Need help with the battery

[Jamiek]

We just bought a 2000 coleman fleetwood Cheyenne.  It has no battery.  How do i choose and install a battery on the camper.  When i get the battery how does it connect to the camper and how do i connect the battery to work the campers lights and stuff.

THanks everybody for the help

[jmckinle1]

We just bought a 2000 coleman fleetwood Cheyenne.  It has no battery.  How do i choose and install a battery on the camper.  When i get the battery how does it connect to the camper and how do i connect the battery to work the campers lights and stuff.

Hi Jamie -

Congratulations on your new camper!  I just bought a '97 Coleman and had to install a battery.  I'll write a few words and hopefully someone who knows the subject better will add more.

Look around on the tongue of your PUP for a black and a white wire.  The black wire goes to the battery positive terminal and the white goes to negative.  You can buy an RV battery at places like Meijer, Walmart, Autozone.  You may need a plastic battery box too.  You may have to bolt a piece of wood on your trailer's tongue to mount the battery box and battery.  Buy some wire, butt connectors and terminal connectors if you need them to connect the battery to the black and white wires.

Now find your voltage converter, probably under a dinette seat, and look for a wiring diagram on the back of the converter.  You should see the black and white wires from the tongue attached to the back of the converter.  At this point you may be done.

It also depends on whether you are using a 12V line from your tow vehicle's battery, through the trailer's wiring connector, to charge your trailer battery and operate your trailer brakes.

[mike4947]

The easiest way to add a battery is to buy the loom from a Fleetwood dealer. It plugs into the connector on your trailer tongue and even has a circuit breaker built into it.

[SpeakEasy]

I did this to my Cheyenne.

I used 1/2" angle aluminum to make the mount on the tongue.  I bought a plastic battery box so I would know how far apart to place two pieces of angle aluminum. Once I had that dimension, I chose a spot on the tongue that was forward of the LP tank. I placed the angle aluminum pieces across the tongue, parallel to each other, and at the distance apart that I determined earlier. I cut them to the appropriate length. After these were cut to length I painted them black to match the trailer frame. I drilled one hole through the aluminum and down through the trailer frame at the end of each piece of aluminum. I bolted the aluminum to the frame through those holes. (Long bolts!) A strap and a pair of metal strap-hold-downs came with the battery box. I bolted the strap hold-downs to the center of the angle aluminums. The strap goes under those hold-downs and around the battery box to secure it to the frame that you just created.

Wiring it is as others have described.

-Speak

[tlhdoc]

Congratulations on the new camper.  Use it and enjoy it!  Your camper may have a location to mount the battery already.  If not some angle iron can be welded on the tongue to make 2 rails to mount the battery.   Fleetwood also sells battery mounting kits.  As for connecting the battery to the camper, go to a Fleetwood folding camper dealer and get the wire harness from them.  It has a white connector on one end that will match with the connector on the tongue of your trailer.  One black (positive wire) with a self resetting circuit breaker built in, and a white (negative) wire.  The wires both have round connections to attach to the battery.  Mount your battery on the tongue in a plastic battery box, attach the Fleetwood wire harness to the battery and then plug it into the wires on the tongue of the trailer.  It isn't hard at all.   You want to get a deep cycle battery.  There are several common sizes, group 24, 27, 29, and 31.   I go with the group 31, but I found a group 29 at Sam's Club that has the same reserve capacity as my group 31s.  I will be buying one of the group 29s this week to replace an old battery.  The group 29 at Sam's Club is $65 and they have group 24 and 27s also.  If you have more questions ask away.