Really dead battery??
I went to pickup my camper today and the electric trailer jack was not working. I assumed I had a dead battery so I hooked up the umbilical cord to the tow vehicle and tried again with the engine running. Nothing. I flipped all the breakers, checked fuses and everything looked fine but I was not getting any power any where. I wasn't even getting a dim light from any of the lights.
I thought I had an electrical problem so I got the manual crank out and hooked up the camper. Before I left the storage lot I checked the lights again and to my surprise, they were now working.
So here is my question, I thought once you hooked up the camper to the tow vehicle with the umbilical cord, as long as the engine was running, then at least the lights would work. But, I was getting nothing at first. I thought the lights would work even without a battery in this situation??
Not sure if it is relevant, but I did not have the trailer connected to the hitch when the lights were not working at first. Don't some trailers needs the hitch hooked up to establish a ground connect?? I only recall this on smaller flatbed trailers that only have the 3 wire connection and did not think it applied in my situation.
So why was nothing working at first? Was the batter just so dead it needed 5 minutes to get a minimal charge? Or do I possibly have an electrical problem that will show up again?
I thought I had an electrical problem so I got the manual crank out and hooked up the camper. Before I left the storage lot I checked the lights again and to my surprise, they were now working.
So here is my question, I thought once you hooked up the camper to the tow vehicle with the umbilical cord, as long as the engine was running, then at least the lights would work. But, I was getting nothing at first. I thought the lights would work even without a battery in this situation??
Not sure if it is relevant, but I did not have the trailer connected to the hitch when the lights were not working at first. Don't some trailers needs the hitch hooked up to establish a ground connect?? I only recall this on smaller flatbed trailers that only have the 3 wire connection and did not think it applied in my situation.
So why was nothing working at first? Was the batter just so dead it needed 5 minutes to get a minimal charge? Or do I possibly have an electrical problem that will show up again?
