Battery Charge/Maintenance

[Brieboldt]

HI Everyone, I am desperate for some help. My father passed way a year and a half ago and he was an adventurous camper/surfer. I now have his four wheel pop up camper and was super excited to take my kids on some fun adventures but I can't get it to work. I have brought it to the factory in Woodside CA, they put in a new battery and said all is well, but by the time I drove home it was dead. I also brought it to an RV place who also sold me a battery, which had the same fate. I have looked all everywhere trying to find a more detailed User's Manual so that I can learn how to use/have/keep a battery charged or working but I can't find any info.
Question: How does the electrical system work? Should the truck charge the battery while I drive? Or do I charge the battery while plugged into shore power, and how long should a fully charged battery last before I have to recharge.

I'm just trying to keep the lights on and the fans running when I need them.

I'll probably have a million questions, so in advanced thanks everyone.

Brie

 

[97grandby]

Hi brie, welcome aboard. Sounds like something is draining your battery to the point that it can't be recharged. It all depends on the year of camper
You have and what system you have wired in your camper. You can search the forum for trimetic 2030 rv battery monitor. It's basicly a fuel gauge for your battery and helps you know when things are on and how much power they are drawing. If you can let us know the year of your camper and possibly some pictures of your battery and wiring set up lots of solid people here on the boards can offer their advice.

 

[Brieboldt]

Thanks 97. It's either 2001 or 2002. I will take some pictures later this week as it's in storage.

 

[gaylon]

Post pics, Brie. We'll help.

 

[PaulT]

Brie,
If it is a Four Wheel Camper, there should be a metallic plaque on the rear below the door, maybe to the right of the door, that identifies the camper. With that info, you can download an owner's manual for the camper. Manuals for options should be there too
http://www.fourwh.com/support/popup-truck-camper-repair-service-manuals/

That should give you some places to look for ideas.

Paul

 

[WestCoast]

Is the main switch to kill power off?

 

[Beach]

If the camper doesn't have a solar system installed, then your only charging sources will be shore power input through a charger/ inverter of some type and/or charging from the truck while it is running, provided your dad/you had it wired that way. As mentioned, be sure the main 12v switch is off when not using the camper. Depending on what size battery you have , it only has so many amp hrs of power avail., if you don't know how many amps your drawing with different accessories turned on then you can run the battery down in short order. you can even run it so low it will permanently damage the battery to where it will not fully charge anymore. Read the avail manuals on the above link, that should help you with some answers. If you don't have a volt meter, get one.

 

[Brieboldt]

Thanks for all the info. Gives me somewhere to start. I'm going to load the camper this week. I'll take lots of pictures and try to find the right manual!
Brie

 

[Wallowa]

You mentioned "battery" not "batteries"...what year is the camper and at least on our Hawk, and I believe most others, we have the optional dual battery set up....I do concur with others, there is something draining the battery that is not supposed to.

The manuals for the FWC are very detailed, but a FWC dealer is still probably your best bet for trouble shooting this issue.

Best of luck. I see "Brieboldt" is that like Brie in Humboldt?

Phil

 

[PaulT]

If you have a three way fridge (one that runs on propane, AC, DC), make sure it isn't running on DC power. They are meant to run on propane or AC. When on DC, a 3 way fridge will drain your battery very quickly.
Turn off the fridge, charge your battery and see how long the charge lasts.

Good luck and welcome to the wonders of camper power management.

Paul

 

[craig333]

It certainly shouldn't drain that fast. It may not be getting a charge from the truck, especially if something drains it to the point the isolator kicks in. You probably don't have the IQ4 for the onboard charger. If you're going to plug it in at home you'll want that. We can walk you through using a dmm to find the drain if it comes to that. Pretty simple really. Do you own a voltmeter?

