Missing wire at battery

[Jeeum]

Just purchased a 2015 Whitehawk ultralite 27 DSRL. Its been a few years since my last camper. I noticed the battery isnt charging when trailer is plugged in. I found this green wire thats not connected to anything, could this be the culprit?

[Bob K]

No telling. It could be a wire that was abandoned in place and replaced with another one.

You have three black positive wires leading back to the area where your junction box is. Open the junction box and see what they're connected to and check to make sure the connections are good. You have to determine 2 things:

1. Is the charger putting out current?
2. Is that current getting to the battery?

[RogerR]

Is the battery supplying power when not plugged in? Is there a possibility that it is dead? Have you checked that any current is getting to the battery from inside. Also, are the terminals on the battery clean and tight?


Get a multimeter and see if the wire is hot. If you have never used one it is simple to use. On mine, turn it on, set it to dc, in my case 20 volts. Touch the black end to a shiny spot on the frame and the other end on the green wire. If it shoots up to 12 to 14 volts it is a hot wire and used to charge the battery. I am not an expert but this wire is probably to run something like the tongue jack, part of the solar ready, or something else.

[Bob K]

Originally Posted by RogerR

Is the battery supplying power when not plugged in? Is there a possibility that it is dead? Have you checked that any current is getting to the battery from inside. Also, are the terminals on the battery clean and tight?

Excellent point. If the battery is powering the appropriate systems when disconnected from shore power, that means there's a usable connection to the DC bus. Intermittent bad connection, bad battery, or bad charger would be the places to look next.

[Quantum]

Originally Posted by Jeeum

Just purchased a 2015 Whitehawk ultralite 27 DSRL. Its been a few years since my last camper. I noticed the battery isnt charging when trailer is plugged in. I found this green wire thats not connected to anything, could this be the culprit?

On my 2015 Whitehawk, the green wire has a 30A fuse and goes to the junction box. Clearly yours has been disconnected and possibly replaced? Do any of your wires have a 30A automotive fuse on them?

[Quantum]

Here's mine.

The green is main RV power, notice the 30A fuse.

The red wire goes to my electric tongue jack. It has a 30A reset-able fuse

The red w/black stripe is my emergency breakaway power. It is not fused.