First Time Going Dry Camping (Need Battery to work)

There is a disconnect somewhere - switch, relay, fuse or breaker. Maybe you can find it with your meter. Over 12 v at the battery. What is it at the fuses? From fuse (check both ends) to battery negative should be the same 12+

I just remembered our old tent trailer has a fuse in the canvas on a wire up to the roof to power the lights. Visible only from the outside.

Interesting that you rarely boondock; we never plugged the trailer in over 20 years of use.

KodiakBear74 wrote:
Bummer, I was hoping that I could avoid purchasing a new battery. But that is the price I pay for not doing my homework. I know I need a deep cycle battery but do you guys have any recommendations as to what brand or model? We only plan to do dry camping two or three times a year with the trips only lasting a weekend.

We're currently looking at replacing our 12v battery with a pair of 6v GC batteries for the extra storage. We just did our first dry camping trip a few weeks ago and are looking to do it more often, so we're trying to sure up our power limitations. We'll also likely be adding a 200w solar kit at the same time.

I'm sure you'll get plenty of opinions here on 12v vs 6v batteries. This is just the route we decided on/

FYI... we ran 3 days on on current battery running just the fridge (on propane) water pump when needed, LED lights, and propane detector. As soon as we kicked the furnace on one morning it killed the battery in a hurry.

Bummer, I was hoping that I could avoid purchasing a new battery. But that is the price I pay for not doing my homework. I know I need a deep cycle battery but do you guys have any recommendations as to what brand or model? We only plan to do dry camping two or three times a year with the trips only lasting a weekend.

Also, thanks for all the information regarding the battery disconnect switch. I will definitely install one of those with the new battery.

KodiakBear74 wrote:
We didn't use our camper from November to March and unfortunately, I never disconnected the battery.

Is the Auto Reset Circuit Breaker hard to replace?

There's no reason to replace the resettable circuit breaker when it's likely fine, the real problem being that your battery is no doubt toast because you left it connected over the winter and would therefore need to be replaced. Do that and I bet everything will work as it should.

Oh and a very useful tool for finding where the 12 volts stops.

http://www.makariosrv.com/12-volt-test-light-08-9010/?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=ppc

Found by Google, No recommendation as to dealer, You can find 'em at most any auto parts store or auto department.

Auto Reset circuit breakers are usually (Depending on where they hide them) easy to replace,m usually two screws (Mounting) and two terminals (Be careful with the wires)

Battery disconnect may say something like USE/Store, it is often remotely operated and just inside the door so you can "Connect" before entering.

CW likely installed a MARINE/deep cycle battery.. These are not my first choice

(DEEP CYCLE is needed).

But for now, use what you have,,, Replace with DEEP CYCLE when needed.

IF YOU DO NOT have a battery disconnect switch then there is an alternate way to disconnect.. NOTE: Do this when parked at the storage spot NOT at the campground.

Using a wrench (7/16" or 11MM is a common size, so is 1/2 inc) if needed, Disconnect the NEGATIVE battery cable.. just that one.

If it's a wing nut connection with more than one wire attached, Tie all th wires together with BLACK tape. NOTE; also put red tape, or split loom or paint on the wires hooked to the POSITIVE terminal, and tie all them together with string or something for when you eventually remove battery for replacement.

Why do this:
Red for positive black for negative enables you to reconenct properly

Tying all the wires together with tape or string means you don't miss one

We didn't use our camper from November to March and unfortunately, I never disconnected the battery. Also, I didn't get a chance to take a reading with the shore power connected.

Is the Auto Reset Circuit Breaker hard to replace? I noticed that the battery cables go to the front of the camper frame and are secured to this small two-bolt terminal that has a red boot that covers it. Does that have anything to do with my problem?

Thanks again for all the help!

bikendan wrote:
you may have tripped the 12v resettable circuit breaker/fuse, that's located along the trailer's A-frame.

it's a little gray/silver box with a tiny black button on one side.
you press the button to reset the breaker/fuse.

A possibility I suppose but any trailer I've seen that's been manufactured in recent years has always had an auto resetting circuit breaker, with no way to reset it manually. Remove the fault that caused the CB to trip and it'll reset automatically.

Veebyes wrote:
Think of that battery charge as a bucket of water. Once it is gone, it is gone. Time to refill/charge. The rated amp hours of the battery is the size of your bucket.

For dry camping the size of the battery bank & available water capacity is king.

A good analogy but may erroneously lead the OP who is a newbie to the conclusion that he has the rated AH of his battery available for use when in fact he shouldn't be drawing that battery reserve down any more than ~ 50% on a regular basis if he expects that battery to return it's rated number of deep cycles before permanently expiring. That means drawing down to about 12 volts, so if he's already at 12.2 he's already drawn down to ~ 60% capacity with very little left to go before a recharge would be recommended. In other words, if the OP has a battery with a 90 AH rating then in practical terms he would have only ~ 45 AH available for use before a recharge would be needed.

The OP's comment that "nothing" is running is untrue as every trailer will have some parasitic draw whenever the battery is connected - propane detector, radio memory circuit, television wall plate if one forgets to turn it off, etc. If not plugged into shore power so the converter can maintain a correct charge on the battery that battery should always be disconnected whenever not being used to prevent this parasitic drain. Reading the OP's posts suggests to me he hasn't done this, his battery has in fact been drawn down well below 50% SOC, and is in fact toast, the proof being his converter's apparent inability to properly recharge that battery.

you may have tripped the 12v resettable circuit breaker/fuse, that's located along the trailer's A-frame.

this usually happens when the owner re-installs the battery and crosses the battery cables, which trips the breaker.

it's a little gray/silver box with a tiny black button on one side.
you press the button to reset the breaker/fuse.