2014 Camping Thread

[hedge]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Ok, swapped out the suspected blown fuse for a 30 amp fuse (it said "30 amp main" on the little fuse holder) and I now have tiny amount of power going into the trailer. If I turn on any of the lights, they take a second to come on and then come on very very dimly. This happens without all the main breakers flipped on. I had no idea what type of batteries I have and no idea what it means if they're 6's vs. 12's.

sounds like that was your problem, the dim lights mean the batteries are really low, hopefully you can save them. You really should get a meter and test the voltage. Generally you don't want to ever let your battteries get much below 12V.

I'd also suggest pulling the caps off the batteries and make sure the acid level is over the plates. If not add distilled water. Some chargers built into rv's are better than others, some are multi stage chargers whereas others just supply a constant voltage to the batteries, this style can cause the batteries to off gas more than usual. All batteries off gas to a certain extent (other than AGM's).

I personally like 6V batteries better, they seem to last longer as well as provide more a/h. You're trailer still needs 12V so 6v's you always need pairs wired in series to provide 12V. If you had 2 12v batteries they'd be wired in parallel.

As said above the downfall of 6V is that if one fails you're done.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by hedge

sounds like that was your problem, the dim lights mean the batteries are really low, hopefully you can save them. You really should get a meter and test the voltage. Generally you don't want to ever let your battteries get much below 12V.

I'd also suggest pulling the caps off the batteries and make sure the acid level is over the plates. If not add distilled water. Some chargers built into rv's are better than others, some are multi stage chargers whereas others just supply a constant voltage to the batteries, this style can cause the batteries to off gas more than usual. All batteries off gas to a certain extent (other than AGM's).

I personally like 6V batteries better, they seem to last longer as well as provide more a/h. You're trailer still needs 12V so 6v's you always need pairs wired in series to provide 12V. If you had 2 12v batteries they'd be wired in parallel.

As said above the downfall of 6V is that if one fails you're done.

Did that last week. (added water).

I don't have any charging method other than plugging the RV in. Guess I'm stopping by Canadian Tire today - any recommendations?

[Madman]

I'm with the other guys in being a little suspect of the wiring.

Make sure the connector between the two batteries is the same gauge as everything else - it looks like it might be pretty thin from your pictures.

Is there no breaker panel in your trailer? Just wondering why the need for an inline fuse right off the battery.

Check that connection between the green and black wires too, if it was done poorly then that'll cause you headaches too.

The other thing to add into your setup is a battery disconnect switch:
http://www.amazon.com/Marinco-701-Ba...N04ZPCD4KWXXW9

You'll want to have that so when you park your trailer, nothing will slowly drain your batteries. (fridge lights, smoke/gas detectors) It's also a lot easier to wire one of those and simply turn the dial as opposed to taking a battery cover off and undoing a terminal.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Did that last week. (added water).

I don't have any charging method other than plugging the RV in. Guess I'm stopping by Canadian Tire today - any recommendations?

I picked up a really good and compact multi-stage charger from Woody's RV. I can't remember the name offhand though.

[Madman]

I use a CTek charger all winter on my 6s to keep them in shape.

http://www.ctek.com/int/en/chargers/12v

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Madman

I use a CTek charger all winter on my 6s to keep them in shape.

http://www.ctek.com/int/en/chargers/12v

Thank you for saving me some work, I also have a CTek.

Edit: I am pretty sure I have the MXS 5.0

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Madman

I'm with the other guys in being a little suspect of the wiring.

Make sure the connector between the two batteries is the same gauge as everything else - it looks like it might be pretty thin from your pictures.

Is there no breaker panel in your trailer? Just wondering why the need for an inline fuse right off the battery.

Check that connection between the green and black wires too, if it was done poorly then that'll cause you headaches too.

The other thing to add into your setup is a battery disconnect switch:
http://www.amazon.com/Marinco-701-Ba...N04ZPCD4KWXXW9

You'll want to have that so when you park your trailer, nothing will slowly drain your batteries. (fridge lights, smoke/gas detectors) It's also a lot easier to wire one of those and simply turn the dial as opposed to taking a battery cover off and undoing a terminal.

There is a breaker panel on the inside.

Will the batteries charge (plugged in) if the breaker panel is completely off?

I turned on all the breakers and plugged it in this morning before heading off to work. We'll see if it's charged at all by the time I get home. I also thought I heard something from the front of the trailer as I plugged in and walked away. Wondering if the fuse blew again.

Speaking of battery disconnect, couldn't that be what the fuse is? I seem to remember the seller telling me about it... That maybe he just pulled it to kill the connection to anything?

[Madman]

Yeah, I was thinking that could be the reason for the fuse - but I don't like that use for it.

