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Old 08-09-2013, 04:53 AM   #1
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Battery vs's direct hookup

Good Morning,
We have a 2002 Jayco Jayflight and we've never did any dry camping always a direct hookup. My question is to anyone who can help is when we hook our battery up to the trailer is there anything we need to do such as turn any switches on, push some type of button or is automatic? Automatic as in that the lights will work, radio etc. We've read the owners manual and well it really isn't specific as far as what we are suppose to do.

Thank You All
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Old 08-09-2013, 06:45 AM   #2
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Battery vs's direct hookup

Hook it up and make sure there's a fuse in the inline holder of there is one. Shouldn't have to do anything else.
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Old 08-09-2013, 07:55 AM   #3
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Thank You very much....as far as I know we do not have a "Inline Fuse Holder" to even hold a fuse so I'm guessing it's a Plug-n-play situation now. Hook up the battery and see what happens...if we got lights, radio etc. I'll be a "Happy Camper"...if not??...yikes, I'll be back here. Thank you once again for your help we very much appreciate it.

Mary
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Old 08-09-2013, 08:05 AM   #4
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Unless the fuse or breaker is blown it should work.. I hope you realize that when you tow you have to have the battery attached.. if the trailer becomes detached from the tow vehicle on the highway the trailer e brake wont work without the battery in place.
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Old 08-09-2013, 08:13 AM   #5
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this sounds really stupid I know but here it goes....we will be getting the battery hooked up to the trailer, trailer hooked up to the truck etc. This is just the "First" time we've used a battery so were kinda like flying by the seat of our pants as far as what we need to do if anything in reference to the battery and the trailer, we've always used a direct hookup when we went camping. But now reading what you wrote there's more involved as far as what we should be doing to make everything work. Gotta love those manuals, they do not tell you this stuff...<major sigh>
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Old 08-09-2013, 08:20 AM   #6
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honestly?....I wish they had a step by step instruction manual in "Laymans terms" explaining the proper procedure you "NEED" to go through when either your dry camping or when your using a direct hook-up especially when you have new trailer owners such as ourselves. I know people would say to contact the dealer but unfortunately we bought from a private owner much like alot of other people. oh well....thank you for you help and advise...it helps emmensly
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Old 08-09-2013, 09:02 AM   #7
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To be clear, the battery should have been hooked up to the trailer when you bought it. The battery is required to operate the breakaway switch that engages the trailer brakes in an emergency if your trailer becomes unhooked from your vehicle.

You should not be towing your trailer without a battery installed.
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Old 08-09-2013, 09:07 AM   #8
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PS - also keep in mind that only items on the 12v system will work (lights, water pump, fridge etc).

Your big ticket items like microwave and air conditioning won't work off the battery.
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Old 08-09-2013, 09:16 AM   #9
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yep that works for us. we normally go to a direct hook up but until we are allowed to get there it's good to know that we have the battery backup for the essentials until that time which actually is no more than 5 hours at most. thank you once again for your help/information/advise...it is so greatly appreciated.
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Old 08-09-2013, 10:08 AM   #10
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Oh and by the way Freespirit48 there are no stupid questions that is how we all learn so dont be afraid to ask anything here. Everybody here likes to help and what somebody doesnt know somebody else will. so welcome to the Forum and happy camping.
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Old 08-09-2013, 10:18 AM   #11
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Old Blue?....what you said above makes me definately a "Happy Camper" Everyone is so helpful and I will keep that in mind when I need to come back again. Thank you!!
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Old 08-09-2013, 11:28 AM   #12
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One more thing to realize about the battery, it has a life expectance. You say your TT is a 2002 and always connect to shore power. Is the battery the original battery that came with the TT? If so, it is 11 years old and maybe beyond its useful life. Have you ever changed your battery? Ever check the fluid levels in your battery? If not, to any of these questions your battery may no longer hold a charge.
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Old 08-09-2013, 11:30 AM   #13
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You also need to disconnect the battery when the trailer is not used for any period of time. The carbon monoxide detector will drain the battery in several days. You will shorten your battery's life every time it is significantly discharged.
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Old 08-09-2013, 11:35 AM   #14
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nope we got rid of the old battery. The previous owner told us it was no good anyway and I got a interstate Marine/RV one. Put it on trickle charge to get it fully charged. And yes when we close the old girl up for the winter the battery goes into the basement on the charge once again and then we'll charge it every few months until we open her back up in the spring.
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Old 08-09-2013, 08:14 PM   #15
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Something I learned early on was that if you're going to run the furnace much, you need more than one battery. I installed a second battery and that can get me through a cool weekend. A friend mounted a solar panel on his roof that would help recharge his batteries during the day but I never got that sophisticated.
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Old 08-10-2013, 03:09 AM   #16
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Thank you!
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Old 08-10-2013, 09:44 AM   #17
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Since you didn't acknowledge that you may have been pulling your trailer without a battery connected just wanted to be sure you understand what was being said here. The State DOT has a requirement that all trailers that is equipped with electric brakes must have an installed operational battery on-board the trailer that will operate the trailer electric brakes if they become activated when then trailer has been disconnected from the truck. The trailer manf intend for you to use the trailer battery in this case since it is there already to use. Some commercial truck trailers may have a built-in battery on their trailer just for this one requirement.

