RE: Battery not Charging

[thegrays]

 
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 I have a few questions regarding battery charging.  We have a 2001 Sante Fe and we ve had repeat issues this year with our battery not being charged on our last few trips this year.  Prior to going out, I would typically plug in for a few days to get the fridge cool and top off the battery.  While I understand from other postings, that the converter is not an effecient way to charge the battery (and could cause damage), it has always done it job to charge the battery.   In addition, I always figured having the trailer plugged into the tow vehicle for several hundred miles would recharge the battery as well.  Of note, the battery is < 6 months old.
 
 With the most recent trip, we arrived at our camp site (200 miles later) with a nearly dead batter (lights dim w/ barely enough juice to run the pump).  After a week of camping, we pulled the trailer another 150 miles only to find out that the battery hadn t charged up at all.
 
 I am planning on picking up a voltage meter today, but I wanted to ask folks for a specific list of where I should be checking voltage, what reading to expect and any troubleshooting tips to track down what might be a short or other.   My specific questions are:
 
 1.  Converter - What is the best/easiest way to prove that the converter is doing its job, which I understand is to convert AC to DC (to run lights & such) and to charge the battery (I understand this topic will spawn a debate).
 
 2. Tow Vehicle Connection - How exactly does the tow vehicle charge the trailer battery and should I expect that towing the trailer for 100+ miles will charge even a dead battery.  The tow vehicle is a new variable as we just started pulling the trailer with it this year -- not sure if the two are related.
 
 Of note, I am aware of the propane detector and I always unplug the battery when not in use.  I also make sure to switch the fridge off of DC when I m not towing the vehicle.
 
 While I recall this topic being covered in past postings, I was unsuccessful in searching out past posting that helped.  Please feel free to direct me to a previous posting/thread.
 
 Thank you,
 Brian

[garym053]

 thegrays
Brian, are you sure the converter s been doing the job or have you just been dragging the battery down more and more each time? I was having similar problems until I bought a Deep Cycle charger at Wallyworld and started charging the battery each time. While you are at it, buy a cheap digital multimeter too. It s the second best way to check battery charges.
 A fully charged battery should read 12.6+ volts. It may read higher than that when you first disconnect the charger but will drop back to its " real"  charge in a little while.
 I have the various voltage s and related % of charge printed out and taped to the back of my multimeter. I ll be glad to send more info tonight after work!

[mike4947]

 thegrays
No debates, just facts,
 PU grade converter can not fully charge a battery.
 The best you can expect is apx 80% charge.
 Leaving a battery partially discharged will shorten it s life.
 Using the TV alternator to both run the fridge and charge the battery with what the manufacturers wire the aux 12 volt systems with is a losing proposition.
 What happens in fact is the PU battery ends up getting drawn on to supply part of the power to run the frdge on 12 volt because of voltage drop due to inadaquate wiring back to the TV alternator/battery.
 I ve ended up using twin 12 gauge wires form the TV battery, fused and relay protected, one dedicated to the fridge for 12 volt travel power using the " spare pin"  on the 7 pin connector and the second to the 12 volt/battery system in the trailer.
 
 Any corrosion in the TV/trailer connector plug will make this situation worse and cause more draw from the trailer battery than the TV.
 
 My rules for batteries:
 Buy a decent deep cycle battery.
 Buy a decent charger with a flooded/deep cycle charging cycle
 Disconnect the battery when ever you ve not using the trailer
 Charge the battery before leaving
 Charge the battery as soon as you get back
 Charge the battery once a month in the " off Season"
 Check the water level before and after every time you charge it
 
 The links to becoming a 12 volt expert:
 http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm
 http://bart.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volta.htm
 http://www.dcbattery.com/faq.html#1
 http://www.usbattery.com/care.htm
 http://pweb.uunet.de/william.darden/index.htm
 
 
 

[MtnCamper]

 thegrays
After you get your meter, check the tow vehicle and see if it even has a charge line hooked up. My guess, it doesn t. You re charging at home and draining on the road.

[thegrays]

 thegrays

TV battery

Thanks to all for the responses.
 
 In response to MtnCamper s reply:
 
 >After you get your meter, check the tow vehicle and see if it even
 >has a charge line hooked up. My guess, it doesn t. You re charging
 >at home and draining on the road.
 
