Power problems with springdale tt

[Louvinlovin]

Hello, I am new here. We just purchased a 2003 Springdale 295bh. When we got it home we plugged it into a 30 amp plug. Yes 30 amps on 120 volts. I tried to put the slide out, out, and it went a little then we heard this loud beeping sound. We got what little bit had come out, back in. But then there was no power to the rig. I have a 30 surge protector and it kept tripping. :confused: Upon further investigation we found the converter and hot water heater circuits kept tripping. The battery tested ok. But this morning, next day the battery was dead. If we just completely disconnect the battery and re hook up the rig to shore power, do you think that will fix the problem. I called a rv mobile repair guy and he does not come to where I am. We need this to be all fixed in 3 weeks. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I will try to get the converter model number tomorrow.
thanks

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum!

If the coach battery is bad, that may be your issue. Take it out and see if it will charge. If it does, then load test it. Obviously if it fails get it replaced.

Then plug the trailer in and measure the voltage at the battery terminals. If it isn't 13VDC or higher, your converter has either gone kaput, or the fuses on the backside of converter have blown.

We'll start with having you test the battery, then once a known good battery is installed, check for charging voltage at the battery. We have 3 weeks to fix this? Piece of cake!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CaptnJohn]

Hello, I am new here. We just purchased a 2003 Springdale 295bh. When we got it home we plugged it into a 30 amp plug. Yes 30 amps on 120 volts. I tried to put the slide out, out, and it went a little then we heard this loud beeping sound. We got what little bit had come out, back in. But then there was no power to the rig. I have a 30 surge protector and it kept tripping. :confused: Upon further investigation we found the converter and hot water heater circuits kept tripping. The battery tested ok. But this morning, next day the battery was dead. If we just completely disconnect the battery and re hook up the rig to shore power, do you think that will fix the problem. I called a rv mobile repair guy and he does not come to where I am. We need this to be all fixed in 3 weeks. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I will try to get the converter model number tomorrow.
thanks

Welcome. Your in good hands with Chuckster. Wish he was close to where I live. Good luck.

[14george]

X2 what captnjohn said :wlcm:from W Va

[ctbruce]

Welcome to the forum. You've got great moral support here.

Chip Bruce, RPH
Kansas City, MO
2016 Fuzion Impact 312
2015 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ
WELL....THAT WAS FUN!

[Tbos]

Welcome to the forum from Southern MD. You'll get it up and running with all the help here.

[Louvinlovin]

Welcome to the forum!

If the coach battery is bad, that may be your issue. Take it out and see if it will charge. If it does, then load test it. Obviously if it fails get it replaced.

Then plug the trailer in and measure the voltage at the battery terminals. If it isn't 13VDC or higher, your converter has either gone kaput, or the fuses on the backside of converter have blown.

We'll start with having you test the battery, then once a known good battery is installed, check for charging voltage at the battery. We have 3 weeks to fix this? Piece of cake!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


How does one load test it? I am worried about this. (We have sold our house and am moving into this temporarily, so that is why I am worried about it.) And why can't we just disconnect the battery? I have an older TT and never had this kind of problem with it and it never had a battery connected to it. I guess they are different kinds of systems.
The battery on the rig is new in I think June of 2015. The battery is on a trickle charger as we speak, er type. We will try to do it again. Thank you so much for the help and thanks for all of the warm welcomes to this forum.

[sourdough]

Just follow Chuckster's lead and you will be OK. On a 13 year old RV you may have any kind of problem(s).

[GMcKenzie]

Couple options to load test it. Once it is charged, take it to pretty much any auto supply store that sells batteries and they will test it for free. Or buy a load tester like

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-100-Amp-Capacity-Economy-Battery-Load-Tester/21642133

and test it yourself.

Slides generally won't work if you don't have a battery hooked up. They draw more amps than the converter can put out.

[JRTJH]

Couple options to load test it. Once it is charged, take it to pretty much any auto supply store that sells batteries and they will test it for free. Or buy a load tester like

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Schumacher-100-Amp-Capacity-Economy-Battery-Load-Tester/21642133

and test it yourself.

Slides generally won't work if you don't have a battery hooked up. They draw more amps than the converter can put out.

And, to operate the slides without a battery installed can (and often does) overload and destroy the converter and/or overheat the slide motor. No idea what previous owners of your RV may have done and what they may have removed, but all "new" RV's have a warning label attached to the control center/slide switch warning against operating the slide without a battery installed in the system.

