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Old 11-11-2013, 04:53 AM   #1
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Battery charging problem on Solaris 1950

Something else came to mind last night. What powers the brakes? The tow vehicle or the house battery?
I am asking as it seems my house battery is not charging. The previous owner but a trickle charger on it but I though he did so because he did not keep the camper on shore power. I keep things in the fridge so I keep it plugged in. Went to turn the pump on yesterday after pulling out only to find the battery almost dead ( barely would get a light to glow) any idea why my house battery is not charging? For sure it should charge either off the TV or shore power? Sorry if this has been asked before. I did a search on the forum but could find an answer
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Old 11-11-2013, 05:13 AM   #2
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The brakes are powered by tow vehicle through the brake controler. You other issue sounds like a converter problem or bad battery.
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Old 11-11-2013, 05:33 AM   #3
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Ok thanks. As for the battery when it was plugged to the trickle charger it charged up. ( I guess I need to post this issues as a new thread)?
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Old 11-11-2013, 06:15 AM   #4
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To test converter output. Plug into shore power test battery with VOM meter set to DC volts. You should get around 13.5 volts.
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Old 11-11-2013, 08:01 AM   #5
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If your 7 pin on the TV is an add on it is very possible that the charge circuit is not installed or if it is factory it is possible the TV has a blown fuse for the charging circuit. There is also a 30 fuse in the trailer that covers the battery wiring for the charge circuit. I had issues with my controller intermittently giving me error codes and not having brakes on the camper it turns out that the controller was telling the truth. I jacked up the trailer and one brake only worked slightly one not at all and the other two worked fine. 4 new brake magnets and we were good to go! You can check the charge power at your TV 7 pin with the TV on check voltage between the lower left pin (7:00) and the upper right pin (1:00) it should read charging voltage. If it does move on to your camper battery if there is no charge voltage there (if the fuse is good) some thing wrong in the connections or the camper pig tail.
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Old 11-11-2013, 08:38 AM   #6
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So what charges the house battery? The TV or the shore power? ( or both)
With my motorhome the battery only charged from shore power or the generator. But I have no clue with the TT
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Old 11-11-2013, 09:32 AM   #7
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Is there any particular brand of deep cycle battery which you guys would recommend. Checked the battery and 5 of the cells were dry. Also the battery is charging at 12.9 volts. Is that sufficient?
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Old 11-11-2013, 10:34 AM   #8
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I use Deka but any good brand name. Battery should be charging at 13.5 volts on shore power. I'd check again with good battery. Battery charges off both vehicle and shore
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Old 11-11-2013, 10:54 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Uwharrie View Post
( I guess I need to post this issues as a new thread)?
Yes, I created a new one for you. You have 2 problems, trailer brakes and battery charging.
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Old 11-11-2013, 04:04 PM   #10
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So what charges the house battery? The TV or the shore power? ( or both)
With my motorhome the battery only charged from shore power or the generator. But I have no clue with the TT
All of the above should even the motor home should have. Check your TV 7 pin that is where the charge power comes from.
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Old 11-11-2013, 05:00 PM   #11
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So what charges the house battery? The TV or the shore power? ( or both)
With my motorhome the battery only charged from shore power or the generator. But I have no clue with the TT
All of the above should, even the motor home should have. Check your TV 7 pin that is where the charge power comes from.
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Old 11-11-2013, 06:34 PM   #12
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As Jim mentioned earlier, the converter will (or should) charge the battery when you are on shore power.

When towing the tow vehicle should charge the battery. As mainah mentioned, the fuse in the tow vehicle could be blown or missing.

Here is a picture of the 7 pin plug that plugs into the tow vehicle to show where you should see 12 volts (13.5 when running). My connector is only live when the engine is running.
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File Type: jpg 7-pin-rv-s.jpg (54.4 KB, 1 views)
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Old 11-12-2013, 06:20 AM   #13
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As Jim mentioned earlier, the converter will (or should) charge the battery when you are on shore power.

When towing the tow vehicle should charge the battery. As mainah mentioned, the fuse in the tow vehicle could be blown or missing.

Here is a picture of the 7 pin plug that plugs into the tow vehicle to show where you should see 12 volts (13.5 when running). My connector is only live when the engine is running.
Don't forget when you look at the connector on the TV it will be mirror image!
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Old 11-12-2013, 08:07 AM   #14
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Here is both trailer and vehicle connector
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File Type: jpg 7wayConnDiagram.jpg (88.0 KB, 6 views)
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Old 11-12-2013, 03:35 PM   #15
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Jim's picture of the trailer end (right picture) is what you will see if you open the little door on your 7 pin connector on your truck (or) car. the ground is lower left (7:00) the +12 is upper right (1:00) between the two there should be charging voltage with your TV running. The pictures are of the inside wiring not the pin staring you in the face when you open the cover on the car/truck end so the picture on the right matches the T.V. male connection pins. This is a good place to start with any electrical problem before you condemn the trailer wiring. Over the years I have seen some pretty strange stuff including brake wires hooked to turn signal terminals that produces some pretty interesting results.
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Old 11-12-2013, 08:50 PM   #16
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Are you folks saying that the battery on my saturn gets charged while connected to shore power too? I knew it was being charged by my TV and when boondocking I teickle charge with my solar panel, but wow, very cool that it is also being charged at campgrounds with elec hookups ?
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Old 11-13-2013, 05:39 AM   #17
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Are you folks saying that the battery on my saturn gets charged while connected to shore power too? I knew it was being charged by my TV and when boondocking I teickle charge with my solar panel, but wow, very cool that it is also being charged at campgrounds with elec hookups ?
Yep. You got it, if your converter is working.
To test converter output. Plug into shore power test battery with VOM (voltage, ohm, meter) meter set to DC volts. You should get around 13.5 volts.
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Old 03-09-2014, 03:42 PM   #18
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Does the battery ALWAYS charge on a properly working converter/charger, or does it cycle on/off? At 13.5 volts is there a risk of overcharging a battery? If I keep the TT plugged in at home all the time, should I shut the battery switch off most of the time?
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Old 03-09-2014, 06:05 PM   #19
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Depends on what your converter/charger is. The older stuff was pretty hard on batteries the new stuff can be left on full time. If your battery is losing water it most likely is being over charged.
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Old 03-10-2014, 05:39 PM   #20
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Does the battery ALWAYS charge on a properly working converter/charger, or does it cycle on/off? At 13.5 volts is there a risk of overcharging a battery? If I keep the TT plugged in at home all the time, should I shut the battery switch off most of the time?
Where did you measure the 13.5 volts? At the battery itself or at the convertor output?

13.5 volts can be high enough that charger is not dropping down into float mode if it has it. Float mode is around 13.25 area and should become active at this voltage once the battery approaches 100% state of charge. 13.6 to 13.7 is normal charge.

If you had the converter on for approx 3 days and it is still up at 13.5 volts, that is a heads up it "might" be one of the older ones that does not have a float mode does not shut down the charge enough and over time boil out the battery.

The newer units drop down into float mode and back the current way off. Once the battery reaches full charge it only need minimum milli amps and a constant voltage to keep it that way.

If you keep the camper plugged in all the time, then during the non freezing out months, once the battery is fully charged, takes maybe 3 to 4 days, then unhook the battery for about 1 month and then put it back on again for a few days and take it back off for another month. I know this is work... maybe think about a present sometime for the camper, a new converter if yours is one of the older ones.

How old is it? Brand/model?
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