Forum Discussion

darlingtontrio's avatar
Oct 17, 2013

Newbie with a Jayco 23B

My wife and I just bought a 2001 Jayco 23B. I have grown up in a motorhome & a TT, so the lifestyle is nothing new to me, but the set up and everything is. On our TT there is a battery at the front. Here is my dumb question. What is the battery for? Absolutely nothing works when it is not hooked up to 110. We are hoping to take it out for a spin in November for the first time. Thanks, David

16 Replies

  • Welcome and Congrats on the new camper. Next logical step if you feel the battery is fully charged, is to check the circuit breakers and fuses. I presume that they would be below the fridge. On my camper, I have a main switch to turn the lights on and an individual switch on each light. Check their position.
    Good Luck.
  • Well not to defend the one I bought mine from, but they did walk me through it. They showed me how to open the ends, how to work the basic essentials. I did get some knowledge from the guy who showed me what he did. I do have to learn how to light the pilot light and some of the other essentials. I am sure there is allot more he could have shown me. Allot of the basics I already knew. I grew up during the summer months traveling with my grandparents and helping them set up where I could. I can tell I am going to get allot out of this site.
  • Isn't this so typical of Marcus and CW. I have bought a lot of RVs. Every dealer I have bought from walks you through the RV and will actually and show you how things work in the RV. CW world grabs your money and runs and doesn't really care about the customers that they sell to.
  • The battery is brand new. The date on it August 2013. I bough the camper from Camping World. When I plug in 110 volt, and test the battery button inside it shows the battery is fully charged.

    We have had it plugged in sitting in our yard for about a week or so now, I guess I need to test everything now. Thanks.
  • Some lights in the camper should run on the battery, but the real reason it
    sets on the tongue is for the break-away emergency camper breaks. There should
    be a small steel cable that hooks to the vehicle and should it separate from
    the vehicle it will apply the camper breaks.

    Enjoy your camper David, Brian
  • Sounds like the battery is dead, or not charged. Can you try charging the battery with an independent battery charger, then hook it back up. Things should work, like the light.

    Make sure you plug your camper into shore power. The on-board converter should charge your battery. Depending upon the system, it could take a while. So, if you're plugging in the trailer to electric power and then unplugging, that's not enough time to charge the battery. If the camper has been sitting for any length of time unplugged, most likely, the battery is simply not charged yet.