Electrical / battery question - Dutchmen Owners
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×

Go Back   Dutchmen Owners > Dutchmen Brand RVs > Toy Hauler
Click Here to Login
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 06-21-2017, 11:09 PM   #1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Holtwood
Posts: 79
Pennsylvania
Electrical / battery question

I have been having trouble with keeping the battery charged. I store my 3200 plugged in to shore power and normally leave the battery disconnect on. This has worked fine for several years. It seems the battery is not being charged now. What should I check for. With a dead battery I have found these units are dead in the water. Nothing works without a good battery. Seems silly that they are wired this way
Thanks
__________________

__________________
2013 Voltage 3200 with 17.5 wheels and disc brakes towed by a 2014 Ram CTD 3500 SRW crew cab short bed
4wlow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-22-2017, 02:46 AM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Dalzell
Posts: 714
South Carolina
Check the obvious, i.e. connections at the battery. Then, somewhere on the tongue, follow the battery positive wire on its way towards the interior. Often you will find it goes to a small component, that looks like a relay, but with only two terminals. It is a self-resetting circuit breaker. Because it is outside, they often corrode. You should be making voltage checks along the way. If your interior lights work on shore power, (meaning the converter is producing 12 VDC), then your problem is between the converter and battery. Check fuses at converter, too.
__________________

MartyG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-22-2017, 04:20 AM   #3
Senior Member
 
eightydo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 600
Nevada
Are you checking the water in the battery?
__________________

2017 Dodge Ram 3500 DRW
2014 Voltage 3200
2005 FLHTCI
eightydo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-22-2017, 08:48 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Holtwood
Posts: 79
Pennsylvania
I found the converter and discovered all three of the fuses were blown. I am pretty sure that is my problem since I just got a new battery. I will have to get some 35 amp fuses.
__________________
2013 Voltage 3200 with 17.5 wheels and disc brakes towed by a 2014 Ram CTD 3500 SRW crew cab short bed
4wlow is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-22-2017, 02:38 PM   #5
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Dalzell
Posts: 714
South Carolina
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4wlow View Post
I found the converter and discovered all three of the fuses were blown. I am pretty sure that is my problem since I just got a new battery. I will have to get some 35 amp fuses.
Blowing those big fuses usually means a battery was installed with reversed polarity. Double-check yours before you replace them. Black is not always negative, depending on model.
MartyG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2017, 05:20 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
07dmax360's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Seba beach
Posts: 105
Alberta
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartyG View Post
Blowing those big fuses usually means a battery was installed with reversed polarity. Double-check yours before you replace them. Black is not always negative, depending on model.
NO!! Black is always "+" white is "-" even the power connections on your truck 7 way plug, white is always "-"

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk
__________________
2007 GMC Sierra 2500HD 6.6L Duramax CC/SB
2015 Chevy Silverado 3500HD 6.6L Duramax CC/LB DRW
2014 Voltage V-3605 with trail-air pinbox
2012 Can-Am Commander XT 1000, 1998 golwing GL1500
07dmax360 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-24-2017, 05:36 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Dalzell
Posts: 714
South Carolina
Quote:
Originally Posted by 07dmax360 View Post
NO!! Black is always "+" white is "-" even the power connections on your truck 7 way plug, white is always "-"

Sent from my LG-H831 using Tapatalk
On my TT, it is that way also. You have to think of it like house wiring. Black is "hot," white is "neutral." However, many people, thinking of automobile electrics, think "red is positive, black is negative." The OP hasn't gotten back to us, but I'll bet he installed his new battery backwards.
MartyG is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2017, 12:17 AM   #8
Senior Member
 
Gearheadzs's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Buckeye
Posts: 69
Arizona
Likely a bad batt, possibly from over charging, and possibly a bad cell or two.
From my experience, if a cell goes bad, your converter will just run and run and run, as it will not detect a fully charged battery for the converter charger to stop charging. This causes the batt to get real hot, boil (cooking the battery), and leaking, ruining your batt more. Checking your batt fluid and health monthly is a best practice on wet cell batts. Only use distilled watter when topping them off.

If you have not messed with your wiring, or created some situation where you are grounding out to cause fuses to pop (coroded wires can cause this), I would check/replace the batt. Maybe go with two 6v's if you only have one 12V now; my preference is 4 6V batts as I dry camp alot, others may like 12V as their preference.
Batt maintenance is easy after you do it a couple times, and takes less than a couple minutes. Also, be careful with batteries, as the gasses are flammable, and can explode in certain rare instances, which I have witnessed. This is why the batt box in your rig should be used as well as the vent hose, and no spoking during batt maintenance. A given, but should be emphasized.

Good Luck, I hope you sort it out.
Gear
__________________
2014 Voltage 3818 (Epic I & II)
2005 Fleetwood 31ASV BP Toy Hauler
2017 Ram 3500 Longhorn DRW, 4x4, 3.73, Aisin
4 Seat Long Travel Sand Rail, 97 Jeep TJ Rock Crawler, 68 Roadrunner, Various Quads
Gearheadzs is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-27-2017, 12:26 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Gearheadzs's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2017
Location: Buckeye
Posts: 69
Arizona
Something else worth mentioning, is to kill power either at the panel or in the RV when plugging-in your cord. This allows you to seat the cable into the RV properly before applying power to the rig, which can sometimes fry/break things if power is applied to the RV prior to the cord ground being fully engaged/connected when the pos teminals are connected.
Also a "given" is to make sure A/C is switched off when plugging in. Pretty standard knowledge, but mention-able anyway, as my Mother experienced a failure when plugging in her powered 5ver 30A cord last year and fried her ac board.

Gear
__________________

__________________
2014 Voltage 3818 (Epic I & II)
2005 Fleetwood 31ASV BP Toy Hauler
2017 Ram 3500 Longhorn DRW, 4x4, 3.73, Aisin
4 Seat Long Travel Sand Rail, 97 Jeep TJ Rock Crawler, 68 Roadrunner, Various Quads
Gearheadzs is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Dutchmen RV or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT. The time now is 04:25 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright 2020 Social Knowledge, LLC All Rights Reserved.
×