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Old 03-06-2016, 08:48 PM   #121
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What is your GVWR on your unit and what tire size on your unit? Are the tires subject to UV rays?
My GVWR is 5800 I think the tires were 15" last time I checked. TT is a 2010 model. I covered the tires with black plastic bags while in storage, I know not ideal but cheaper than tire covers for now.
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Old 03-06-2016, 08:49 PM   #122
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BTW the previous owner put 12,000 miles on them but they still look great! The whole TT looks new still, it was an older couple who had it before me.
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Old 03-06-2016, 09:10 PM   #123
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I wouldn't worry about the tires yet, keep your money in your pocket. Just be sure you check them and they are in good shape. I run my tires 10 years on my TT before I replace them, but I take good care of them. Be sure they are not underinflated because that will create heat and heat is not good for tires. On the tire decal it will tell how much to inflate them (probably 50 psi on those 15" ones). Most trailer tires are rated for 65 miles an hour what is also a safe travel speed with a combo. Some states might even have a lower speed for combo's.
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Old 03-06-2016, 10:44 PM   #124
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Oh boy......I was reading another thread about a battery disconnect? Was i supposed to hit a switch or something inside the TT before removing the battery?
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Old 03-08-2016, 11:05 AM   #125
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No switches in the trailer needed to be turned off before disconnecting. It will give you less sparks when hooking up if all your lights are turned off though. The less stuff drawing power the better when disconnecting and hooking up.

Getting back to your DMM (Digital Multimeter) not Ohm meter. The picture you showed a few pages ago had the dial set correctly but the cables were not. The black cable should be in the lower hole and the red cable in the next hole up. The dial set to 20 VDC (voltage DC) is correct.

Did you ever check the battery with it disconnected from the charger? It should read 12.7 volts. Check after the battery has been disconnected from the charger for a few hours at least, otherwise it will read higher.

How long has this battery been on the charger? Two or three days on a 2amp trickle charge will charge the battery. If it is not holding a charge at this point it is probably ruined from being overdischarged. If you can take the battery to an autoparts store they can load test it for you for free.

And your cold garage is a better place for your battery. Colder temperatures slow down the self discharge of the battery. Only a dead battery will freeze. A charged one won't.

If your trailer was parked for a week or more with the battery hooked up the trailer will kill your battery. There are a few low draw items like the smoke alarm and CO detector that given a week or more will draw down your battery to flat. Once this happens a couple times the battery will need to be replaced. The only way to avoid this is to remove one cable from the battery or to install a battery disconnect switch.

If you are leaving your trailer for more than a couple days you need to disconnect the battery.

Hopefully it is not ruined.
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Old 03-08-2016, 12:28 PM   #126
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I just left the place where I got the 7pin installed and apparently they never wired the battery charging part of the plug even though I paid extra for it. Now I have to drop the truck off for a day so they can do it. So annoying!
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Old 03-08-2016, 01:05 PM   #127
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Lukenick1; There is a saying; "If you want to do things right, You have to do it yourself"

Be sure they don't leave the power constantly on the Batt.+ pole of the 7 prong outlet of the TV, you might wake up one morning with the TT plug connected and battery from the TV dead.

Let them put on a Battery isolator or install a switchable relays.

Camping is fun but tinkering on the TV or RV is also fun........lol
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Old 03-08-2016, 01:17 PM   #128
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Lukenick1; There is a saying; "If you want to do things right, You have to do it yourself"

Be sure they don't leave the power constantly on the Batt.+ pole of the 7 prong outlet of the TV, you might wake up one morning with the TT plug connected and battery from the TV dead.

Let them put on a Battery isolator or install a switchable relays.

Camping is fun but tinkering on the TV or RV is also fun........lol
I don't think I would ever leave the TT plugged into the truck once parked. Yes you're right, nothing is ever done right unless you do it yourself. Grrrrrr I also have another question....went to storage to check on camper today and saw that there is a white wire for the negative a couple black tied together for the positive. There is also a black wire coming from the power jack, where does that connect to? I knew we should have made notes when we disconnected. Lesson learned.
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Old 03-08-2016, 01:22 PM   #129
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No switches in the trailer needed to be turned off before disconnecting. It will give you less sparks when hooking up if all your lights are turned off though. The less stuff drawing power the better when disconnecting and hooking up.

Getting back to your DMM (Digital Multimeter) not Ohm meter. The picture you showed a few pages ago had the dial set correctly but the cables were not. The black cable should be in the lower hole and the red cable in the next hole up. The dial set to 20 VDC (voltage DC) is correct.

Did you ever check the battery with it disconnected from the charger? It should read 12.7 volts. Check after the battery has been disconnected from the charger for a few hours at least, otherwise it will read higher.

How long has this battery been on the charger? Two or three days on a 2amp trickle charge will charge the battery. If it is not holding a charge at this point it is probably ruined from being overdischarged. If you can take the battery to an autoparts store they can load test it for you for free.

And your cold garage is a better place for your battery. Colder temperatures slow down the self discharge of the battery. Only a dead battery will freeze. A charged one won't.

If your trailer was parked for a week or more with the battery hooked up the trailer will kill your battery. There are a few low draw items like the smoke alarm and CO detector that given a week or more will draw down your battery to flat. Once this happens a couple times the battery will need to be replaced. The only way to avoid this is to remove one cable from the battery or to install a battery disconnect switch.

If you are leaving your trailer for more than a couple days you need to disconnect the battery.

Hopefully it is not ruined.
I did not test the battery after being disconnected for a while. It is now on the 2amp trickle charge and slowly coming up to charge. I plugged it in last evening in the garage.

Thanks for the tips!
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Old 03-08-2016, 01:56 PM   #130
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White and black colors don't usually mix together. Some might have done a DIY job and used them for the same purpose. Be sure to check where they are going before you connect them. If they are white and have to go on the Batt.+ put some black tape on them.

Black or Red goes on the Batt. plus and white is the ground and will go on Batt. minus and goes to trailer frame.
The wire from the Power Jack goes on the Batt.+

Best thing is to tie rip the plusses together and also the minuses together so they don't get mixed up where they belong.
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Old 03-08-2016, 02:01 PM   #131
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White and black colors don't usually mix together. Some might have done a DIY job and used them for the same purpose. Be sure to check where they are going before you connect them. If they are white and have to go on the Batt.+ put some black tape on them.

Black or Red goes on the Batt. plus and white is the ground and will go on Batt. minus and goes to trailer frame.
The wire from the Power Jack goes on the Batt.+

Best thing is to tie rip the plusses together and also the minuses together so they don't get mixed up where they belong.
No the white is separate and on its own then 2 blacks are tied together. Then there is a separate black wire coming out of the power jack. So do I connect all 3 blacks to the positive and the white to the neg?
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Old 03-08-2016, 02:13 PM   #132
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Yes.

The power jack is grounded to the frame so that is its negative lead. The black lead goes to the positive battery post as mentioned.

Let us know the charge on the battery after a couple days. What is the charge with the charger attached and charging? You mentioned 16volts before. That is too high. If that is the battery tender it should be around 13.2 volts or so.

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Old 03-08-2016, 02:21 PM   #133
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I just went out and found my trickle charging flashing on "check battery" so I unplugged it and tested with Multimeter. It read 18.00. I am bringing it now to auto part store. Wish me luck!!!
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Old 03-08-2016, 03:23 PM   #134
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Just got back from auto parts store.....their tester told them it was a bad battery. It was only showing 426 charge. It should be 625. I explained that I didn't have it on the trickle charge that long but they still inssited that their testers are accurate. After I left them I called the dealer I got the camper from because they told me they gave me a brand new battery when I bought the used camper. They must have a warranty right? Well when I called them they said I would have to drop it off to them so they can charge it overnight and then load test it. So I asked them if they were going to replace it if it doesn't charge and he couldnt give me an answer....makes me so mad. The dealer is a 45 minute drive from my house. Now I have to go there 2 days in a row for this. This is a major pita! I will never let a battery discharge again!
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Old 03-08-2016, 03:34 PM   #135
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Think about upgrading the battery if they don't replace it. Going up to a group 27 will give you a bit more capacity if you like to camp without a plugin. Or if they offer to replace maybe you can add a little cash to upgrade as well.