 Should I refer to the vehicle wiring diagram to determine which pin supplies the charge line?  Is there a specific voltage I should see coming from various pins on the tow vehicle?
 
 I will also read through the links provided by Mike4947 which may answer these and other questions.
 
 thanks,
 Brian
 

[MtnCamper]

 thegrays
If you probe the pins, it should be the one at 1 o clock to a ground. It should show >12.5V, with the Tahoe running.
 
 You also may have a diagram molded right into the door on your plug.
 

[mike4947]

 thegrays
If you don t here s a picture of the pin outs for TV and trailer ends:
 http://www.farmco.com/technical%20bulletins/trailers/7%20pole.html
 and a few more on wiring up a 7 pin:
 http://www.etrailer.com/faq/wiring.asp
 http://www.rverscorner.com/wiring/index.html
 http://www.marksrv.com/wiring.htm

[thegrays]

 thegrays
Thank you all.  The information provided has been very helpful.  I will check out everything suggested and report out in the next week.
 
 Brian

[thegrays]

 thegrays

 As it turns out, the 12V pin on our tow vehicle ( 03 Chevy Tahoe) is not supplying any voltage.  This is good news as it explains why the battery is drained when we arrive at our destination and not charging on trips.  I also imagine it is a straight forward fix to address the 12V pin issue.  I thought it might have been a fuse or something since this is a factory wiring job, but I didn t see an indication of a 12V trailer pin fuse in the owners manual.   The 12V pin on the 7-way connector does have a wire plugged into it.
 
 Has anyone seen this where the factory wiring is functioning correctly?  I plan to bring the vehicle in for routine servicing  in the next week and plan to ask the dealer about it, but I wanted to check with this group first since it may be something obvious.
 
 Thanks again to those that responded and supplied information.
 
 Brian
 

[mike4947]

 thegrays
Most likely the fuse/CB that controls that wire wasn t plugged in at the dealers. See it happen quite a few times.

[MtnCamper]

 thegrays
Yup, Tell the service departmen what you re trying to do, My guess, they will put the fuse in.[]

[thegrays]

 thegrays
I didn t see a fuse listed in the owners manual for the 12V line.  That said, there were a few fuses related to trailer backup lights and signals, but I ignored them in pursuit of something that said " TRL battery"  or equiv.  I ll check with the dealer if I don t figure it out.  Thanks.
 
 Brian

[jstaddwtr]

 thegrays
This has been a very helpful and timely thread!!!!!!!!  We ahve had the same problem and we have learned a " ton"  from everyone.   Thanks

[SheBantam]

 thegrays
I took the Bantam to the dealer for just this same problem. Battery or lack of power there of.
 
 What we found was actually several different problems.
 1. Raymond had this nasty habit of taking the break away switch completely off and left it off, (please notice I said had, I added a " C"  connector with the screw clsoing like some of the safety chains have, but in a smaller size, the break away will come out befor the closer bends) then we would plug up the camper...we blew the fuse on the converter,
 2. Once the fuse was blown there was current no recharge to the battery (when plugged up to the land line, so the battery drained and the breaker inside the storage box did it s job and broke.
 3. Then the technician found that I did not have a relay in our F150 that should have been given to us as we have the towing package.
 
 The fuse was replaced, the breaker self reset once there was a current going to battery through the converter, because the fuse was replaced.
 I stopped at a Ford Dealer close to the campground and they checked my owner s manual for the correct fuses and relays and found that it was only the one relay I was missing for towing. Plugged itin myself,now we will see after a few days.

[Civil_War_Buff]

 thegrays
Brian,
 
 I am curious as to what the Dealership tells you.  I have just towed my trailer for the first time with my 2003 Tahoe, and when I got home to San Jose from a short trip to Monterey, both of my batteries were dead, and they are always fully charged.  The fuse that goes to the trailer from the battery was so hot I could hardly hold it, and this has never happened before either.  I think that there may be something not wired correctly on the Tahoe, even though the lights (brake, turn, clearance) all work, there may be problem with the 12V charge line out of the connector.  I have had one battery on my deep cycle charger since 5PM yesterday (13 hrs so far) and the charge rate has dropped from from 6A to 3A, and this has never happened before.
 
 Please let me know what find out!
 
 Thanks.