Getting no power ???


RVNoobie

New Member
Hello all,
I have been RV'ing just 1 yr. I bought a Jayco 806 for the wife and family and we love it. My problem is power. I put a deep cycle battery on it early this summer as we frequent quite a few sites without power. This worked fine and dandy for the first couple trips but on our last trip this past weekend, I noticed an alarm ringing constantly. When I turned on a light I noticed the light was very dim making me believe low battery juice. I made sure it was plugged in for 24hrs prior to leaving thinking it would be fully charged. At this point I think I just have a dead battery.

After we returned home I plugged the trailer into a working power outlet but the trailer show's no sign of it. Lights not working, nothing.

Anyone have any ideas why or what I need to look for? Keeping in mind, I'm not much of an electrician or mechanic as I'm a puter dude so keep it simple please.

Please and thanks,
Mark
 

Grandview Trailer Sa

Senior Member
Re: Getting no power ???

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Your converter is bad, or more accurately, the charging part is bad. I know this because you said you plugged into a live outlet, and have nothing. If it was working, your lights would be back on.

Get someone to check the voltage from the converter at the battery. It should be in the neighborhood of 14 volts. If it is way off, again the charging part is bad.

You have a couple of more things to consider. Make sure your battery has water in it, make sure the fuse from the converter to the battery is good.

The converter will not put a "DEEP" charge into a dead battery. Interstate Battery personal have told me that a dead battery needs a real charger. RV chargers will only install a "Top" charge. As long as the battery does not go dead, they do a good job at maintaining.

Finally, the tow vehicle should also charge the battery while towing. Make sure you have a live circuit coming out of your plug. It is the terminal at 1:00 looking into the plug mounted on the truck.
 

C Nash

Senior Member
Re: Getting no power ???

Sounds like your converter has quit working. Do you have a VOM? If so check across the battery post when pluged to shore power. Should read around 13 volts.
 

firestormpro

New Member
RE: Getting no power ???

FIRST CHK THE WATER IN THE BATTERIES THEN THE CONNECTIONS AT THE BATTERY THEN PUT A REAL BATTERY CHARGER ON THE BATTERY LET IT CHARGE FOR 24 HOURS ON A 10 AMP CHARGE RATE. IF YOU STILL HAVE NO LIGHTS OR POWER TRY AND FOLLOW THE POSITIVE LEAD FROM THE BATTERY YOU WILL FIND A FUSE OR CIRCUT BREAKER SOMEWHERE IN THE BATTERY LEAD USUALY RATED FOR SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN CONVERTOR OUTPUT. ON MOST TRAVEL TRAILERS THE FUSE IS MOUNTED ON THE FRAME NEAR THE BATTERY. NEXT GO TO THE FUSE PANEL AND CHK THE FUSES I PREFER TO USE A TEST LIGHT AS IT CAN BE QUICKER TO CHK THAT WAY IF YOU HAVE ONE OF THE COMBO POWER BOXES 110 BREAKER ON THE LEFT AND 12V FUSES ON THE RIGHT THERE ARE A COUPLE OF BASIC DIFFERANCES BETWEEN THEM AND YOU NEED TO KNOW WHICH ONE YOU HAVE TO TEST IT IF YOU HAVE A SEPERATE CONVERTOR THEY USUALLY PLUG INTO A WALL OUTLET CHK TO SEE IF YOU HAVE POWER AT THE OUTLET I HAVE SEEN A FEW UNITS THAT USE A GFI OUTLET AND IF IT TRIPS THE GFI YOU LOSE THE CONVERTOR. EVEN WITH A FULLY CHARGED BATTERY YOU SHOULD SEE A DIFFERANCE WHEN THE CONVERTOR IS ON OR OFF AS IT SHOULD PROVIDE ABOUT A .5 V INCREASE WHEN WORKING. MOST STAND ALONE CONVERTORS HAVE FUSES IN THEM THAT WILL NEED TO BE CHECKED AS WELL. THAT SHOULD KEEP YOU BUSY AND IF YOU DON'T FIGURE OUT THE PROBLEM WRITE BACK WITH MORE INFO MODEL #'S OF COMPONETS ECT WILL BE GLAD TO TRY AND HELP.
JIM
 

RVNoobie

New Member
Re: Getting no power ???

Ok, thanks everyone for all the input. I now have this forum on speed dial since I'm learning all kinds of need to know stuff. After reading the possibility of it being my converter and it still being under warranty I called my dealer. They mentioned to check the breakers on the converter to see if they tripped and if all is well and still no power then bring it in. Well I'm happy to say the breaker had tripped. Once reset, and power plugged into outlet, I now have power again to the trailer. Now my questions are why did it trip? and will I still have converter problems? I'm going to leave it plugged in for 24hrs and then check for power without being plugged in to see if the battery is/was charged. If it's still dead does that conclude the converter is bad? Time will tell.......
 

C Nash

Senior Member
Re: Getting no power ???

No, that does not conclude that the converter is bad but you should take it back to the dealer if it still has a problem. Could be a short if it trips again or you may have just been pulling to many amps for some reason. Dry batteries could cause the problem as the previous poster said so ck water level in the batteries. Some converters are notorious for boiling water out. If yours does not have a battery mizer (called something like that) you need one. It keeps the charge regulated. Post the brand of converter and you might get better info?
 
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