how to charge battery and connect battery to jayco eagle 10

[vincentru]

hello,
my model is jayco eagle 10 1995,
have a toyoto truestart (84month) battery,I am sorry to ask so basic question,this is my first time to touch this:
how to charge the battery ?
when the battery is full,how to connect to the popup?

please ref the attached picture,

thanks a lot!
Vincent

[Dakota98]

"Yes,if just run the 12v lights,is this toyota battery OK?"

It will work if you are not in a position of buying a DEEP CYCLE:(

"I need to buy battery terminals and connect the white wire to battery green(-) and connect the black wire to battery red(+)?"

YES:)

"need make sure white wire follow to convertor and black wire not follow to convertor?"

At this point, don't worry about that, just connect the battery as instructed & see if your lights work, remember the toggle switch, as I mentioned earlier.:D


"if the white and black wire connect to battery,and connect popup to my home plug,will the convertor charge the battery? how long will be full?"

In short, NO, it will not.:(


"I buy a charger,which charger is better? can it charge both toyota battery and deep cycle battery?

Check with your local Auto Parts store & tell them you need a "smart charger" for 6 & 12 volt batteries, then follow the instructions for using the charger.:@

[vincentru]

after read above reply,I know that I am naive about this new thing for me.

Yes,if just run the 12v lights,is this toyota battery OK?
I need to buy battery terminals and connect the white wire to battery green(-) and connect the black wire to battery red(+)?
need make sure white wire follow to convertor and black wire not follow to convertor?

if the white and black wire connect to battery,and connect popup to my home plug,will the convertor charge the battery? how long will be full?

or I buy a charger,which charger is better? can it charge both toyota battery and deep cycle battery?

thanks

vincent

[tatest]

That's a 10 amp converter, 120-125 watts max output, probably not designed to serve as a charger. You have two 7.5 amp circuits, 90 watts max, each. The low capacity of your 12V system is why the hookup lines ate so lightweight.

You are probably going to have to charge the battery with a separate charger. The switching suggests this.

I don't know the capacity of that battery, but I do know that a small number of low-wattage 12v bulbs, like parking and tail lights, can run a starting battery down overnight.

Your loads other than lighting?

Phone charger, probably OK, as the 12v adapters draw 0.5 to a little over 1 amp (double that for a 2 USB).

Laptop, problematic. I have power bricks for laptops ranging in size 75 watts to 200 watts. The smallest is thus close to the max capacity of one of your 90 watt circuits.

Cooking appliances: my crockpot needs 200 watts, rice cooker 500 watts, teakettle 1000 watts (though the one in my RV may be slightly smaller). Even if you could find 12V DC -> 120 V AC inverters of appropriate size, you don't have the capacity on 12V side for anything larger than 75 watts at 120V.

For using electrical appliances, think in terms of needing a 120V hookup. You might have a single 15 amp or 20 amp AC outlet for this, otherwise you will be running an extension cord inside from the power pedestal. Or from a camping generator, which range in size from 500 watts to more than 4 KW.

Your 10 foot Eagle is functionally a tent up off the ground, with some lighting circuits for convenience. So not a house on wheels, rather something for camping. Most of your heat/energy will be coming from fire, rather than electricity: campstoves, lantens, campfires, bbq pits, gas grills. Modest electric lighting is possible, with additonal stored energy, e.g. battery powered LED or fluorescent lanterns.

Making a tent camper of that vintage serve as a self contained house on wheels is going to take some upgrading, which might start with electrical systems.

[opnspaces]

Run the battery you have and see how it works. Yes a deep cycle battery is better, but the battery you have is already in the trailer so you might as well see how it works for your style camping before you go spend money on a new battery.

To hook the battery up there should be a few wires near it. It's extremely important to make sure the wires go on the proper posts on your battery.

As Old-Biscuit said you need to identify your negative battery cable. If there are two wires near the battery grab the white one with your hand and follow it and see if it is connected to the frame. Then follow the black wire and make sure it doesn't also go to the frame (it most likely does not but it's good to check.)

If the white wire went to the frame it is (negative or the green side of the battery in the photo. If the black wire does NOT go to the frame it is positive or the red side of the battery.

You might need a some battery terminals to allow you to connect the wires. These are available at Walmart or any auto supply store. Make sure you get the ones with the wingnut on them as it makes connecting and disconnecting easier.

[Dakota98]

smkettner wrote:
Battery is fine. Although if you deep cycle a starting battery very much it will soon lose capacity. It will last longer if you camp while plugged in.

Kettle and rice cooker are not going to run off this battery very long. Incandescent lights are also a power hog. The included converter looks like a slow charger (poor) for using a generator.