[bobbecky]

I would also suggest, until you get the battery problem or whatever is causing your slides to not work, leave the water heater off, and anything else not needed that works off of 120 volts. Also, make sure to hook up your battery properly, or you will blow fuses in the converter.

[Louvinlovin]

Well i went into the trailer today and used an extension cord so i could vacuum and steam clean the interior. A little tight with the slide in, in the in position but I got everything I could to get that done. WHile there I looked at the power box. The power converter is a 6300 A and model 6345 with a battery charger. Our old camper did not have a slide out. Soooo, I am finding out quickly how much of a pain in the butt slide outs can be. :( I am sure all of you nice folks will help us get this straightened out. THank you.

[chuckster57]

Hate to disagree, slides are the best thing invented for RV's.

[GMcKenzie]

I kinda understand not liking the slides. Sometimes improvements to trailers can be a pain in the butt.
Had a trailer years ago. I could turn the heater on and not have to run a fan, and still heat up the trailer. I miss that, but there is no way it would work in my current trailer.
If my slide is in, I can't get to the fridge. Still can get to the bathroom, but have to put the slide out in order to get a beverage. It's a bit of a pain when traveling.
But all that aside, I'd still rather have a modern trailer with a slide then one without.

[Louvinlovin]

The reason we got it is because the slide afforded us so much more space. My daughter is now a teenager and of course adult sized. haha. and we will be staying in this temporarily in between places because we just sold our house. We have to be out in 3 weeks! Hence the time frame. And the dometic fridge has a recall too! So I have to schedule that asap too. plus pack up our house and get it all to storage! I might simply lose my mind!! :banghead: We are working on charging the battery and see if that helps. Maybe we can then get this figured out. This forum is about all that is helping us right now. 'THank you all so much. But this is not done yet. I will let you know as we progress. The battery tonight showed 13.16 on the charge. I think that is right.

[Louvinlovin]

My husband and I have decided that we are just going to take out the dometic fridge and replace it with a residential fridge. It seems to us that the recall kit is more of a patch!! It just contains the fire if it happens. Well we don't want our camper to catch fire and risk our lives. Has anyone had any issues with the dometic fridges that were recalled? The whole situation makes me very nervous!! Now I won't have to worry about the rig being gone for a week or more with such a short time frame. We can take the small residential fridge from our older camper and put it in the newer one. At least for now. :fire:

[chuckster57]

I have installed dozens of the Dometic recall kits. Haven't seen or heard of a single fire afterwards.

After you install the recall kit, I can assure you as a tech that your refer will have the same components and protection as a brand new unit.

Your choice, but if you plan on selling in the future, it will impact the price. I'm watching this thread, and I am readily available by PM if you need additional info.

[Louvinlovin]

Thank you for your response. But I will just feel better with an electric one. We really have no use for the propane part. We are always plugged into shore power. And if we are not I just use a cooler with ice. We also have one of those dc coolers we can use. That is rare to boondock. Especially now with a bigger rig. I wish you lived closer to me and could help us. I had our old rig figured out, but this one is so different. But in time I will get it. I think we will be taking many things from the old camper. But that is ok. Thanks for the help.

[Louvinlovin]

Well, we decided to get the repair kit after all. It is going to the dealer Monday AM to get that done. I was thinking about asking them to check out the converter thing too. Or at least give us some direction and help us to make sure we do it right in the future. I told the man at the dealer what our situation was and he will try to rush it. I really can't afford to have it gone but what else can I do. The battery is taking a charge, but it is taking forever. My brother in law said last night that it was at a 1/4 charge! It has been on the trickle charger since Tuesday morning. Is that common for it to take that long? (tx)

[ctbruce]

Well, we decided to get the repair kit after all. It is going to the dealer Monday AM to get that done. I was thinking about asking them to check out the converter thing too. Or at least give us some direction and help us to make sure we do it right in the future. I told the man at the dealer what our situation was and he will try to rush it. I really can't afford to have it gone but what else can I do. The battery is taking a charge, but it is taking forever. My brother in law said last night that it was at a 1/4 charge! It has been on the trickle charger since Tuesday morning. Is that common for it to take that long? (tx)
Trickle (key word) are slow by nature. They are great for topping off but slow to fully charge a dead or very low battery. A regular charger would be a better choice. Just my 2 cents.

Chip Bruce, RPh
Kansas City, MO
2016 Fuzion Impact 312
2015 Chevrolet Silverado LTZ
WELL....THAT WAS FUN!