You should have a small steel cable that you are suppose to hookup between the trailer tongue and a spot on the rear of the truck with idea that if your trailer does indeed become disconnected from the trailer hitch this cable will pull out a plunger on your break-way switch module which will immediately lock down your trailer brakes using your trailer battery as the source of 12VDC to operate the electric brakes. This is suppose to stop your run away trailer and hopefully stop before it crashes into something else before coming to a complete stop in the middle of the road.

All of this should have been explained to you when you got your trailer. Being a DOT requirement this could be a fine for not having a working break-away system. The bigger point is this is there as a safety reason for not causing personal injury or property damage...

Another incentive might be if your run-away trailer has caused damage to other things or even worse loss of life and your trailer Insurance Company could possibly not cover the losses for you if you were in violation of this DOT requirement. There also has been some rare reports of a DOT inspections of the trailer on the road which coould result in a fine.

It is an safety inspection point where I live and must be functional before my state trailer inspection sticker can be placed on the trailer.

Kinda of important to be aware of all of this... Things are there for a reason... Being as safe as you can be with my road worthy trailer is high on my priority...

Just passing on as it sounded like you may not have been aware of this STATE DOT safety requirement. Got to have a functional battery and a break-away electric switch module on your trailer to operate the trailer electric brakes in the event the trailer becomes disconnected when being towed if you are running down any of the state highways on your camping trips. Its a LAW...

Roy Ken
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Old 08-10-2013, 09:56 AM   #18
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Roy, thank you so very much for your valuable information. All of the above helps us immensely.
Bev
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Old 08-10-2013, 10:38 AM   #19
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Hooking up the new battery can be tricky as well. How many cables do you have hanging where the battery goes.

The two large cables are the ones that go to the trailer on-board converter/charger unit. The standard trailer wiring color code is the BLACK cable goes to the positive battery terminal and the WHITE cable goes to the negative terminal. However the automotive wiring color which sometimes get used where if the cable color is RED it should go the positive terminal and the BLACK color cable goes to the negative terminal.

You have to watch which color pairs are being used...

What I do is note on the battery case and find the the stamped word "NEG" or the symbol "-" and make sure this cable goes to the trailer frame ground point which will be real close to the battery. If you get the battery treminals hooked up in reverse then it will bimmediate blow a in-line fuse which is real close to the battery in addition to two fuses in the 12VDC Power Distribution panel labeled REVERSE POLARITY...

There is usually another +12VDC connection that goes to the break-away-switch module and possible another one that goes to any slide out motor.

If it is all confusing you might be better off to go to any local RV dealer and have them hook it up for you. Taking cell phone pictures of the cables is neat to be able to do...

The two large cables and the one black smaller wire that goes to the break-away-switch module are the two most important you can most likely trace out by hand. Any other cables you may need to trace out to see where they come from...

The quick test to see if the new battery is working is to go turn on your ceiling lights in the trailer with out shore power being connected. Your ceiling light are 12VDC and will operate from both the battery and the shore power connection.

If this works then the next test is use a MULTIMETER and read your battery terminals. It should read 12.6-7 VDC if the battery is fully charged. Then go hook up to shore power and the DC voltage at the battery terminal should jump to 13.6VDC telling you that your converter/charger is ON and can charge your trailer battery when you are connected to 120VAC shore power.

Having an inexpensive multimeter with your trailer at all times is a good idea. This can be purchased from LOWES/WALMART or any number of auto parts stores and only cost $7-$20 dollars... Will look like this


Just check in here when you get the new battery and folks here will help you hook it up.

I noticed you have already mentioned you do not remember seeing a in-line fuse holder. This should be real close to your installed battery and will look like this. It will have a ATC type automotive fuse in it.


let us know how you are doing...
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Old 08-10-2013, 01:28 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freespirit48 View Post
honestly?....I wish they had a step by step instruction manual in "Laymans terms" explaining the proper procedure you "NEED" to go through when either your dry camping or when your using a direct hook-up especially when you have new trailer owners such as ourselves. I know people would say to contact the dealer but unfortunately we bought from a private owner much like alot of other people. oh well....thank you for you help and advise...it helps emmensly
Amen to that, Freespirit. I feel the same way about computers - the manuals, if there are any, are written by geeks who ASSUME that the reader knows a lot about the computer, and he only needs to give you a few fine tuning instructions. If you don't know all that "basic" stuff, you are lost. Same way with campers - ours came with a generic manual that covered a bunch of different models, and only touched on the high points - not much specific to our trailer. Fortunately, I was not a novice, and knew some stuff, but somebody new to it would be lost.

And to echo another post - there really are NO stupid questions, except for the ones not asked. So ask away, and we'll try to get you through this, so you can have some fun !!
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