21BHS issues yesterday...

[fasteddieb]

1) Towed through heavy fog for much of yesterday. Everything in the trailer had a heavy coating of dew. Just the weather?

2) Even after a full day of driving on disconnecting the battery voltage in the trailer showed about 11.6 v. Seems low. Went up to 12.91v revving the car. May get the battery load tested today at some point. 

3) Had the propane and refrigerator on as we drove. Refrigerator at 60° when we stopped. Cooled to 39° by morning. It should cool while we drive, right?

Thoughts?

[tinkeringtechie]

[quote source="/post/5963/thread" timestamp="1421156236" author="@fasteddieb"]1) Towed through heavy fog for much of yesterday. Everything in the trailer had a heavy coating of dew. Just the weather?

2) Even after a full day of driving on disconnecting the battery voltage in the trailer showed about 11.6 v. Seems low. Went up to 12.91v revving the car. May get the battery load tested today at some point. 

3) Had the propane and refrigerator on as we drove. Refrigerator at 60° when we stopped. Cooled to 39° by morning. It should cool while we drive, right?

Thoughts?[/quote]1- Seems pretty normal depending on the weather situation. It's probably just condensation.
2- Was the battery charged before you started? If it only gets to 12.91V then you're not charging at all. You'll need to get up to 13.5V just to "float" (which would take forever to charge fully)
3- Were there any blinking lights on the fridge? It's possible the flame blew out or that it couldn't light while in motion, but the fridge panel should tell you that. Was the fridge on at all before you started your trip?

[fasteddieb]

Thanks!

1) What we figured.

2) Had been continuously on shore power before the trip. Then sat for about two days unplugged, but I disconnected the battery each day. Should have been pretty fully charged.

We've had the trailer for just under a year, though the build date was March, 2013.

3) Turned it on leaving Buford, GA. Don't recall flashing, but is possible. Karen thinks something may have been flashing, but not sure what.

[david]

A voltage reading of 11.6 while disconnected means an almost dead battery. Perhaps your TV's alternator is not putting out the correct voltage. Check the voltage at the TV's battery terminals with the trailer disconnected and the engine revved to 1,500 rpm or so. Should be about 13.5+.

Another theory is that your trailer's battery has one or more shorted cells that is sucking up all of the current that the TV produces. Check the specific gravity if you can. If you can't because it is a sealed battery, replace it because no sealed battery is deep cycle and is unsuitable for trailer use.

Another theory is that you have some large load in your trailer that is pulling the battery down faster than your TV can recharge it. The only way to diagnose this is with a clamp on DC ammeter. Check the current drawn by the trailer without the TV connected. If high, say 10+ amps then start pulling fuses until it drops then look at that circuit for the offending load. But frankly I can't think of any load that will pull that much current.

David

[tinkeringtechie]

[quote source="/post/5968/thread" author="@david" timestamp="1421160117"]If you can't because it is a sealed battery, replace it because no sealed battery is deep cycle and is unsuitable for trailer use.[/quote]
There are plenty of sealed deep cycle batteries suitable for trailer use. AGMs are considered some of the best Trailer/RV batteries and are sealed.

[tinkeringtechie]

[quote timestamp="1421159015" source="/post/5966/thread" author="@fasteddieb"]Thanks!

1) What we figured.

2) Had been continuously on shore power before the trip. Then sat for about two days unplugged, but I disconnected the battery each day. Should have been pretty fully charged.

We've had the trailer for just under a year, though the build date was March, 2013.

3) Turned it on leaving Buford, GA. Don't recall flashing, but is possible. Karen thinks something may have been flashing, but not sure what.


[/quote]2- Could be many things then (bad battery, not charging, large current draw while connected...). You'll need to do some testing/investigating.

3- If you had the propane tanks off before you started you may have had air in the lines that delayed or prevented the fridge from starting. Whenever I turn on my tanks after sitting for a while I use the stove or water heater to clear the air out before I even turn the fridge on because the fridge uses such little gas it will give up many times before the air is all purged.

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/5963/thread" timestamp="1421156236" author="@fasteddieb"]1) Towed through heavy fog for much of yesterday. Everything in the trailer had a heavy coating of dew. Just the weather?

2) Even after a full day of driving on disconnecting the battery voltage in the trailer showed about 11.6 v. Seems low. Went up to 12.91v revving the car. May get the battery load tested today at some point. 

3) Had the propane and refrigerator on as we drove. Refrigerator at 60° when we stopped. Cooled to 39° by morning. It should cool while we drive, right?

Thoughts?[/quote][font size="3"]Eddie,

Re the fridge/battery: you may have two problems. If the fridge was cold on shore power before you left and then you switched to propane it should have maintained temperature. However, if you had not used the propane recently it is possible you had air in the propane line. The fridge will try to ignite a few (3?) times and give up. You'll see flashing lights on the fridge if this happens. The observed 60 degree reading indicates the fridge was not running at all. When setting out I always verify the fridge switches to gas. Always bleed your propane line when you change tanks by lighting the stove.

