Massive, major PANIC!!!

[Zhanna]

I hate to be an emotional, irrational female, but I'm in full-on panic mode right now!!! Like, I almost had a panic attack!

This past Sunday, we went out to the travel trailer to make sure everything was working properly, as we're going to take it out this weekend. We are planning on dry camping, so we made sure the water pump was working, all the lights, slide, etc. Just everything. It all was working just fine. We even got a new battery, just to be safe.

So yesterday, I went out to put sheets on the bed, turn on the fridge, etc. Again, everything seemed fine. Lights work, etc.

This morning, as I was going out to walk the dog, I hear this horrendous, high-pitched, constant beep. The last time the trailer made that noise, the battery was dead. So I go out there. The slide won't open, the lights won't come on, nothing! We have the trailer plugged into the electric outlet. Why is this happening?!?!? We're supposed to leave at 8:00 tomorrow morning! I am FREAKING out!!!!

Hubby is at work till 5 p.m. today. I have no idea what to do! Somebody please help me!

[Jersey Guy]

Could be something as simple as the battery you put in not being connected properly. Check the connections on the terminals.

[iceblaze580]

Sounds to me you have a dead battery I would plug the trailer in or charge the battery

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Zhanna

We even got a new battery, just to be safe.

Zhanna, when did you put a new battery in, was it before or after the tests you said ya did? The reason I say this, is it's possible the new battery has problems or the wires to it were crossed (very common thing to happen) when installing it.

EDIT: Jersey Guy already pointed this out. I type too slow. LOL

I do need to add that some converters have a reverse polarity fuse that blows when you do hook the battery up backwards.....even if you realize your mistake and fix the wires, the fuse is still blown and will have to be replaced....before the converter will charge the battery when plugged into shore power.

I kind of suspect this has happened.

[Zhanna]

The trailer IS plugged in! That's why I don't understand what's going on!

[Zhanna]

New battery before all the testing.

[raspivey]

Where, exactly, is the beep coming from?

[Zhanna]

I THINK it's coming from the breaker box. It's coming from that little area below the fridge. I don't know what to call it.

[rskrbina]

I might recheck ALL the connections on the new battery install. Also fuses, inline fuses in the travel trailer etc. Check that a breaker in your house panel hasn't been tripped that supplies power to you tt. Try to eliminate all the easy things before you start thinking power inverter. I hope this helps.

[Bryan2503S]

Originally Posted by Zhanna

The trailer IS plugged in! That's why I don't understand what's going on!

Just a theory, I am no expert.

I think the propane detector requires 12v

So, If the battery disconnect switch was "on", then the battery wouldn't charge, even if plugged in. so battery could have drained, setting off the propane detector due to low voltage.

Check the battery disconnect switch if you have one???

[wmtire]

I do need to add that some converters have a reverse polarity fuse that blows when you do hook the battery up backwards.....even if you realize your mistake and fix the wires, the fuse is still blown and will have to be replaced....before the converter will charge the battery when plugged into shore power.

The converter is what provides DC power to the 12 volt things in your RV...and also recharges the battery when plugged into shore power.

I kind of suspect this has happened.

[raspivey]

Unplug from shore power and see if the lights still work on battery alone.

[raspivey]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I do need to add that some converters have a reverse polarity fuse that blows when you do hook the battery up backwards.....even if you realize your mistake and fix the wires, the fuse is still blown and will have to be replaced...

I kind of suspect this has happened.

Agreed.

[Buddy Duncan]

Check to make sure the breaker/fuse hasn't blown for the house receptacle

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by rskrbina

Check that a breaker in your house panel hasn't been tripped that supplies power to you tt.

Originally Posted by Buddy Duncan

Check to make sure the breaker/fuse hasn't blown for the house receptacle

Have you made sure that the outlet you have the trailer plugged into at the house is providing power, like in plugging something else into it to see.

As others have pointed out, you may have tripped the breaker inside your house for that outlet....thus there is no AC 120 volt power actually going to your trailer to power the converter (or recharge the battery). If so, you may have just ran the battery down.

[raspivey]

After thinking about it for a minute, the breaker in the house would be the first thing I'd check. I sounds like it's the low voltage alarm on the CO detector. That shouldn't happen when plugged in unless you've lost power to the trailer from the house. At that point, the battery could drain if you've got anything running in the trailer. If the trailer has power, disconnect it and see if everything still runs on battery. If it does (lights not dim, fans run at normal speed), then I'd almost suspect a bad CO monitor. If you go the other way (battery disconnected and plugged into the house) and you have slow running fans or dim lights, I'd look towards the converter going bad.

If you have thrown a breaker in the house, check to make sure the electric on the water heater is turned off...mine did that.

[kerrlakelover]

I agree with Bryan2503S. In our previous 5ver (2005 Flagstaff), if the propane sensor lost power, it started screaming (alarming). The sensor was mounted adjacent to the converter. So, it sounded just like the alarm was coming from the breaker/fuse panel. I hate to tell you this, but my problem was a bad converter. If I remember correctly, 110volt stuff (microwave) worked, while none of the 12volt stuff would work. Reason being was that 110volts AC comes into the converter where it is converted to 12volts DC. The converter board is what went out and was not converting AC to DC. Fix was to replace the converter assembly. Amazing to me, it was cheaper to buy the entire converter unit than to just buy the board. It's pretty easy to replace and not dangerous at all if you disconnect from shore power and disconnect the battery. Challenge for you guys will be diagnosing it and getting the part today. Hopefully your issue is a blown fuse or connection.

[Zhanna]

OK. I went out to look at stuff. The battery is connected properly. We have the house rigged so that the trailer has it's own breaker and outlet, that seems to be alright. I unplugged the trailer, the beep stopped for about a second, then started up again. I left it unplugged while I went inside to check stuff. The lights were still not working. All the breakers were on and seemed to be functioning. I checked all the fuses, they are alright. The propane is on and seems to be running the fridge, cause the beer is cold! I'm just stumped! :/

I am concerned about the converter that wmtire mentioned. How do I check that?

Thank you ALL for your help, by the way~

[jeeplj8]

I started thinking about this as "how would I walk my DW through what to do?"

Here is what I suggest - take things one step at a time.

1) take a hair dryer, go to the electrical outlet you had the camper plugged into - plug in hair dryer, does it work?

[Arefbee]

Make sure you have 120v - I had a similar issue when I popped the GFCI in the garage. Looked plugged in, but no dice. Can you plug something into a household style outlet, like a lamp?

EDIT: Rats! - Jeep just beat me.