# Newbie Questions?how Long Will A Battery Run A 28Bhs



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

We had a problem on our last camping trip getting the power jack to go up and getting the slide in because our battery was dead. Is the camper supposed to be powered up when you hook it up to the truck? If so, what could be the problem if it doesn't? Also, should the truck charge the battery if it is just idling? We have a trip planned to NW Michigan in a couple weeks where we will be dry camping and I would like to resolve my battery issues before we leave. On our last trip the battery only lasted a day or so just running the water pump and some lights once in a while.


----------



## Dan Borer (Feb 6, 2009)

Most factory tow packages with the 7 pin connector have the ability to charge the trailer battery when hooked up, but you may have to put in a fuse or relay to get it to work. I know that both my 2001 and 2009 Ford F150s had a relay that had to be put in to energize the charge wire.


----------



## luverofpeanuts (Mar 9, 2010)

Dan Borer said:


> Most factory tow packages with the 7 pin connector have the ability to charge the trailer battery when hooked up, but you may have to put in a fuse or relay to get it to work. I know that both my 2001 and 2009 Ford F150s had a relay that had to be put in to energize the charge wire.


Ditto. Your battery should charge if hooked into a 7-pin connector. I'd investigate why if that was not the case.

I just returned from 4 nights of dry camping after 1 night of full hookups. We setup our dry camping spot on Sunday at 4pm. My battery died Tuesday morning around 7am after minimal light usage and some routine running of the water pump. I suspect this is relatively standard for the group 24 battery that came with my trailer. Does that sound right?

On my last trailer I upgraded to a group 31 and had a couple of more days capacity. This time, I think I will review the often mentioned upgrade to dual 6 volt batteries. If you plan to do lots of dry camping, I'd investigate upgrading your battery situation as well, or carry along a small inverter generator to charge the batteries.

We decided dry camping would only be an option in better temps. It was mid 70's to mid 80's where we were with high humidity and lots of mosquitos. It was not pleasant with no breeze through the camper and sleeping was restless. I used a Honda 3000 generator to recharge the batteries during the day, but did not run it for A/C since we were off doing stuff most of the time.


----------



## W5CI (Apr 21, 2009)

On your 2000 GMC you must install a fuse into the fues panel under the hood to supply power to the tt 7 pin plug.


----------



## Justman (Jul 22, 2006)

Here's a good one for you... Read somewhere the altenator on GMC/Chevy trucks will not provide full power unless you engage tow/haul mode or turn the lights on. Somehow the computer dictates the power required, and unless either of those conditions are met, it reduces the power output from the altenator. The normal power output is enough to charge the vehicle battery, but not the camper battery. Turn on tow/haul and your altenator will charge both.

Like others have stated, you also need to add the fuse to provide battery power to the 7 pin.


----------



## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Justman said:


> Here's a good one for you... Read somewhere the altenator on GMC/Chevy trucks will not provide full power unless you engage tow/haul mode or turn the lights on. Somehow the computer dictates the power required, and unless either of those conditions are met, it reduces the power output from the altenator. The normal power output is enough to charge the vehicle battery, but not the camper battery. Turn on tow/haul and your altenator will charge both.
> 
> Like others have stated, you also need to add the fuse to provide battery power to the 7 pin.


Don't you hate it when a vehicle thinks it's smarter than you are.....









Now is the battery new? If so it should last a couple days in my experience...


----------



## tallruss (Jul 30, 2010)

Along the same line; I have a 2008 Outback Sidney 5th wheel and I pull it with a Toyota Tundra. What I learned is that the battery, if left connected when RV is stored, will drain within a few days even when everything is powered down. I now disconnect the hot wire from the battery when not using the RV and reconnect it when going on a trip. Some circuit in the RV must
continue to draw current after the unit is off. I was told that Walmart sells an inline power switch to place in series with the battery wire. Either case, disconnect the wire and save the battery.