 

[PaulT]

Good points, Craig.
The IOTA converter without an IQ4 puts out about 13.5volts. That is float voltage & not high enough for charging the battery. Fine for running DC accessories. With a jumper, it puts out about 14.2 volts; enough for charging but will overcharge the battery if left on, relying on you to manage the charging. IQ4 is only about $25 and just plugs into IOTA converting it to a smart charger.

Paul

 

[craig333]

And since there is no solar, its a good idea get the battery a full charge on a regular basis which they won't get from the truck even if everything is working correctly.

Also, year and model of camper would help. Its unfortunate the factory didn't do a better job but they're slammed and it seemed to work when they checked it.

Hoping its the 3 way, that would explain it and its an easy fix but if its not measure the voltage across the battery with the main power switch off and with it on for starters.

 

[smlobx]

Brie-
First welcome to the best site on the net for camping. There are many knowledgeable and friendly people here who will definitely help you.
I agree with others who believe that something is prematurely draining your battery. If you have a 3 way fridge I am betting that may be the culprit.
As far as maintaining your battery between trips it is actually more complicated than it should be (at least for me).
My manufacturer (Hallmark) reccomend these battery chargers which "exercise" the battery to keep it in tip top shape.

https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-Genius-G7200-GC004-Bundle/dp/B01LXZJM0U/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1493497997&sr=8-9&keywords=noco+genius

Keep us up to date!

 

[Vic Harder]

+1 on the Genius. Great for keeping it topped up.

 

[LuckyDan]

I use the Genius:

I should also mention they make bigger, i.e. More amperage than than mine too. It works well none the less.

 

[kmcintyre]

I agree with the other poster... if it's draining that fast (and it's the camper battery), then it'd have to be the refrig. set on DC.

 

[carld]

I agree check the fridge it draws 5 to 8 amps continuously andI will drain the battery in a couple hours. To monitor the battery all you need is a cheep plug-in voltage monitor for the 12V camper and truck sockets. You always want the voltage to be above 12V. If it is less the battery is mostly discharged. You can connect a small trickle charger like "Battery Tender" but they only supply milli-amps of current and take hours to recharge the battery with no load on the battery. When the battery is charging it voltage should increase at about 0.5 Volts the minute the charger is connected.

Here is a trouble shooting check list.

Make sure the fridge is off and most of the camper lights and fans are off. You may have to turn truck to AUX make sure everything fans radio ... are off.


1) Truck off both voltmeters should read the same between 12V and 12.8V.
If not you have a truck to camper connection problem.
a) check wire connections, plugs and fuses.
b) if only one of the batteries are low the battery isolator may be switched off
if starting truck doesn't fix you need to trickle charge the low battery
2) Truck running both voltages read between 13 and 14.5 V
a) if truck battery is low you have an alternator regulator problem
b) if camper voltage increases but is low there is a connection problem
c) if camper voltage dose not increase its probably the isolator

When I met with Marty at ATC to get my camper he said that if the camper battery voltage drops below (some level 11V?) the battery isolator will not connect to the truck battery and you will have trickle charge the battery. I haven’t had this problem but I have noticed with the 3-way fridge set to 12 V and the truck idling, I can hear the isolator switching on and off every second or two.

Otherwise there is a connection problem (check both white wires and black wire connections) or blown fuse probably located next to the truck and/or camper batteries. In my Palomino I found there was an additional inline fuse between hid under the sink that connect to the truck battery but thats another story. If while running the truck the truck battery voltage is 0.5 V or more than the camper battery, there is connection problem between the truck and camper.

 

[RC Pilot Jim]

Did we establish whether he is driving with the fridge on battery when the first replacement was drained?
2001 and 2 came with a 3-way fridge.

Brie when going down the road do u have the fridge set on battery mode?

3-way on battery mode draws 12 amps per hour. The alternator may not be keeping up with the amp draw plus turning off the engine for even brief times can kill the battery.

Reminder 80 amp batteries have only 40 amps usable . 40 divided by 12 = 3.5 hours before voltage drops below 12 and SurePower disconnects the alternator to save the truck starting battery.