[JRTJH]

Well, we decided to get the repair kit after all. It is going to the dealer Monday AM to get that done. I was thinking about asking them to check out the converter thing too. Or at least give us some direction and help us to make sure we do it right in the future. I told the man at the dealer what our situation was and he will try to rush it. I really can't afford to have it gone but what else can I do. The battery is taking a charge, but it is taking forever. My brother in law said last night that it was at a 1/4 charge! It has been on the trickle charger since Tuesday morning. Is that common for it to take that long? (tx)

This is Friday, so if your battery has been on a "trickle charger" since Tuesday morning and it's not yet charged, there's either something wrong with the charger or with the battery. Either way, I'd take the battery to Auto Zone (or comparable) and have them test it. If it's the battery, replace it and keep an eye on the new one (there's a possibility that your converter caused it to fail). If the battery tests good, then your converter isn't charging it properly and needs to be checked when you take the trailer in for the refrigerator mod.

Either way, at least after checking the battery and converter, you'll know what you've got to deal with. Right now, anything (and most everything) would be a speculation or WAG (Wild Awesome Guess).

[Louvinlovin]

Well we got the battery to about 85% and the guys put it in and got the bottom of the slide in all the way in. But the converter and how water heater circuits still keep tripping. The other stuff works ok. So tomorrow it goes to get the dometic recall kit put in it. While they have it we are going to ask them to look at it. One of the people working on this thinks he knows it all but really doesn't. But don't try to tell him that!! haha As we were doing things we discovered a panel under the camper that had this rats nest of wires hanging down and not attached to anything. :eek: Maybe that is part of the problem. But the battery did take a charge. I will let you all know what they tell us.

[chuckster57]

I love dealing with wiring in an RV.....yeah right.

[Louvinlovin]

The trailer is at the shop. Before I even got home he called and said they looked at it and the converter is toasted! Can I have jelly on that toast? haha just kidding. When we got there he was like oh that should be no big deal. I guess it has happened many times before. He also told us that the slide would not go out if the battery is dead, which it was...and you don't need to be plugged in to get the slide to work. Boy are we getting an education here. He even told me that on our old camper by not having the battery on it that it can toast the converter too. Well we tell the guy who buys it that. We have had it for 6 years and that has never happened. No slide on our old 89 Citation. So that is the scoop and I very much thank you all for helping us. (tx)

[Louvinlovin]

UPDATE...I talked to the shop today and they told me the battery is bad!! So any recommendations on what one to get would be great! We will be using this camper in cold conditions if that makes a difference or not I don't know.

[GMcKenzie]

2 golf cart batteries. I get mine from Costco.

[gkainz]

2 golf cart batteries. I get mine from Costco.

probably need to clarify that the 2 golf cart batteries noted above are 6 volt batteries and need to be installed in pairs, and in series, in order to get 12volts.

I think the thread implies that you are always going to be plugged into shore power? If yes, then I would just recommend the Costco (or other vendor) deep cycle 12 volt battery, which should be "good enough" for your use, assuming I assumed correctly? Lots of "assume" :)

[Louvinlovin]

Hello and thank you all for your help. The converter was bad, the battery was bad too! We went down to get the camper and put in the new battery and brought it home. OH, yes, the refridgerator recall kit was installed too.
We get home and tried to plug it in. The surge protector tripped again. By this time I have had it with this thing. The slide out would not go out because the new battery was not as charged as we thought. My brother in law got it out manually, so now my husband knows how to do that too.
I called the place that put it the new converter and they said they checked it and all was ok. They told me to remove the surge protector....it is an external surge protector. Then everything worked! BUT the connection for the battery was really really hot!! WEll just as you all said, the in line fuse from the battery was all rusty. So they replaced that and now everything works as it should!! So the BIG question....Can a surge protector go bad if it is tripped too many times?????? And is there a way to test it???
I won't use this place again. They charged me 350 bucks for the converter! When we got back the back vent lid over the bathroom was open. No vent covers on this as of yet!! The rig was unlocked...and they did not put back the wheel chocks or put the trailer tongue on a peice of wood, so it was sunk in the sand!! Also they finished the work late friday afternoon and and as of 9:30 am monday they still had not called me to tell me they finished the work!! Neither my husband or I are very impressed. So I think we have everything in order now. If the battery is on the camper all winter and it is plugged in will it be ok through the winter months? Yes it gets to freezing and below where i live. Sorry I dragged this on so long, but I am glad we got everything figured out. :banghead: