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Tennessee_Nomad's avatar
Jun 21, 2015

Battery Not Charging Question

When we are hooked up to shore power the battery in the camper will charge. When hooked up to the truck it won't. I've looked in the truck manual and replaced, what I believe to be, the correct fuse and still nothing. All this seems to have started with a drained camper battery (left the antenna power button on). I hooked the truck umbilical power cord up to the camper and tried to run the slides out and they went out part way, then noticeably slowed down, like it was getting power from the truck for a bit then blew a fuse and went back to the camper battery before draining it completely. It sounded like there was some kind of audible alarm or something coming from inside the camper but it stopped before I could figure out where it was coming from. I can hook up jumper cables from the truck to the camper battery and it gets power, just not when I hook up the seven pin. Everything else on the seven pin works, all lights and brakes, just not the battery charge. Any thoughts or ideas are appreciated.
  • When I put the multimeter on the seven pin of the truck, I can't get any of the prongs to read anything, with the truck started(but lights and brakes on the camper work thru the 7-pin). I know the meter is working because I put it on the truck battery and it reads... 12.something volts.

    Also... could it have anything to do with the converter in the camper?
  • You will not get a lot of battery charge through the seven pin connection, but yes, it should charge some.

    To check with your meter, plug cord into truck, but do not start. Set meter to VDC 200. Now put the red lead to camper battery + post, and black lead to - post. After reading meter, start the truck, and reread the meter. If truck is charging, you should see a noticeable increase.

    The audible warning from the camper, was likely the co alarm, due to the low battery.

    Jerry
  • Also: Disconnect the battery when in storage so it doesn't run down.
  • At 1 o-clock on the tv 7 pin connector is the 12 volt line at 7 o-clock is the ground if you have 12 volts across those 2 when the truck is running then you are getting your charge voltage. If it is not there then you need to start looking at the TV.
  • Toddupton wrote:
    Do you have charging voltage at the 7 pin?


    I've got a multi meter but don't know a lot about how to use it except to check a household outlet for power. Layman's terms on how to check it with a multi meter? I looked on youtube but that didn't help any. I'm certainly no electrician.