Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
^^ Does your trailer not have a charger built in? Mine looks like this one:
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping...mp-brown/74212
Basically it takes the power from your battery and distributes it to the devices inside; and also when plugged in gives you power to charge the battery.
For testing, you want a digital multimeter. Canadian Tire will often have one on around $10 (Not sure if that one is any good or not.)
What you are looking for is as follows when connected to your battery:
> 12.9 volts- it's charging the battery. Typically charging voltage will be 13.5 to 14 volts
12.5 to 12.7 volts- fully charged battery
11.75- 12 volts- time to look at recharging the battery
11.5 volts- minimum I ever let my battery get to.
<= 11 volts- you are risking permanent damage to your battery by going this low.
I am also curious where that 2nd wire coming off the positive post is going. Could be something that is draining the battery.
As for DIY replacement of that fuse- I would say it's easy. Keep in mind that unlike speaker wire you have thousands of times more electrons squeezing through those wires, so make sure your connections are solid. |
Thanks for the reply.
I'm sure it does (have a built in charger), I had the trailer plugged in for a few days prior to the trip - but if the fuse was blown no power would be going through to charge (my assumption). With what I think is a blown fuse (but could be the whole fuse holder) I have no way to know if my batteries are working as the entire electrical is dead without being plugged into a power supply. Hence the need for something to check to see if the batteries are dead or not. Which I then questioned "if I'm buying something to test the batteries is there also something that charges them (talking about winter storage or a between long trailering breaks, not a quick pre-trip charge).
My thought process was:
1. replace fuse (if not solution)
2. replace wire/fuse holder (if not solution)
3. test batteries and charge if need be with unattached charger
Re: that fuse and wondering where that wire is going. Sorry, should have attached a better picture but didn't want to uncover the second battery cover out of sheer laziness.
I think the black and orange is going to the emergency trailer brake plug thing. You know, the plug that's tied to your hitch on the tow vehicle so if the hitch brakes it gets pulled and engages the brakes on the trailer.
