Battery Question

[WayneG]

We have the Jay Flight 22FB which we are on our third summer. We averaged about 26 nights camping per year up to this point.

Just returned from a four night trip where I was plugged into the campground. When cleaning the trailer one day after returning I noticed the battery was dead (no lights etc). During the first year I remembered the battery would hold a charge for a few weeks.

I always brought the battery indoors for the winter, but i never charged it. I thought just plugging in at home and the CG was enough. Should I charge the battery occasionally or put it on a trickle charger? Thanks in advance for the help.

[tnchuck100]

If you are keeping it plugged in at home and powered up most of the time the battery should not go dead.

Have you kept up with the water level in the battery? Has any of the fuses blown? The one at the battery or the two 30 amp fuses in the converter?

[dewey02]

It could be several things. As tnchuck100 said, how's the water level?
Also, did you buy this trailer new? With ours, the dealer installed a really cheap and small battery that weighed almost nothing. If that was the case for you, then three years out of that battery might be all you get.
Have you run the battery down a lot? Battery life shortens considerably if you frequently discharge it below about 12 volts. Note - it will still light your lights and such at a lower voltage but not good for the batteries life to go that low. Do you boondock often?
You should really trickle charge the battery while in storage and off from the trailer. Or at least check the voltage on a monthly basis to see if it is losing charge. The longer a battery sits with a low charge, the worse it is for the life of the battery.

Your current battery may or may not be in good enough shape to be re-charged.
If you need to buy a new one and if you boondock often, then I'd buy a bigger true deep cycle battery. There are threads on this forum that discuss amp hours, etc in much more detail.

[us71na]

I thought the battery in our TT was going bad. It didn't seem to hold a charge according to the tester in the trailer. What I found was that the water tight fuse holders aren't water tight. The one from the charger had some moisture in it and the terminals corroded on the fuse. Basically, when on shore power the battery wasn't being charged. I changed out the fuse holder and now the charge indicator reads full charge even after a long day on the road with the fridge running.

[WhiteHawk]

I always remove the battery after each trip and place it on a Deltran Battery Tender Plus. I read once where you should not let a deep cycle battery go below 80% charge - so I watch that carefully. I also check the water level frequently. Remember, when adding water only use distilled.