----------



## luverofpeanuts (Mar 9, 2010)

tallruss said:


> Along the same line; I have a 2008 Outback Sidney 5th wheel and I pull it with a Toyota Tundra. What I learned is that the battery, if left connected when RV is stored, will drain within a few days even when everything is powered down. I now disconnect the hot wire from the battery when not using the RV and reconnect it when going on a trip. Some circuit in the RV must
> continue to draw current after the unit is off. I was told that Walmart sells an inline power switch to place in series with the battery wire. Either case, disconnect the wire and save the battery.


I do the same thing...though I disconnect the negative wire. I thought that was the more recommended wire to disconnect.... though I can't articulate why at this point ;-)


----------



## Ish (Jun 15, 2010)

luverofpeanuts said:


> Along the same line; I have a 2008 Outback Sidney 5th wheel and I pull it with a Toyota Tundra. What I learned is that the battery, if left connected when RV is stored, will drain within a few days even when everything is powered down. I now disconnect the hot wire from the battery when not using the RV and reconnect it when going on a trip. Some circuit in the RV must
> continue to draw current after the unit is off. I was told that Walmart sells an inline power switch to place in series with the battery wire. Either case, disconnect the wire and save the battery.


I do the same thing...though I disconnect the negative wire. I thought that was the more recommended wire to disconnect.... though I can't articulate why at this point ;-)
[/quote]

Yes. Disconnect the negative. Less risk of blowing things up.


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Disconnecting the negative is safer for one primary reason, if you accidentally ground the wrench it will not cause a short or any other detrimental issues. If you disconnect the positive first and you touch the wrench to ground you will have major issues. If you disconnect or reconnect under load it does not matter which you do first or last there will be arcing, so always make sure there are no loads when you connect or disconnect the battery.


----------



## W4DRR (May 17, 2005)

The battery killer is the Propane Alarm, located down near the floor. It has no on/off switch. It is also the source of an annoying beeping sound when the battery is near death. I measured the draw on our 23RS once, with everything shut down, and it was approximately 150mA (0.15A). So if you run the numbers on a 24 Group battery, which is 85AH at it's best, you will come up with about 3 weeks of run time.
So yes, while being stored, either disconnect one of the battery terminals, or keep the trailer plugged in to shore power all the time.
And as a side note, we keep ours on shore power all the time, as it is parked at our house. I finally had to replace the battery last weekend, when it gave it up. We got nearly 6 seasons out of that battery (it was the dealer-installed original).

Bob


----------



## luverofpeanuts (Mar 9, 2010)

W4DRR said:


> The battery killer is the Propane Alarm, located down near the floor. It has no on/off switch. It is also the source of an annoying beeping sound when the battery is near death.


I forgot about that. When our battery drained recently, the indicator was the fridge. I woke up Tuesday morning and heard the fridge "clicking"... and it wasn't the "trying to light the gas" click. Turning a ceiling light on revealed it was a little dim, but wasn't out.... and I didn't get any beep from the propane alarm!


----------



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

Thanks for all the helpful advice, I checked my truck for the fuse that I need to run power to the 7 pin and I am pretty sure it has already been installed, it was a large 40 amp fuse. I also found that I had a blown 30 amp converter fuse in the camper, so I replaced that, I am not sure what that fuse does since everthing operated normal without it. I disconnected the negative cable to the battery and unplugged shore power to see if the truck would power up the camper but I could not get the power jack to operate or the slide to operate, I did get some lights to come on but they were very dim. Does anyone know if I have to have the battery hooked up (even if it is dead) to get the truck to power up the camper. I think the battery is the original battery from 03'so I am going to upgrade to a group 31 battery like luverofpeanuts suggested, I would also like to buy an inverter generator when I have some extra money. I don't really have a way to check if my truck will charge the battery until it goes dead on our next trip, I am hoping the blown 30 amp fuse in the camper might have something to do with it. Worst case I might have to pull the truck battery out to put the slide in and hook up the hitch. Thanks again for all the helpful advice.


