bad battery seperator?

[2020]

Stored my camper & truck under the carport last winter. Started & ran the truck a couple of times just because I thought I should. I kept the camper DC breaker knob pushed in (off) all winter. Truck has been idle the last couple of months. I tried to start the truck but this time the battery was drained. All four meter lights in the camper light up, indicating camper batteries are fully charged. Are the camper batteries sucking all the juice out of my truck battery?

I put a charger on the truck battery but it behaved erratically and overheated. A rapid clicking sound started coming from the space in the truck bed between the camper and the truck cab. What could that be? I thought the only thing in that space was the plug connection from the camper to the truck battery. Clicking was not audible from inside the camper, nor was it coming from anything inside the camper battery compartment. The clicking stopped when I disconnected the lead from the truck battery to the camper. Reconnecting the lead caused the clicking to start again. I left it disconnected and then I was able to charge the truck battery. Once the truck battery was charged I reconnected the lead to the camper battery and everything appeared to be working fine again.

The truck sat idle for another week and now the battery is drained again.

I bought the camper new in 2014 and never had this issue before. If the battery separator is that dubious I think I might just have a separate alternator installed just for the camper batteries.

So what do y'all make of this?

Thanks for your input.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

How old is the truck battery?
Could that be the problem?
Also you might switch to a battery "isolator" instead of a separator.
Someone will post the "tech" info on a isolator.
Frank

 

[2020]

How old is the truck battery?
Could that be the problem?
Also you might switch to a battery "isolator" instead of a separator.
Someone will post the "tech" info on a isolator.
Frank

Battery came with the truck. I don't know how old it is. Bought the truck in 2014. Right now I am charging up with camper batteries disconnected. If truck battery holds charge with camper batteries disconnected that will eliminate truck battery as an issue.

 

[TrapperMike]

I would recommend a load test on the truck battery first. Most auto parts stores will do this for you, just call ahead to confirm.
I switched out my separator to the Blue Sea ACR which has a manual override switch, but for different reasons than those you are having.

 

[2020]

Looks like you folks were right. The truck battery was bad. I bought a new 5 year battery. Thanks for the input.

I'm still curious about what was causing that clicking sound coming from the truck bed between the camper & truck cab.

 

[2020]

I thought maybe the isolator/separator was trying to connect because the charger increased the voltage first but then the voltage would drop (an unconnect) when current went to the camper because of the weak starter battery, click-click, then repeat this cycle. Too much current could be going to the weak starter battery causing a large voltage drop when the isolator/separator tried to complete the circuit and send current to the camper.

It was a constant rapid clicking sound. It started when I tried to charge the truck battery. It continued even after I disconnected the charger. It did not stop when I disconnected the leads on the camper batteries. It stopped only when I disconnected the leads on the truck battery which were going to the camper. When I reconnected that lead on the truck battery the clicking would start again.

After I charged the battery with the camper lead removed, I reconnected the camper lead and there was no more clicking.

A week later the truck battery was dead again. I connected the charger again but this time no clicking. Maybe the battery was too far gone. It would not charge anymore.

Everything is reconnected now to the new truck battery. No clicking. All appears well.

Electricity is weird. A college physics professor on the first day of his new freshman class announced, "This semester we're going to study electricity. Can anyone tell us what electricity is?" One young freshman eager to make an impression quickly raised his hand, but as he looked around he saw that none of the other students had their hands raised so he slowly put his hand back down. The professor had seen him, however, and quickly asked, "You, young man, will you please be so kind as to tell us what electricity is?" The young student sheepishly sputtered, "Uhh... I forgot." The professor glared at the young freshman and spouted in a condescending tone, "Well now that's just great. The only person in the world who knows what electricity is... and he forgot!"

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Glad this worked out for you.
Yes it can get weird.
Frank