Battery not working....Help!

[barbjeff]

I replaced by old battery with a new deep cycle marine/rv battery. Hooked it up and nothing, no lights, fridge...etc. I checked with a meter and the battery is fully charged. Anyone have any ideas?

[wavery]

I replaced by old battery with a new deep cycle marine/rv battery. Hooked it up and nothing, no lights, fridge...etc. I checked with a meter and the battery is fully charged. Anyone have any ideas?

Some campers have a pigtail lead with a 2 prong connector somewhere along the black and white wires, going from the battery to the converter. You may want to check to see if yours has one and that it is connected.

Also, you may want to check the grounding lug on the camper frame. The white lead is ground. Follow it down to where it attaches to the camper frame. Disconnect it, clean it, clean the frame off and reconnect the wire.

Thirdly, it seems to be a common problem that the battery lead, going from the battery to the converter, becomes defective over time.

[barbjeff]

Thanks,  I'll go take a look at the ground....never thought of that!

Some campers have a pigtail lead with a 2 prong connector somewhere along the black and white wires, going from the battery to the converter. You may want to check to see if yours has one and that it is connected.

Also, you may want to check the grounding lug on the camper frame. The white lead is ground. Follow it down to where it attaches to the camper frame. Disconnect it, clean it, clean the frame off and reconnect the wire.

Thirdly, it seems to be a common problem that the battery lead, going from the battery to the converter, becomes defective over time.

[wavery]

Thanks,  I'll go take a look at the ground....never thought of that!

Please keep us informed. There have been a few posts from PUT members that have had to replace the wires all the way from the battery to the converter.

If it comes to that, I would recommend using marine or aircraft wire. These wires are higher quality wire and they are tinned. In my opinion, if it's worth RE-doing, it's worth doing right.

[barbjeff]

At this point i think it is the wiring. Ground is cleaned and connected and all other connections are in place and tight. Thanks for the tip about the marine wire, good idea.

Please keep us informed. There have been a few posts from PUT members that have had to replace the wires all the way from the battery to the converter.

If it comes to that, I would recommend using marine or aircraft wire. These wires are higher quality wire and they are tinned. In my opinion, if it's worth RE-doing, it's worth doing right.

[AustinBoston]

If you hooked up the battery backwards, it may have blown the main fuse (it would blow instantly).  Be sure the negative (-) battery terminal is connected to ground, then replace the fuse.

Anybody can make a polarity mistake.  My father once replaced the fuse on some emergency lights three times before figuring out he had hooked up the battery backwards.  Everything worked perfectly until he turned on the 120V...

Austin

[Medic118]

If you hooked up the battery backwards, it may have blown the main fuse (it would blow instantly).  Be sure the negative (-) battery terminal is connected to ground, then replace the fuse.

Anybody can make a polarity mistake.  My father once replaced the fuse on some emergency lights three times before figuring out he had hooked up the battery backwards.  Everything worked perfectly until he turned on the 120V...

Austin

definatly check your fuses I blew four on a recent trip because I hooked the battery up wrongand couldn't figure it out.  Lucky for us walmart was only 25 min utes away.(It was a midnight trip to walmart and temps in the 40's otherwise the wife and kids were going home)