I'm looking for some electrical advice please. I have a 2005 F350 Diesel and a 2002 AF 1080 truck camper. I keep the camper plugged in to shore power when not in use. Last night while getting ready to head out I fount the truck batteries completely dead. Nothing was on in the truck as far as lights or 12v accessories. The batteries are only 3 months old, as this happened the last time we tried to go out so I replaced them thinking they were due.Prior to this summer we have never had an issue. Any thoughts on what could be draining the truck batteries? The camper shouldn't through the umbilible, right? For what it's worth the camper batteries were also replaced about a month ago, too.I'm trying to figure out if I should take it to the mechanic or RV repair shopThanks in advance for the help as always.

Not sure about the 2005 but my 2013 F350 diesel has a battery disconnect built in. There is a parasitic drain on the truck battery from things like clocks and other electronics but that shouldn't be an issue in 3 months time. I assume you have two batteries since it is a diesel. I keep my truck on a battery tender because it is often months between trips. Disconnect the battery terminal and measure the current draw with a meter. That will give you some idea of how large a drain there is. That is where I would start my trouble shooting. If there any significant drain something is amiss somewhere.

Your plugging the truck into the camper? Not all TV have a shut off so the camper could have drained the batteries. I would charge everything up and disconnect the cord and see what happens. Not really sure how the truck campers work.

... and then do the same measurement with the camper disconnected. That way you can tell if the camper can be the source.Once you have this measuring thing sorted out, you can start pulling individual fuses until the draw goes away. That way you can usually further isolate the culprit.How long had the truck been sitting? Why do you believe the camper causes this? Was the camper battery also dead, or fully charged as would be expected?Were all lights out on the truck? All doors properly closed? The door switches go bad pretty frequently.One possible issue can be the on board computer not "going to sleep", because it senses "something" is not properly turned off. With the resulting draw, it can drain a battery within a week or two, even when you think everything is turned off.

The smoke detectors, pilot lights on plugs, etc. in the camper can definitely drain the two batteries in a diesel over the course of two weeks of dis-use, unless you have a battery isolator under the hood, because it has happened to me. But I am puzzled. If the camper is plugged into shore power, the batteries should stay topped up, suggesting a charging problem. Check for a blown fuse in the power management box, or a breaker in the wrong position. Likely something simple, but not necessarily easy to find.

OP, be more descriptive with your issue. Camper plugged in to truck? Presume yes by your post. Camper batteries fully charged or dead too?Truck wont drain from camper if the camper batteries are charged/ charging. So issue is likely with the truck. IMO. Also not good to just leave camper batteries on a converter unless it’s a smart charger. It’ll overcharge

Battery Drain Help Please | Good Sam Community

ronday
Explorer
Aug 09, 2020
Had battery go dead on truck. Had just completed a cross county trip with no problem. Turned out GPS was running battery down when sitting for a couple of days. Was fine on the trip as the truck was run everyday. Wired the GPS in so it was only on when the truck was on, problem solved. Ron
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 09, 2020
Now fix that converter. AF camper should have a progressive dynamics converter.
If it has never had a charge wizard added to it you’re cooking your camper batteries.
The wizard is only $25 plug n play. Idk why they don’t come with them.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 09, 2020
Thanks for posting the result. And glad it was an easy fix!
SW_Explorer
Explorer
Aug 09, 2020
Hi Everyone. Sorry I went dark. We ended up taking the camper out and followed with a vehicle that could jump start us if needed. I ended up taking the truck to my mechanic. It ended up bring one of the Two batteries went bad and was draining the other one down too. They found no evidence of a drain from the truck or the camper. They monitored it overnight.

I appreciate everyone's input as there were other ver good suggestions regarding maintanence and best practices when we aren't using it. Thanks again,
Grit_dog
Navigator
Aug 02, 2020
Still no more info from the OP. Thanks bud! Must have figured out you left you lights on or something silly, eh?
towpro
Explorer
Aug 01, 2020
When your camper is "turned on" there is drain from stuff like CO and Propane detectors. Maybe its only 1 amp but that will drain a 100aH battery in 100 hours. That is only 4 days and your battery is 100% dead (your not supposed to go below 50% charged)

I don't know if your truck wire to camper is live all the time or not, I do know Ram stays hot and yes it will draw down the truck batteries if that line stays hot.(when camping, I use to always unplug that line as a safety feature so I was 100% sure the truck would start when it was time to go home).

On our camper we added Solar charging system because we camp in the National Parks at beach with no electric, but a side affect is that kept the batteries charged in both camper and truck.

I now have a new RV but I have to store it in a field that has no electric. This new RV has a 100w panel on the roof (have not added more power yet but that is in future).
I store under a canape which prevents my builtin system from working, so I put a 100w panel on a cargo trailer that sits on my storage site behind my camper and is not covered.
I wired 10G back to the rear bumper of the camper so I can plug this extra panel into the RV system when in Storage. (I can also plug this trailer in while camping)
That 100W keeps my Coach charged (Two 27 series AGM) AND my chassis (one 30 series AGM)all the time.

since I installed my Panel so I could tilt it, others see it and now I see many other panels popping up in the storage field. Most appear to be 50w which might be enough but I do know my 100W works for me.
Grit_dog
Navigator
Jul 31, 2020
No one said it went dead in a day....
But the OP hasn’t been back to feed us more bread crumbs and the other half of the info.....

Mustn’t need help... Next thread please! Lol
jimh406
Explorer III
Jul 31, 2020
Seems really strange to lose an entire charge in one night no matter if it was drained by truck or TC.

I think I’d validate that the TC really was charged, and the TC charger may need to be replaced. If you store the TC separate, I’m not sure how you got it on the truck if the charger isn’t working.

For the truck, I’d make sure that any accessories that are nonstock are checked. The 2006 Ford F350 that I had started draining quickly because the underhood light wasn’t always going off.
Eric_Lisa
Explorer II
Jul 30, 2020
I dealt with a similar problem with my truck. Sometimes the battery would die after a few days of sitting. Sometimes it would be just fine. I knew I had a random phantom load.

I eventually gave up on the basic troubleshooting and went all-in to fix it. Bought an multi-meter that measures DC amps. Also bought a 'Fuse socket connector kit' which is essentially a blade fuse replacement. This allowed me to put the multi-meter in-line on a fuse circuit. If I got any reading, then that indicated there is a draw on that circuit.

Went through every fuse in the fuse box. No luck. Finally remembered my accessories. Sure enough, I had a draw on my MSD 6a ignition box. Disconnected the box from the wire, and I still had the draw! Started tracing the wire.

Turns out it had gotten pinched between the plastic mount under the ECU and the fender. Eventually it wore through its insulation and the paint on the fender. Not enough to heat up the fuse and pop it, but enough to kill the battery after a few days.

That is the only way to trace which circuit has the draw. Multimeter I bought. Fuse socket connector.

Good luck!
Dick_B
Explorer
Jul 30, 2020
My batteries did not hold a charge very well in the winter and it turned out that my Dashcam and GPS drew enough current overnight to drop the charge to where I could not start the Suburban.
I'd have the battery tested. My Chevy dealer told me that have found dead batteries on new vehicles just off the delivery truck!