After dealing with all the things destroyed in the house from a lightning strike, I finally made it out to the trailer to start work on it. It has been plugged into shore power for the last three weeks. I first tried to open the slide and neither of the three would budge. So here is what I know. Battery reserve is in the red with some alarm sounding due to low power. The micro wave it working off the shore power, at this point I have unplugged shore power and replugged and the battery "appears" to be charging some what. In the past the slides and other items have worked with the battery removed and on shore power but will not do so now. Any ideas?

My slides will work off shore power also, BUT, if you need some initial "torque" to get them open...I'd let the battery charge and see what happens then....If your microwave and all 120 is working...you should be ok in that department...Question: With shore power on, can you turn on 12 volt lights and they work? If so, your inverter is still sending 12 VDC to the 12 volt circuits....Did you try to turn on a 12V light without being hooked into shore power...just to see if it comes on at all, even dimly...a multimeter/voltmeter could tell you how much power is being generated at this time from your battery, (not hooked into shore power)....

With shore power on, can you turn on 12 volt lights and they work? If so, your inverter is still sending 12 VDC to the 12 volt circuits....Did you try to turn on a 12V light without being hooked into shore power...just to see if it comes on at all, even dimly.The lights come on but very dim. I didn't try to turn on the 12v lights without shore power

...a multimeter/voltmeter could tell you how much power is being generated at this time from your battery, (not hooked into shore power).... Hooked to shore power the battery is reading 7.4 volts

Jim4929 wrote:...a multimeter/voltmeter could tell you how much power is being generated at this time from your battery, (not hooked into shore power).... Hooked to shore power the battery is reading 7.4 voltsDon't know how long your battery hasn't been charging, but that low WITH shore power hooked up, it may not be charging, or has a dead cell or two....I'd have battery checked out. "IF" you have a spare 12 volt battery, I'd be half tempted to put it in the 5er, hooked up and see if your 12 volt power is there, (ie lights or a light just to see). Even try to THEN open your slides...how old is the battery?Like you, I can open slides and do quite a bit while plugged into shore power, BUT there have been a couple of times, I had the battery bypassed, hooked to shore power and couldn't open the slides..the battery will give the additional "torque" you might need to open the slides,(the shore power won't be able to offer that much torque if needed) especially if they haven't been opened for a while.

your battery is dead, should be 12.6 volts for a full charge. Try plugging into shore power and then use multimeter to see if your convertor is charging your battery, If it is charging It should read about 13.6 volts. If it does not read around 13.6 it could be the battery is too dead that it won't take a charge or the convertor is bad.

Lightning Strike | Good Sam Community

whitecloud
Explorer III
May 08, 2015
This is a great forum. People here seem nice and really helpful.
Allworth
Explorer II
May 07, 2015
I would certainly claim the converter on my homeowner's claim. You are already paying the deductible once.

The new battery might be a push.

A
Jim4929
Explorer
May 07, 2015
Unhook your battery. Secure your battery terminals so they do not touch metal.
Hook up to shore power. Turn on several 12 volt lights. If the lights do not come on or are not at full brightness, you need a converter. Putting in a new battery only tells you that that battery currently has a good charge. It does not tell you if the converter is doing it's job.

I bought a new battery today because the dealer confirmed it was dead. I performed the above test and unlike a previous use of shore power without battery, this time I had nothing. Looks like it is a multi problem of converter and battery. So I guess everyone was right in one way or another.
schlep1967
Nomad
May 07, 2015
Unhook your battery. Secure your battery terminals so they do not touch metal.
Hook up to shore power. Turn on several 12 volt lights. If the lights do not come on or are not at full brightness, you need a converter. Putting in a new battery only tells you that that battery currently has a good charge. It does not tell you if the converter is doing it's job.
bpounds
Nomad
May 07, 2015
I still expect your converter to be fried. The power surge did not kill your battery without also killing the converter.

Good idea to replace the battery, but check your converter.
ScottG
Nomad
May 07, 2015
MinnCamper wrote:
Did u have a surge protector on the camper? They work if so!

They do not protect from a lightening strike.
If lightening hits and you have a surge protector it will explode and pass the spike on to the RV's electrical system.
They are good for some things but not that.
jaycocamprs
Explorer
May 07, 2015
Went thru the same thing about 10 years ago. It blew the converter in our case. If you have to replace the converter stick the receipt in the middle of the Home Owners claim. If they toss it ok, they paid ours. You have nothing to lose.
Jim4929
Explorer
May 06, 2015
Did u have a surge protector on the camper? They work if so!

Sorry to say I had a progressive "in the trailer" ie storage area but not hooked up. I just never considered using it at home....point well taken.
MinnCamper
Explorer
May 06, 2015
Did u have a surge protector on the camper? They work if so!
NC_Hauler
Explorer
May 06, 2015
Jim4929 wrote:
Must be battery. Hooked to truck and everything is working now. Time to go to gladly go to the battery store. With everything I had to replace in the house from the strike I guess I was a bit paranoid. Thanks for all the help!!!

Good you had a spare battery...they come in handy sometimes....Hey, once you have the new battery in place, try everything again...hopefully only thing you had was a dead battery:)