Battery charging

[Philandmeka]

Why do I have to keep charging my battery on my 2020 Jayco Jay Flight travel even though I'm hooked up to electric power?

[Jay2504]

Lots of possibilities. What is the volt meter reading at the battery when the camper is plugged in and not hooked up to an external charger. Once we have that reading we can help. Jay

[JimD]

The 120 volt shore power should run a built-in converter that charges the battery. I am assuming that your 120 volt appliances as well as the 12 volt things work inside the rig. If not, you need to see why you are not getting that power. Possibly a tripped breaker or the shore power feed is dead.

If you indeed have 120 volts inside the rig, the first check would be the circuit breaker for the converter. If in doubt just reset all breakers. If the converter is indeed functional and fully connected, you should see a charge voltage at the battery.

The only way to know for sure what is happening is to use a simple voltmeter. Without that you will be just scratching your head. Measure across the battery when the unit is plugged in. If the voltage is below the mid 12s, you are not charging. Charging voltage is normally mid 13s to mid 14s. This could be a disconnect between the converter and battery, a bad converter, or something else.

Once you see what is getting to the battery then next step is to see what the converter is putting out. Just measure the output where the heavy wires connect. This is probably a little terminal block. Make sure the terminal screws are tight.

This gives a starting point.

[Philandmeka]

To run the unit sufficiently it runs on the 120 and battery. When I leave at 5am and come back at 5pm the battery is dead. I have to use my truck to charge it. I just bought a bigger battery with 750 cranking. amps and I have the same problem.

[Jagiven]

Can you post more about the battery? What exactly do you have?? Cold cranking amps are not needed for a tt, but for starting an engine. There are dual purpose marine batteries you can use in an rv, that list cca. If you have a car battery, it will not hold up.

Really I think you have an issue with you converter not charging the battery. If your plugged in the converter continually produces 12v power for the systems and to keep the battery charged.

You need a voltmeter to confirm the issue. Without a voltmeter, check the 120 volt circuit breakers. Maybe the one for the converter is tripped. You may also have a loose wire connection. You will need to pull the circuit panel, and check all the wire lugs. Make sure to do this with the shore power and battery disconnected. Loose wires happen frequently.

If you have a voltmeter. With the shore power connected. Check the voltage across the battery terminals. If the converter is working and the battery is charging, you will have a reading of 13.7 volts or greater. If you have a reading like this your converter is working and charging. If the voltage reading is under 13.5 volts, you may have a converter issue.

A fully charged battery that has rested for an hour or so after being removed from a charger should have a voltage reading on 12.7 volts.

Added thoughts.

How do you charge the battery back up at night? I reread your post. It takes crazy amount of hours to charge the tt battery if your using the 7 pin wire harness. Might be just getting enough power into the battery to make it through the night.

Have you verified the 12 volt fuses? There is one inline fuse at the battery, and two in the fuse box, one for reverse polarity protection, and another for load protection. These will be 30 or 40 amps

[16WhiteColly]

I added a battery disconnect to disconnect from the trailer, and added a Battery Minder in the box that stays there. When I get back to storage, I turn tge disconnect Off, and plug in the Battery Minder to 120V receptacle and leave it 24/7 until I leave again. I do check water levels often. Been like that for 4 1/2 years. I even modified the battery box, with a receptacle in the side so I can plug the extension cord without opening the box.