Help - jacks are draining my batteries

[Dupa]

My 2020 camper came with HappiJacs which consume a ton of power from my 2 deep cycle batteries. Once the batteries are drawn down after removing the rig (3000 lb dry weight) from my truck, it's nearly impossible for the generator(s) to get them back up to an acceptable charge while camping so we're really limited in what we can do and for how long. We have plenty of power as long as we leave the camper on the truck, but that's highly undesirable. I have tried loading/unloading with gens running; have tried using power drill to get legs to/from the ground; batteries have been load & spec gravity tested several times and are fine; adding a 3rd battery and/or increasing battery size is not an option due to the size of the battery compartment and no other exterior storage options; the rig's entire electrical system has been diagnosed by a tech and it's fine; contacted the camper manufacturer and they simply shrugged their shoulders and have not offered any insights or solutions; adding solar would be an absolute last resort.

Do any of you experience this? How do you get around it? What input/suggestions do you have for me to solve the power issue? Do any of you have an alternative method for taking the camper off the back of your truck? Anybody tried an impact driver?

[time2roll]

Slow battery charging is probably the voltage. Post the converter model number for best answers. Better yet measure the charging voltage and post it also. s/b 14.4 to 14.6 while charging.

[MORSNOW]

It's your batteries, time to replace them with quality true deep cycle batteries. Don't buy the common RV/Marine combo batteries, they will drain fast.

[StirCrazy]

is the reason you cant get the batteries charged back up because of limited hours you can run your genny? if so think about adding solar to the mix, of course get the batteries tested and see what their capacity is. if they are ones that come with the camper get better ones. eveything else is good advice check the size of the converter and if its working right and so on, but adding solar will give you that chrging capability all day long, not just during hours when your alowed to make noise.

[joerg68]

The jacks are not your problem.
Is this a new issue, and since when has it been happening?

How much capacity do the batteries have? I assume around 100Ah (Ampère-hours) each, so that would be around 200Ah total. Which, in theory, means that they can deliver 200 Amps of current for one hour when fully charged.
The four jack motors have 25A fuses at the Happijac circuit board.
So the maximum current they could ever draw before blowing the fuses is 4x25A = 100A. Realistically, it will be a lot less. But even at the max. 100 Amps current, your fully charged batteries would run all four jacks for *two* hours (that is a theoretical number, I am aware that you can not use all 100% of capacity). But the actual run time of the jacks is just a few minutes, and for much of that time the jack motors are under a light load, if any. So they are drawing much, much less than the max. current. Raising and lowering the camper should not make a big difference in the charge state, unless there is a problem elsewhere.

IMO:
One or both of your batteries are bad and not taking/holding a charge properly,
or some high-current user such as an absorber fridge set on 12V is continuously depleting the batteries,
or the batteries do not receive a decent charge (e.g. defective converter, or battery terminal connections or other wire connections not good. Do not forget to check the mass (negative) side, too).

[bighatnohorse]

Check the date on the batteries. Replace them anyway.

[Chuck_and_Di]

Check fluid levels in the batteries.

[Grit_dog]

But it does no harm to be pumping juice into the batteries while drawing from them. Kinda how it works.

[3_tons]

ICamel wrote:

Dupa wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Run the generator while removing the camper.

That was my first thought as well but, unfortunately, the jacks only draw from the battery. So whether I am connected to the truck, gens or shore power while loading/unloading, the jacks discharge the batteries much faster than the truck/gen/shore can replenish.

If you have the 12v DC charging cord for your generator, try hooking it directly to your camper batteries while running your generator rather than running it through your converter when raising or lowering your camper?

FWIW, the 12v dc current output from my honda 2200i generator falls far short of the current output from my OEM 45a Progressive Dynamics converter charger…Either way, the owners manual belonging to my truck camper specifies not to operate jacks from any source other than the batteries…

3 tons

[ICamel]

Dupa wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Run the generator while removing the camper.

That was my first thought as well but, unfortunately, the jacks only draw from the battery. So whether I am connected to the truck, gens or shore power while loading/unloading, the jacks discharge the batteries much faster than the truck/gen/shore can replenish.

If you have the 12v DC charging cord for your generator, try hooking it directly to your camper batteries while running your generator rather than running it through your converter when raising or lowering your camper?

[3_tons]

I’ve periodically lifted and lowered my #4400 (dry) Eagle Cap camper off and on for 13 years, mostly using two Interstate or Costco golf cart batteries (but since having switched to lithium 🙂 )…I’ve never had the problem your having EXCEPT when a cell or two was getting weak on the golf cart batteries, in which case even the slideout struggled…The fix was to replace the wet-cell batteries…BTW, the batteries showed no other indication of weakness ‘whatsoever’!!

Time to get new batteries…

3 tons

[mellow]

Sounds like a converter issue, generator outputs AC, when running the converter should convert to 12v for charging batteries, I can have almost dead batteries and as long as I get the generator started I can use my jacks without issue and I have a heavy camper.

I would put a voltmeter on your batteries and see what they are doing with the genny on and operating the jacks.

[2oldman]

Dupa wrote:

I've got two of the Honda 2000 gens (they are new and in good running cond.), so that should be plenty big enough?

Yes, sounds like your converter isn't big enough.

[2oldman]

Dupa wrote:

2oldman wrote:
Run the generator while removing the camper.

That was my first thought as well but, unfortunately, the jacks only draw from the battery. So whether I am connected to the truck, gens or shore power while loading/unloading, the jacks discharge the batteries much faster than the truck/gen/shore can replenish.

Still that would be better than not using the gen, right?

[enblethen]

The converter when powered via shore power or genset should feed the jacks adding to the battery power.
Something is not right in your campers wiring!

[Krusty]

Get one of those booster packs and connect it to your batteries while you are using the jacks. Or disconnect them from the batteries completely and just use the booster pack until you have the camper where you want it.