----------



## hautevue (Mar 8, 2009)

Popping a 30a converter fuse is not trivial--find out which 12v circuit was down and why.

The usual procedure for battery cutoffs is to install a knife-blade switch, or a flat switch, on the battery negative terminal, and feed the negative (ground) wire(s) into the switch. The switches I've seen mount on the negative post. Thus when the switch is "open" (off) the ground return is cut out and nothing will work.

This shuts off the subtle power drains: the propane detector as you've found, plus the stereo. Those two can drain a battery while baby is in storage, in a matter of 2 - 3 weeks.

Power tongue jack: To get around the issue of my elec. tongue jack not working when the battery switch is "off", I took some #12 white wire, crimped a ring connector on one end, and put that ring under one of the three mounting bolts of the tongue jack. (Scrape the paint and crud off the frame under the ring so the ring makes a good electrical connection to ground.)

Then I ran the wire to the negative post of the battery, by-passing the cutoff switch. Use tie-ties as needed for support and to prevent drooping of the wire. Now the tongue jack has a ground return and will work regardless of the battery switch. And the tongue jack draws no current when unused, so it does not affect the battery. This allows me to use the tongue jack any time.


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

At this point I would recommend you buy a volt meter to be able to better trouble shoot the issue(s).

The 30 amp fuses on the converter are the reverse polarity protection so at some point the battery was connected backwards.

There are several items in the electrical system to check that can isolate any issues but you need that volt meter. Also if the battery is that old just replace it and we can start from there.

BTW you really do not want to run the slide with only the power from the truck battery through the 7 pin connector, the wire size is too small and you can cause damage to the slide motor.


----------



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

I just purchased the camper about a month ago and I noticed that the hot (black) wire from the power jack was spliced into a white wire which was attached to the + battery post. So I am guessing the previous owner at some point hooked that wire to the - terminal which is what probably caused the 30 amp fuse to blow.

Well I have a new voltmeter, now I need to figure out how to use it and what to test. I plan on picking up a new battery this week. On my last trip the battery was dead when we left camp, but when we got home it was 3/4 charged, so it will charge if I am driving, but when I tried to charge it with the truck just idling for 45 min. or so it still did not have enough power to operate the slide or jack. Is there any way to check and see if the new battery will charge with the truck just idling with out draining the new battery and trying to charge it?


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

To see if the battery is charging from the truck.

First measure the voltage at the trailer battery just before you connect the 7 pin connector. Record the voltage, it should be between 10.6 and 12.6 vdc. Start the truck and then connect the truck to the trailer. Now measure the voltage at the battery again and it should have increased from what you recorded without it connected. As mentioned the output from the alternator on some TV require that you have the tow/haul button selected to power back to the trailer. Also have your DW rev the engine to 2500 rpm or so and see if you get an increase in voltage at the trailer battery. If you do then it is charging. The problem is it depends on the wire size from the alternator to the trailer on how much voltage drop you get and thus how effective the charge is.


----------



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

I tested the battery w/out being hooked up to the truck and it reads 12.6. After hooking up the truck and pushing the tow/haul it still reads the same, even with the DW reving it to 2500 rpm. What I don't understand is how the battery charged when I towed the camper home from our last trip. Maybe the truck needs to be in "drive" to charge?


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

The next step is then to measure the voltage at the back of the truck. measure from pin 4 (positive) and Pin 1 (ground) or to the truck frame. This will tell you if the truck is sending voltage to the trailer. If it is then the fault will most likely be with the auto reset breakers next to the battery.


----------



## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

You know how they say a photo is worth 1000 words, I have attached a photo to show which pin should have the 12 volts from your truck to charge the campers battery. You should be able to put the black probe from your volt meter on any metal part of your truck and the red probe on pin number 4 at it will show if you have power from your truck.