If it were mine, I'd rip that out and replace it with a correct piece of equipment.

The noise you heard may likely have been the inverter kicking in once you powered the trailer up, they have a low hum to them.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Madman

Yeah, I was thinking that could be the reason for the fuse - but I don't like that use for it.

If it were mine, I'd rip that out and replace it with a correct piece of equipment.

The noise you heard may likely have been the inverter kicking in once you powered the trailer up, they have a low hum to them.

That was my hope

Apparently Canadian Tire discontinued carrying CTEK.

Anyone have an opinion on these units or the price?

NOCO Charger?
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/no...l#.U6BNA29OWAg

[calgarygringo]

Try Princess Auto, Cap It and JB's as they sell them as well.

[FlamesKickAss]

Originally Posted by Madman

I'm with the other guys in being a little suspect of the wiring.

Make sure the connector between the two batteries is the same gauge as everything else - it looks like it might be pretty thin from your pictures.

Is there no breaker panel in your trailer? Just wondering why the need for an inline fuse right off the battery.

Check that connection between the green and black wires too, if it was done poorly then that'll cause you headaches too.

The other thing to add into your setup is a battery disconnect switch:
http://www.amazon.com/Marinco-701-Ba...N04ZPCD4KWXXW9

You'll want to have that so when you park your trailer, nothing will slowly drain your batteries. (fridge lights, smoke/gas detectors) It's also a lot easier to wire one of those and simply turn the dial as opposed to taking a battery cover off and undoing a terminal.

I did this and bought all my stuff at princess auto

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/F...itch/8437402.p

[rubecube]

Tenting at French Beach this Saturday for a couple of nights.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...gs/french_bch/

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Tenting at French Beach this Saturday for a couple of nights.

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/exp...gs/french_bch/

That should be nice! Where's your starting/origination point?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

That should be nice! Where's your starting/origination point?

Just heading straight from Victoria. It's about a 45-60 min drive.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Just heading straight from Victoria. It's about a 45-60 min drive.

Nice, didn't realize you were in Victoria. Camping on the coast, one of the many pluses of living in the area!

Onto my uselessness.

Went to Princess Auto where they didn't seem to know there was a difference between a trailer and car battery and tried to sell me a large car battery charger which I declined.

They did sell me this... Which I'm not educated enough as to whether or not I should have declined this too.




Anyway, after plugging in my battery for 24 hours with a new fuse I unplugged, walked into trailer, hit the fresh water button to see if it would light up or anything and I got full red then blank (should have tested a light first), no lights, gage to test tank didn't work anymore, went outside and the fuse was blown again.

So... I'm assuming the battery is charged but not sure, and if it is, it's not doing me any use as it blew the fuse ASAP.

So I tried the multimeter on various settings and tapping the various terminals but nothing happened. The instruction manual didn't have any instructions.

Watching a youtube video right now to see it I can figure it out

[Diemenz]

What size fuse?

[2ArmBands]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

Nice, didn't realize you were in Victoria. Camping on the coast, one of the many pluses of living in the area!

Onto my uselessness.

Went to Princess Auto where they didn't seem to know there was a difference between a trailer and car battery and tried to sell me a large car battery charger which I declined.

They did sell me this... Which I'm not educated enough as to whether or not I should have declined this too.




Anyway, after plugging in my battery for 24 hours with a new fuse I unplugged, walked into trailer, hit the fresh water button to see if it would light up or anything and I got full red then blank (should have tested a light first), no lights, gage to test tank didn't work anymore, went outside and the fuse was blown again.

So... I'm assuming the battery is charged but not sure, and if it is, it's not doing me any use as it blew the fuse ASAP.

So I tried the multimeter on various settings and tapping the various terminals but nothing happened. The instruction manual didn't have any instructions.

Watching a youtube video right now to see it I can figure it out

Get some readings off the battery using the DC voltmeter. Looks to be in red on your meter (the straight line and not the sine wave) report them here

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

What size fuse?

30amp

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

What size fuse?

Originally Posted by 2ArmBands

Get some readings off the battery using the DC voltmeter. Looks to be in red on your meter (the straight line and not the sine wave) report them here

Testing battery 1 and 2 using the plug setting above (red on right, black in middle) and the Red 20 V with two lines under it.

Battery 1 = 5.68 (it bounces around a bit until it seems to stabilize on that number)
Battery 2 = 0.03

Positive of battery 1 and negative of battery 2 = 5.72
Positive of batter 2 and negative of battery 1 = 0.00 (I think, or close to 0.00).

[2ArmBands]

You definitely have a battery that is no good.

Your 2 6v batteries connected in series should give you 12V output.