If they don't offer to replace it get a battery somewhere else. It will be cheaper.

Sorry to hear it is toast though but I think this is really common. When I go to our storage lot all I hear is the faint beep from a propane or CO detector indicating a low battery. A proper battery disconnect should be installed on every trailer from the factory considering it only takes a week or two to run down a trailer battery in storage.

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Old 03-08-2016, 04:15 PM   #136
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Don't know if you have your settings correct on the multi meter, because it never can be 18 not on trickle charger connected.

NO..never let the battery discharge because it is not good for the battery and they will not replace it if is it is defect. Always maintain it with a 3 or 4 stage charger.
That's why I leave my TT plugged in at home. Or the other spare batteries are on a 3 stage charger.
Hope if the dealer charges and test your battery that the battery hold charge. If not I wish you luck they will replace the battery for you. If not start shopping around as Subaru297 said. Prices will vary and tell them what you want for specifications on the battery........then they will not mislead you.
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Old 03-08-2016, 05:56 PM   #137
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I don't plan to upgrade because I never camp without hook ups. The only thing I even would need the battery for is the power jack otherwise I would keep it off. Can I get something smaller just to keep my jack powered?
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Old 03-08-2016, 06:40 PM   #138
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Pull the main fuse by the battery or pull the positive cable off of the battery. Take the voltage when you disconnect the battery from the TT. The voltage should be 12.6 or higher (should be 13.3 if the charger was just disconnected, this is know as the FLOAT stage, keeping the battery topped off voltage). Let the battery sit for a day (battery at rest) and then take the voltage again. The voltage should still be 12.6 or greater. The Interstate 85Ah battery that is sitting under my workbench (use it for different low voltage projects) has not had a charge on it for over a month and it is at 12.93 yet. The other battery is still in the shed and just checked that one and the voltage is 12.78. These batteries were mfr in July of 2012.

The main thing (maintenance wise) is to keep the battery water level a 1/4" above the plates, yet below the ring you see (keeps from splashing through the battery cap vent hole and on top of the battery), also make sure that all your terminals are tight and CLEAN. That is pretty much it for maintenance.

The one thing that you need to keep in mind about sales people (auto parts, RV sales... ) is that they are looking to pad their pocket books, and as for RV sale people, they know nothing about batteries or electronics. To MOST of them they can make a good battery look bad. (Cha-Chingh)!! The test that they do at auto parts stores using the load meter is primarily for automotive batteries. They test for cranking power. Which reminds me my truck is down to the 520 range, almost time to replace.

The key thing to remember is when you are not using the TT, pull the main fuse.. even when you have the battery on a SMART charger, less power goes to the TT electronics and more to the battery.

Here is what a smart TT battery charge controller (the one in my TT) output looks like over time.
Hope it helps,
Don
Attached Thumbnails
BATTERY - ELECTRICAL - PD4000 Battery Charging Stats.jpg  
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Old 03-08-2016, 06:40 PM   #139
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You not only need power for your Power Jack but also for your electric. brakes. And it would be illegal to travel without a onboard battery on your TT. The Power Jack can run off the trucks 7 prong outlet (if the dealer get that working).
I am sure when they test your battery it wouldn't be a total dead one, it would be probably good enough where you use it for. Just wait for a answer of the RV dealer and go from there.
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Old 03-08-2016, 06:49 PM   #140
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Batteries has to be maintained, without a charger it still looses approx. 1% a day of its full charge. If the battery is forgotten for a long time you still can have a dead battery.
Properly battery testing is done with an Hydro meter, but it seems the average person isn't using that tool.
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