----------



## BoaterDan (Jul 1, 2005)

luverofpeanuts said:


> I just returned from 4 nights of dry camping after 1 night of full hookups. We setup our dry camping spot on Sunday at 4pm. My battery died Tuesday morning around 7am after minimal light usage and some routine running of the water pump. I suspect this is relatively standard for the group 24 battery that came with my trailer. Does that sound right?


I know this was a while back in this thread, but you should easily get more than that with nursing the light and water pump usage.


----------



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

CamperAndy said:


> The next step is then to measure the voltage at the back of the truck. measure from pin 4 (positive) and Pin 1 (ground) or to the truck frame. This will tell you if the truck is sending voltage to the trailer. If it is then the fault will most likely be with the auto reset breakers next to the battery.


I tested the voltage at the back of the truck, it read 12.6 with the truck off and it read 14.5 with the truck idling, so it looks like all is good to that point. I looked for the auto reset breakers but I could not find them. I have a junction box mounted to the trailer frame by the battery, but the top screw of the cover plate is very difficult to access, would the breakers be in there? If so I am sure I can get to it, I just didn't want to struggle with it if there are no breakers in it.


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Follow the positive wire from the battery to the first connection, this will be the auto reset breaker. Measure voltage pole to pole and it should read 0 vdc, anything else indicates the breaker has a high resistance and should be replaced. You should have 2 of these breakers. the closest to the battery will be a 50 amp which is the main breaker and the next one will be a 30 or 40 amp and it is for the slide.


----------



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

I only see one breaker, or what appears to be a breaker, I have attached a picture of what I tested. The volt meter read 0 when I touched one probe to the top side of the breaker and the other probe to the bottom side of the breaker. Maybe the other breaker is in the junction box?

Thank you for your patience as you have been walking me through this issue.


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Well that is the breaker, a bit rusty but it may be working okay if it reads 0 vdc pole to pole. Please check each pole to ground and it should read your trailer battery voltage.

The 4 square box is where the pig tail connects and it could have a loose connection. The black wire with the yellow crimp connector is the feed from the TV to the trailer. Try this test.

Plug in the trailer to the truck and measure each pole to ground with the truck running. It should be near the 14 vdc you measured at the truck connection.


----------



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

I checked each side of the breaker to a ground and they both read 12.6, which is what the battery reads.

I then hooked it up to the truck and tested both poles on the breaker, but they both still read 12.6. I unplugged the trailer and double checked the voltage at the 7 pin and it read 14.6. I opened up the junction box and checked all the connections, and all are good. I re-checked the same measurements about an hour later and the battery read 12.7 and the breaker poles measured 12.1, both with and w/out being plugged into the truck.


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Well that means you have a loose connection or a broken wire in the pig tail or the connector has a bunch of crud in the connector that is preventing a good connection. The next test would be to check the resistance from the trailer connection back to the 4 square box for each wire.

There is the one discrepancy of 12.1 at the breaker and 12.7 on the battery. This would indicate a bad connection on the battery or the breaker. The rust on the breaker may be part of the issue. You may want to take them apart, wire brush and put it back together with a dab of dielectric grease.


----------



## Great Lakes camper (Aug 12, 2010)

well the problem is solved. As I was taking the nuts off the breaker poles to clean and grease them, I noticed that the screw that connected the ground wire from the breaker to the junction box was broken off and no longer making a good connection. I installed a new ground screw into the frame and now I get a reading of 12.8 without the truck running, and 14 with the truck running.

Thanks for all the help from everyone, I have learned alot about troubleshooting in the last week. Thanks again CamperAndy for walking me through it step by step









Now I know that I won't be stuck in the woods with a dead battery and no way to lift the tongue or put in the slide.


----------



## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

Well I said broken wire, I guess I will have to add broken screw to the list of failures.

Glad you got it fixed.


----------



## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Glad to hear you found it. Now if you're feeling adventurous, go for this mod:

Before:









After:

















Note, I mounted the breakers in a box so they were protected as well.


----------