You will have a hard time going 3-7 days without some upgrades and additional equipment.

Automotive type batteries were never intended use for an RV. Either the seller of the pop-up didn't know that either or just stuck this one in the unit, just to sell it. You WILL NEED a "deep cycle" battery. You will also need a GOOD portable battery charger. The converter you have will function just fine if YOU ARE CONNECTED TO SHORE POWER when camping. It will not however charge the battery adequately. Depending on the OP's type of camping, will determine if any other upgrades are needed. A good DEEP CYCLE battery & charger are absolutes.

PS: Your Carson converter is no longer manufactured, If it ever fails, go here >>>> http://www.bestconverter.com/


Read this link & decide for yourself concerning the battery.

http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

[RoyB]

It probably would be very beneficial for you contacting another POPUP user in your local area. You have a very old POPUP series and will need some local hands on help to get to point where you can depend on your resources to camp off the battery for extended days.

Taking on this older POPUP without any pre-knowledge of how the POPUP systems work may be a challenge for you but is doable...

This is a simplified block diagram of how 30AMP RV Trailer are configured just to give you some sort of idea what you may start looking for... All of your 12VDC items in the the trailer are fed by a 12VC Distribution Panel which is fed by both the shown converter or your battery in order to be functional when you are on shore power or running directly off the battery.



Sounds like a fun project to me but I have been around these things for many years and sort of know what makes it work. You really need to find someone locally that can get your started in the right direction....

There is alot of new items on the markets now on using the trailers with batteries and backed up by small 2KW type generators. We camp on the idea to run all the things we want to run off our batteries in a one day-one night battery run and then recharge the charge the batteries the next morning when allowed to run our 2KW Generator. We can go a good 12-14 days days doing this procedure and not do harm to the deep cycle batteries. One really needs to have at least 220AH capacity batteries to start out with if you want to camp off the power grid alot. My battery bank consists of three GP24 12VDC 85AH Interstate batteries in parallel. My converter unit is a Progressive dynamics model P9260C 60 AMP DC output and uses smart mode charging. This will re-charge my battery bank back to a 90% charge state in a quick three hour run off my 2KW generator each morning. We can run just about all of the items shown in the diagram above with the exception of high wattage items like the Air Conditioner and Microwave.

You have to do some serious planning on what you want to run camping off the power grid and build up your 12VDC Battery system to run these items which may also include a small 120VAC Inverter. Once you can do all of your wants over a one day/night run off the batteries then you are good to go.

Just showing up in the woods with a battery will most likely end up in getting dark on you real soon hehe... Thats fun as well letting you gain valuable experience on what you need to do to be successful.

Have fun - We would rather camp off the power grid verses the standard electric camp grounds but both camping styles are very nice for us...

Roy Ken

[time2roll]

Battery is fine. Although if you deep cycle a starting battery very much it will soon lose capacity. It will last longer if you camp while plugged in.

Kettle and rice cooker are not going to run off this battery very long. Incandescent lights are also a power hog. The included converter looks like a slow charger (poor) for using a generator.

You will have a hard time going 3-7 days without some upgrades and additional equipment.

[vincentru]

thanks for help.
to Old-Biscuit:
except the black and white wire,there is no other larger cables near to the battery.

to Dakota98:
that means I need buy a anohter battery?
this battery is in there when I buy this pop 2 days ago and the seller didn't tell me how to use this battery.

I will use the battery for running lights,notebook,phone charger,kettle,rice cooker,fan(maybe).
I guess I maybe go out for 3-7days everytime.

can I use this battery?

thanks
Vincent

[Old-Biscuit]

Top photo......where are the larger positive/negative cables?
Find cable that is connected to trailer frame..that is negative cable(ground).
Connect other cable to positive battery post.......then connect ground cable to negative battery post

Middle photo.....black and white wires in gray/blue jacket come from/to converter.
Connect black to positive on battery
Connect white to negative on battery
They are for 'charging' of battery from converter when on AC shore power

Bottom photo....converter
Left side top---that is the AC input
Right side.....3 position switch 'Converter' (when connected to AC power it will supply DC power) 'OFF' and 'Battery' (no AC power--flip switch and battery supplies DC power)
Also when in 'converter' and AC power plugged in it will charge battery....but it is a very slow, more like a trickle charger

[Dakota98]

Wrong type of battery. What you have is a battery for a car. You need a " deep cycle" type battery.

Also, the battery cables, under most circumstances, black should be "positive" & "white" negative. Just connect them to the correct corresponding battery pole.

In the pic for the converter, it appears there is a Toggle switch, marked "conv" , off , & batt. The conv = converter, shore power 120vac, batt = battery power . Just switch to what your selected power source will be.