help. Hooked up to my backup battery (also showing around 13.2 V) but no change.
Next stop was connecting the TT plug to my RAM truck and... everything works great (including the slide)!
What am I missing? Something simple I hope.

One additional observation - when attempting to open the slide, the trailer lights dim (go out actually) for a second as the slide hiccups then they come back on??

[SecretSquirrel]

Originally Posted by BMackinnon

One additional observation - when attempting to open the slide, the trailer lights dim (go out actually) for a second as the slide hiccups then they come back on??

To clarify; the slide works fine when connected to SP and/or the TV?

[BMackinnon]

Yes, Secret Squirrel, the slide works fine when connected to SP or the TV.

[markb5900]

Even though your battery is "new" it is not holding the charge so the draw is too much for it. That is why it works fine on the TV or SP.
The TV is basically providing the power when hooked up and on SP the converter is.
Check battery connections, maybe one is loose. Or, you have something drawing on the battery you may not realize and it is drawing it down enough that you don't have the power for the slides etc.. OR, they put an OLD battery in when you got it and it is just that old and doesn't have the power you need.
Personally if you don't find a draw, just spend the 100 bucks and get a new battery and all will be good.

[Flybob]

If your TT sat for a while (week or so) without being connected to shore power or a battery maintainer and you do not have a battery disconnect switch, you probably killed your battery. The voltage you are seeing when connected to shore power is the charging voltage and is not an accurate measure of the battery as mentioned by several members above. All the symptoms you have described are those of a weak battery. Also if you try to charge the battery and measure the voltage, do it after the battery has set for 8-10 hours not as soon as you remove the charger. It is likely you will find that the battery appears to charge but can not support a load. You mentioned deep cycle battery, did you change out the battery or are you talking about the Group 24 battery that comes in many new RVs.

[TheGerman]

Originally Posted by BMackinnon

One additional observation - when attempting to open the slide, the trailer lights dim (go out actually) for a second as the slide hiccups then they come back on??

That's typically a dead giveaway that the battery is done. But didn't you say you tried another battery with the same result ? Seems unlikely both are bad. A load test of the batteries would be useful.
The only other thing I can think of would be a loose/bad connection between the battery and the converter/power panel.

[BMackinnon]

UPDATE:
As suggested, I gave the battery the night off (no SP and battery cutoff switch disconnected) and re-checked the battery voltage again- still reading good - about 13.7v. Went in the camper and the CO alarm was beeping at me (with no SP and a disconnected battery).
Disassembled, cleaned and dried the wet battery cutoff switch and now my slide slides!
Thanks everyone for your help...this forum is great.

[aeblank]

The co detector doesn't go through the cutoff on mine....

[CedarCreekWoody]

Glad to hear it is working. If you are reading 13.7 volts that is from your converter, not battery voltage. You have to disconnect the battery or turn off converter to measure battery voltage.