# Dead Dead Battery Updated!!!



## kywoman (Feb 9, 2006)

OK What's up with my NEW electric hitch??? I just picked up my camper from the storage area and went to hitch up and no power...the battery was DEAD FLAT this is the second time that this has happend last time I towed the camper home and pluged into the house and blew a fuse ( in the house)..the battery was bone dry..Service man came and installed new marine deep cylce battery and all was well again..and now today same problem..I am scared to plug the camper into the house to charge battery..I checked the thingamagig that tells you your levels of stuff in the camper and the lights won't even come on to show empty or low
WHAT SHOUD I DO NOW???
Stephanie

OK Borrowed neighbors battery charger thing and now charging battery...so how do I keep this from happening again???PLEASE explain in terms that a 7 grader can understand no tech..stuff..because I will be doing it myself
Stephanie


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

Stephanie,

While in storage, is your battery disconnected from the camper and the electric jack leads (or at least the ground wire)? If you leave it connected, the propane detector in the camper will drain the battery within 2-3 weeks, and there could be a grounding somewhere in the system that causes the battery to drain.

The house fuse blowing makes me wonder if your battery is not wired backwards. Make sure your leads to the camper and the leads to the electric jack are on the correct posts.

I would also suggest a dedicated, three-stage battery charger for recharging the battery. Others will say the OB's converter will do just fine, but I prefer a dedicated charger to apply a quality charge to my battery set. If the battery is completely dry, the OB's converter will throw out a boost charge of 14 amps or thereabouts, and if anything else is running in the camper at the time, could in itself cause a 15 amp household breaker to throw.


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## Calvin&Hobbes (May 24, 2006)

Steph- I did the same thing over the winter- and the battery was dead- GoVols is on the money, the CO drained my battery. I have since installed a bladed switch to disconnect. The house fuse? hum... Thats got me scratching my head. Unless it was just a weak breaker, and the sudden charge from the inverter made it punch out. ?


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## Mgonzo2u (Aug 3, 2004)

As previously advised, you can not leave the batteries connected on the TT or they will get drained down over a short time. I disconnect my dual 6V's from the trailer every time the TT goes into storage and charge them with a battery tender, then re-insert at the start of the next trip.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

CO detectors do not drain the battery but the Propane leaak detector will kill the batteries.


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## kywoman (Feb 9, 2006)

BUMP


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## map guy (Jan 11, 2007)

kywoman said:


> OK Borrowed neighbors battery charger thing and now charging battery...so how do I keep this from happening again???PLEASE explain in terms that a 7 grader can understand no tech..stuff..because I will be doing it myself
> Stephanie


Stephanie, 
I suggest that you do a little reading at this website to get an understanding how the trailer electrical system works. Read both parts!
12 Volt side of Life

After getting a little more familar with the way all this stuff works you should install a master battery disconnect switch on the trailer to remove the parasitic loads from the battery during storage.

You can disconnect the battery from the trailer electrical system by unbolting the negative battery cable from the battery. (if no master batttery switch as is the case now) Don't allow the negative cable to contact the positive cable or terminal under any circumstances during battery service.

Remember to always disconnect the negative battery cable first and reconnect the negative battery cable last to minimize sparking that could in an extreme situation cause a battery explosion. Wear eye protection and latex or nitrle gloves for protection from wayward battery acid when dealing with batteries, too

Hope this helps you get a little better understanding of the big picture of the electrial system.

Map Guy


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

kywoman said:


> OK Borrowed neighbors battery charger thing and now charging battery...so how do I keep this from happening again???PLEASE explain in terms that a 7 grader can understand no tech..stuff..because I will be doing it myself
> Stephanie


1) Just disconnect the white (negative) lead that goes from the battery's negative post to the frame. This will keep the battery from draining while in storage.

2) ALWAYS charge the battery after returning from a camping trip. Leaving a battery partially discharged is guaranteed to shorten its life.

3) If it is camping season and you are using the camper, you should be OK between trips if you topped off the battery after the last trip. If you are talking about winter storage over a number of months, take the battery out and keep it at home. Purchase a "battery minder" or "battery tender" to maintain a trickle charge on it, or you can simply remember to hook up a regular battery charger once a month to top it off.


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## JimWilson (Feb 24, 2004)

To be honest, if the battery really did run dry it's probably shot. I can't imagine a scenario that would bring it back to life. That also may be why the circuit breaker tripped on the house; it's might be acting as though it's shorted.


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Great advice so far. Install a battery cut-off switch and take a picture of your battery set-up. It will worth its weight in gold come hook up time. Labeling them as well really helps. I also added numbers so I know the order as well. Too many people have hooked their batteries up incorrectly.

Thor


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