The battery, if fully charged to begin with, should have maintained charge while driving. Your voltage measurements suggest the TV is not charging the TT battery. You may have too much voltage drop between the TV and the TT. I agree with TinkeringTechie that 12.91 at the battery while driving is very marginal, but it should not have discharged to 11.6. Check for other loads on the battery such as fans or non-LED lights Check the lights in the front storage area. Even 8 hours with just the fridge and propane detector on a non-charging battery should not have discharged to that degree.

Another possibility, a combo of the above, is the charging system is not working and the fridge cut off due to low voltage. The fridge has a threshold for the 12 volt control board that will cut off when the battery gets low. I don't know what it is, but it might be around the 11.6 level.

Keep in touch and enjoy your trip.

PS: Always listen to Kool Karen. If she says it's flashing, check it out  .
[/font]

[spot1]

Eddie,

I just checked our TT battery and it's not connected to the TV. It reads 12.91V without any load. This battery is a 3 year old marine battery.

[david]

[quote source="/post/5969/thread" timestamp="1421160402" author="@tinkeringtechie"][quote source="/post/5968/thread" timestamp="1421160117" author="@david"]If you can't because it is a sealed battery, replace it because no sealed battery is deep cycle and is unsuitable for trailer use.[/quote]There are plenty of sealed deep cycle batteries suitable for trailer use. AGMs are considered some of the best Trailer/RV batteries and are sealed.[/quote][p]You are absolutely right. My mind was focusing on flooded cell batteries when I posted that.[/p][p]
[/p][p]But having said that, I like flooded cell batteries for RV/Boat deep cycle use because you can check their SG to determine more precise state of charge, whereas with AGMS you can't.[/p][p]
[/p][p]David
[/p]

[djsamuel]

Before I disconnect from shore power, I always light the stove to make sure any air in the propane lines is purged. Then after I disconnect, I wait outside near the refrigerator to listen for the ignitor clicking and then the sound of the flame igniting. I ran into a situation once with air in the line. The refrigerator wouldn't ignite and then gave up. Fortunately I noticed it, recycled the power on the fridge and tried again. We drove from Florida to Arizona and the propane kept the fridge nice and cool. But, I always made sure it ignited after shore power was removed.

[fasteddieb]

Quick follow up...

Car battery showing just under 14.1 V when running.

In about one hour of driving the trailer battery came up to 12.6 V. Don't know what the difference between today and yesterday was.

Will run more checks later and report back.

[jtelles3993]

I'm pretty sure the heavy dew on the inside is not a bad thing. I.e., stick built RVs most likely would have soaked up the moisture (?) and over time contributed to rot and mold.

[fasteddieb]

Thanks.

Quick data point...

There appears to be a .4 V difference between measuring the trailer battery at the battery and measuring it at the outlet for the television. That is part of the low-voltage issue, but not the whole thing.

[charliem]

Thanks.

Quick data point...

There appears to be a .4 V difference between measuring the trailer battery at the battery and measuring it at the outlet for the television. That is part of the low-voltage issue, but not the whole thing.

[font size="3"]Eddie,

You're heading down the right path. There are basically two segments of loss between the battery and your television outlet. The first is between the battery and the power panel. This includes battery connections and the #6 cables. All loads share this segment and contribute to the loss. The second is the wiring between the power panel and the television outlet. On my 21RBS that is a separate circuit labeled TV Booster. I think that's the only thing on this circuit. Since a voltmeter draws almost no current the voltage measured at the television outlet, if the booster amplifier is off, will be essentially what is at the back of the power panel. This is the best reading you can get inside the camper. With ALL appliances off including radio, TV, lights, fans, fridge and WH if set to propane, furnace, plugin USB iPhone chargers, AND the on-board converter unplugged, you will be pretty close  if you measure at the TV outlet. That's where I make my measurements. The battery will always be slightly higher than this measurement but you can live with that.

One other point. When making comparative measurements  at this level you have to use the same meter for both measurements and it should have a resolution of 10 mV (0.01 volts). For this purpose resolution is more important than accuracy. 

I'm sure you know most of this, but I wanted to summarize for other interested parties  . Sounds like you are having a good time in S. FL. Camp on!
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[fasteddieb]

First of all, left Campy at my friend's place in Lake Placid, FL yesterday:






Made it home safely late last night*.

Whatever the issue was with the refrigerator and charging, they seemed to resolve themselves.

Had fun camping at Walmart in Lake City, FL, the Tampa RV show, the Raceway Campground at Sebring (2 nights) and my friend's place in Lake Placid (2 nights). Loving the camping lifestyle!

Two more tiny issues:

1) I accidentally opened the slide with my bike's handlebars in the way, and it snapped off the lower portion of the fascia:






Amazingly light and  "foamy". Anyway, glued with Liquid Nails and clamped it and hopefully it will hold.

2) Noticed a small crack propagating from one of the latches on the longest window:






Hopefully a warranty issue. Will make some calls tomorrow to find out.


*BTW, love the Waze app on my iPhone. Warns of cops, routes around traffic, and warns of road hazards - once a tire tread that could have been an issue if unexpected. Great aid when traveling.