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Old 10-02-2011, 03:38 PM   #1
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Reversed battery poles

I VERY stupidly reversed the poles when I reconnected the battery in my Flagstaff trailer. I have replaced the forty amp fuses in the panel but still am unable use battery power even if connected to the truck. Everything works fine when connected to 120 volt power. Is there something I may be missing? Thanks very much.
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Old 10-02-2011, 03:47 PM   #2
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I did the same stupid mistake on my minilite this summer and also blew the 40 amp fuse in the converter. There is a note posted in the converter cover that the 40 amp fuse will blow if the battery is connected wrongly. But to tell you Brian after I replaced the fuse all went okay with no after shocks problems. You must have blown another fuse in the line for the 12 volts. Good luck. For me I have my lesson now!!!
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Old 10-02-2011, 04:01 PM   #3
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No more to add other than I did this once too . . . Blew the same reverse polarity fuse. Also blew a fuse in my sound system.
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Old 10-02-2011, 04:13 PM   #4
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Check the batery disconnect switch and also check for any resettable breakers that may have tripped.
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Old 10-02-2011, 05:06 PM   #5
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An "out of the box" thought. If your battery was low to start with; the short might have reduced the voltage to a point where the converter is shutting down due to the low voltage on your battery.

Remove the battery again and put it on a charger.
Try again (connecting it correctly).
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Old 10-02-2011, 08:38 PM   #6
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Reversed polarity

You may have a bigger problem. The 110/12 charging unit in my Flagstaff is fragile at best. I just replaced it and I did not reverse anything. It just got silly. I noticed brightening and dimming of the lights and called my dealer. The parts person already knew the model and part number when I explained my problem. Kind of makes me believe that the unit (made in China) is kind of feeble. The parts person response to me when I mentioned that she knew the part number off the top of her head was a chuckle and "now how did I know that?"

In any event if you need a new unit the dealer may not be your best option. I got an entire unit on E bay and changed out the lower end myself. Took about 20 minutes. Now it is working OK. I paid 119. My dealer wanted 238.
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Old 10-02-2011, 10:19 PM   #7
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If it turns out to be the WFCO unit, you might investigate higher end 4 stage units as a replacement. They might not fit the cut out so you might have to make some cosmetic changes to install it.
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Old 10-02-2011, 11:40 PM   #8
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I replaced my wfco converter with an intelli power converter but used my wfco housing and electronics. Had to do some minor mods to housing but it worked great.
I also purchased the charge wizard and went from a 55 amp to a 70 for less money.
Pm me for more info
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Old 10-03-2011, 07:48 AM   #9
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OP says he still has no 12v power even when connected to his truck.
Says he is unable to use battery power.
He doesn't specify if the converter is working or not.

Could be a blown battery fuse or tripped reset in the tongue area. These battery fuses are commonly found underneath near the front end
of the trailer.

Good Luck!

I once witnessed a guy at work install a battery in a golf cart backwards.
It exploded with enough force to bounce the battery cell caps off the
ceiling of a 40 foot high shop. He didn't get any acid in his face
but I don't know why not.

Always wear glasses and stand back when connecting your batteries!!
Be careful out there.
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Old 10-03-2011, 07:54 AM   #10
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Check these out

Helped a fellow camper (now a forum member) after hearing a huge explosion. His MH had a frozen (dead) battery and when he was running the MH to charge it... Wham.
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Old 10-04-2011, 10:48 AM   #11
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Look under the tongue or front of the unit. There should be a self resetting breaker under there. You could have tripped it and it won't reset.
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Old 10-21-2011, 11:35 PM   #12
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My battery was drained dead, used a portable battery charger to give it some juice and hooked up to truck so we could use the power jack.

Drove for half hour on it and again left the truck plugged in to use the jack.

Went back a day later to take my battery out and recharge it, but before I did this, I plugged the TT into the truck, but I got no power for inside lights etc (12 volts).

Does the 12 volt power from the TV not work when the battery is completely dead, or is it a problem with a breaker/fuse?
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Old 10-22-2011, 06:26 AM   #13
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Look under the tongue (or directly under the pinbox for 5th wheel) for something that loots like the photo. On its side should be a little reset button.
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Old 10-22-2011, 06:33 AM   #14
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Another thought.

A battery too dead, may not take a charge from the alternator. This protects the alternator (and the power center) from overload.

You may need to remove the battery from the TT and take it to a battery test station (Auto-Zone or Pep Boys) and have it tested to see if it will even take a charge.
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Old 10-22-2011, 06:58 AM   #15
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It is at my folks place right now on a charger. I will check on it later today after work, I will also check for that reset button when at the TT.

I am also wondering if maybe the 7 pin ending got damaged in any way and is not connecting properly.
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Old 10-22-2011, 12:01 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Labzy View Post
I am also wondering if maybe the 7 pin ending got damaged in any way and is not connecting properly.
While this is possible for sure, I tend to discount it due to the other issues with the camper. Power at the pin is easy to check with a test light or meter.
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Old 10-22-2011, 09:49 PM   #17
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My money is on that fuse Herk and Ky Dan are talking about. Follow your battery terminal wire to where it connects under the tongue area, and the thing that it connects to looks like what Herk has pictured above. My fuse block was corroded 3 months old from new, and the dealer replaced mine with an auto-resetting type of fuse block. I had your same symptoms with my power. 120v only stuff worked fine, and the tongue jack worked fine-(before that fuse), but no other 12v powered stuff would operate. That little block fixed it. Randy
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Old 10-24-2011, 08:54 AM   #18
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You solved my problem.

Quote:
Originally Posted by herk7769 View Post
Look under the tongue (or directly under the pinbox for 5th wheel) for something that loots like the photo. On its side should be a little reset button.
I while ago I posted that I had reversed the poles on my battery and after replacing the blown forty amp fuses I still was not getting any 12 volt power, although everything was working fine with the 120. Turns out the problem was the fuse under the tongue. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge. Much appreciated.
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