Need help, new battery, no power

[campingdrummer]

Please help, we put a new battery in our Coleman Utah, opened her up, put the sink galley up, put on the on button and nothing is working.  Unless all the bulbs are out we have a problem.  Did we miss a step, please help.
We bought the unit used and while going through our walk through with the previous owner the battery was dead and we had no where to plug it into.  We have not been able to find the adapter to plug it into the house to test its electrical functioning.  I am starting to get nervous that this guy scammed us into buying a unit that the electrical system is not working in.
Please tell me we are just missing something.
Is there anything else we should test prior to take off this long weekend?  We are newbies, please treat us as such.

Thank you so much for any advice you can offer,

Tara
2001 Coleman Utah

[tlhdoc]

Is the battery charged?
 
Check that you have the battery wired correctly.  On the Fleetwood/Coleman trailers the black wire is the positive and the white is the negative wire.  If you had them reversed you would have blow a fuse in the power converter.  Do you have the battery wires plugged into the camper?  
Check the fuses in the converter.  
 
There is a wire connector that works the lights located outside of the trailer, in the rear roadside (driver side) of the PU.  The wires are hid in a fold of tenting where the bunkend zippers to the tenting on the body of the camper.
 
There is a galley kill switch that is activated when the galley is put up into place.  If the galley is not set up the lights will not work.  The galley kill switch can go bad.
 
Let me know if any of this fixes your problem.

[campingdrummer]

Forgive my ingnorance, we don't have any of the manuals, but where is the power converter or fuse box?  The unit isn't that big, i trust I can find them, but guidance is always appreciated!

Thanks again!

[CUL8R]

I agree with tlhdoc.  Black is positive and white is negative (not what I'd expect normally).  Also there is a plug (normally) on Colemans/fleetwoods outside the battery box where you can disconnect power from the battery to the trailer.  See if this is unplugged.  Plug it in to provide power to the PU.

The converter and electrical box (fuses, etc) should be under one of your dinette seats (at least it is on my evo)

Good luck.

Jim

[campingdrummer]

We made sure the connection was correct and it still didn't work.  In order for us to pop it up we would have to hitch up and pull it out due to a tree being in the way.  It is pretty late here on the East and the neighbors are close with little ones.  
Tonight we are going to charge the battery and continue our search for an adapter so we can plug this thing in already.  Also we will hitch up, pull out and check fuses tomorrow.
I can't tell you how much we appreciate all of your advice.  Hopefully it is just something as simple as a fuse.  I will let you know.
Thank again,

Tara

[tlhdoc]

What are you trying to use when the trailer is folded?  The 110 AC plugs (like the ones in your house) will not work off of the battery.  Wal-Mart should have an electrical adapter that will work for you in their RV section.  It will have the 30 amp receptacle on one side and a regular 15 amp plug on the other side.  At my Wal-Mart the adapter is round and about 2 inches across.  Are the battery wires plugged into the camper?  I am guessing that you have the standard Fleetwood/Coleman battery wires.  There should be a black wire with a little box on it and a white wire.  The wires come together in a white plastic connector that plugs into a matching connector on the tongue of the trailer near the battery pan.  Let us know what you find out.  

The power converter is usually under a dinette seat, but not always.  It will have some sort of plastic cover on it and the fuses are in it.  It will be about a foot long and maybe eight inches high.  There are fuses for DC power (battery) and usually circuit breakers for the AC power (power you get when plugged in to an outlet).  The converter changes AC power into DC power.  Most of the appliances in a trailer run off of DC power (water pump, lights, furnace, etc.).   The outlets like you have at home run on AC power and only when the camper is plugged in.

[hoppy]

Just to clarify the question that thldoc has asked, what are you trying to use running off the 12 V battery?

 The battery and the converter 12 V will only power the 12 volt DC items in your PU. These items include:

 1. The propane sensor. This item is always powered by the 12 V source, irregardless of the galley position. Directly wired to the battery or converter circuit.
 2. Ceiling lights and additional ports for ceiling/fan option. Galley must be in the up position to close the circuit to activate this item. A safety precaution so if you drop down the roof, the lights can not operate, burning a hole in the tent fabric.
 3. Outdoor light. (Galley up position....as I recall) The amber colored light along side your door.
 4. The one recepticle near your galley that looks just like a cigarette lighter.
 5. Self-contained water pump.
 6. Blower motor for the furnace, and thermostat.

 These are the only 12 V items that come to mind with your model PU.


 All other items are powered 110 volt AC, and have recepticles just like your home outlets. The only methods that these will receive power is when you plug that big 30 amp cord into a  110 AC source, or off a battery with a power "inverter" that is not a stock item that comes with your PU.

  Your "converter" (which should be the same model as mine, a Centurian 2000) will "convert" the 30 amp 110 AC source into 12 DC to power these items. When not hooked up to a "land-line" the converter senses no power, and will switch to the battery mode automatically.

 The converter looks like a brown colored rectangular shaped grill faced item, that once you pull down on the grill will have the automotive type fuses for all the 12 volt DC items, and two circuit breakers for the 110 AC ( one 15 amp line, and one 20 amp line)

  But I suggest that you locate one of those 30 to 20 amp "dog-bone"  adapters and a volt meter before testing out the electrical. This will tell if you have a converter or a battery problem. If everything works while you are plugged in to a land-line, then you need to check in to the battery source for potential problems.

  Hope this helps, and good luck trouble shooting.

[hoppy]

Man,

 I just checked another PU forum and found out your problem was a blown fuse.
 (wired up the battery polarity reversed)

 Glad to hear that the converter didn't get fried. Those Centurian model converters are a bit "fragile" , and don't take much to hurt them.

 Gosh.... right after I posted the lengthy reply above regarding the working "innerds" of a PU wiring.

 But hopefully you can use some of this information in the future.

  Now, get out there and use that PU!

  And always remember BLACK = Positive, WHITE = Negative when dealing with the 12 V battery.

[campingdrummer]

Thank you Hoppy!  Your list was fantastic, actually it is good to know, working or not.  I had no idea what ran off of what, I printed it out for the files.
I really appreciate it and I am very glad it was just a fuse, phew!