Electrical Issues??????
I haven't used this forum in a while but now that I am having some issues this is the first place I thought to go. We have a 2008 Keystone Hornet Retreat parked on a seasonal site. We have not had a...
Forum Discussion
The Girls wrote:
Now just another question......could it really be a bad connection or loose connection from the trailer to battery or the converter wires? The reason I am asking this is because the site that the trailer sets is waterfront....salt air not too good but would the battery really have made it for that long if it was a bad connection. Thanks!!
Yes. Most trailer electrical uses the trailer frame as the ground path on the (-) side. Look under or around the battery on the trailer tongue and you will see where the ground wires connect. If this connection is corroded, it may not be allowing enough current to flow to charge the batteries completely. You could also have a loose connection in or around the converter itself. You sound pretty handy and this would be a good place to start.
As Don mentioned, you can get a multimeter for $10 at one of the big box stores. The voltage output from the converter should be 13.6v, if it less at the converter, then the converter is bad. If it's less at the battery then it's either the converter or a bad connection between the converter and the battery.
Again, I don't think it's the reverse polarity fuses because if they were blown the battery would not get any charging current at all and it would have gone dead in a week or less. If the converter was not putting out any 12v at all, you would have no lights at all. The fact that the lights are on but dim would indicate that the converter is working but not putting out enough juice.
It's not uncommon for these things to fail so in all probability that's what it is, but as Don said, you need to check with a multimeter to be sure. Here is good tutorial on YouTube on the basics of using a multimeter.
