Battery Disconnect

jwfrede · 06-21-2021, 05:39 AM

Just picked up a 2020 Cougar 27SGS last Wednesday. I disconnected Thursday and turned the battery disconnect switch to off. This morning I went out to hitch up and the jack stand controller would not come on. I had turned the battery disconnect switch to on and the light came on indicating some kind of voltage. I had to connect to the truck to get power to run the jack stand controller.

Does the battery disconnect switch actually disconnect everything from the battery?

What about the trailer brakes? Accidently disconnecting that before driving would not be good in the situation where you loose the trailer connection in an accident of some kind.

Perhaps I just got crap batteries from the dealer. This is a new trailer, a 2020 leftover.

Have any Cougar half ton owners out there checked out the battery disconnect switch?

Thanks.

**flybouy** · 06-21-2021, 06:27 AM

The factory disconnect does not disconnect ALL connections. The emergency brakes are connected directly to the battery as are other parasitic drains such as the In Command memory, the radio memory, and the CO/LP leak detector. The only way to disconnect all of that is to install your own switch or remove the ground cable to the battery.

As for the dealer installed batteries they are most likely marine starting batteries and not true deep cycle. Depending on the camping you do they may be fine (always stay with elect5ric connected) or they may have a very short lifespan (dry camp only).

jwfrede · 06-21-2021, 06:50 AM

I had been assuming that everything except the brakes were disconnected. What's the point of a battery disconnect if you leave all kinds of parasitic loads connected?

Hopefully someone with my identical trailer has checked things through and can tell me exactly what's connected separately. That will help when I install my own switch.

I did put my own switch on my travel trailer battery box. The only problem is that I have it dismantled to scavenge parts for a new box to hold a 31 battery. I won't have time to get it together before I leave on my first trip.

Also, I did a total disconnect, including the brakes. This time I want to do it right and keep the brakes connected. So I'll need to fish around to find those wires.

This trailer has dual CL 24 batteries in two boxes each with a exhaust hose. I will want something different. Haven't even looked at the batteries. I would hope that with a trailer of this quality I would have deep cycle batteries. I'll need to check.

Fortunately I have power for every night scheduled on this trip. I leave Sunday, just enough time to get everything loaded, I hope.

**JRTJH** · 06-21-2021, 10:21 AM

RVIA standards prohibit the factory from disconnecting safety devices in a trailer where people will be sleeping. The factory can not install a battery cutoff device that "completely disconnects all electrical devices"....

What you're experiencing is not "unique to your trailer or to that model or brand. Every RV manufactured is required to be equipped with a CO detector, a LPG leak detector and a smoke alarm. If those devices are connected to the trailer 12 volt system, they "must remain powered on" for the trailer to meet RVIA standards....

Once the owner buys the trailer, just like the "mattress tags that say "DO NOT REMOVE UNDER PENALTY OF LAW" you are free to power them off, but the dealer and/or the factory can not provide that option for you....

Most of us simply install a switch on either the positive or the negative battery cable and/or just disconnect the battery cables during storage....

As for the "quality and price you paid for the trailer" and the batteries that it should have, Keystone does not ship any trailer with OEM batteries. The battery or batteries are a "dealer installed option" and most dealers use/install the "cheapest batteries available to them from their wholesale provider"... Some use Interstate, some use Exide, some use WalMart and some scavange a used battery from the battery store around the corner.... The brand, size and type batteries installed is entirely up to the dealer and your "negotiation skills"... Keystone is a "hands off" on batteries.

As for the "doing it right this time"... You might consider that the battery disconnect switch "should" disconnect everything (including the brakes) during storage. That way, should some "prankster" or "A**hole" pull the pin on your breakaway switch, you don't burn up your brakes and melt the breakaway switch from their actions.... In storage, there is no reason for anything to be energized and if you "completely disconnect the batteries, you can't hitch (the jack won't be powered) until you turn the BCO switch on, so the brakes will always be energized when the trailer is connected or in use.

**chuckster57** · 07-04-2021, 04:08 AM

Your brakes are only on when you do either:

Press on the TV brake pedal while the 7 way is plugged in or,

With a battery installed and hooked up, you pull the break away switch pin. The brakes are ZERO parasitic draw.

Rocketsled · 07-04-2021, 07:27 AM

I installed a switch similar if not identical to Jack’s Ammper.

The wiring in these trailers is often just the bare minimum to do just barely what it needs to do from the factory. In adding a two 6v battery tray, I had to install a grounding bussbar as three different grounds were screwed into a single self-tapping screw to the frame…and I needed a 4th ground.

Likewise, while there’s supposed to be a 12v line to the stereo to maintain clock and memory, that sucker pulls 3 amps. I don’t have exact numbers yet, but overnight, the trailer would consume 40% of the 6v batteries capacity until I pulled the fuse for the stereo (which we almost never use). Now it’s closer to 20-25%.

**JRTJH** · 07-04-2021, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocketsled

I installed a switch similar if not identical to Jack’s Ammper.

The wiring in these trailers is often just the bare minimum to do just barely what it needs to do from the factory. In adding a two 6v battery tray, I had to install a grounding bussbar as three different grounds were screwed into a single self-tapping screw to the frame…and I needed a 4th ground.

Likewise, while there’s supposed to be a 12v line to the stereo to maintain clock and memory, that sucker pulls 3 amps. I don’t have exact numbers yet, but overnight, the trailer would consume 40% of the 6v batteries capacity until I pulled the fuse for the stereo (which we almost never use). Now it’s closer to 20-25%.

Is there a "subwoofer" hidden behind a cabinet or the basement area wall panel" ????

3 amps sounds like much more than "just the stereo"...

Rocketsled · 07-04-2021, 07:35 AM

There is…and the 3 amps was measured across the fuse…the separate fuse, that bypasses all of the other electrical…I mean, wouldn’t it have been logical to wire into the panel that’s a foot away, rather than run a separate pair out to the front of the trailer?

**JRTJH** · 07-04-2021, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocketsled

There is…and the 3 amps was measured across the fuse…the separate fuse, that bypasses all of the other electrical…I mean, wouldn’t it have been logical to wire into the panel that’s a foot away, rather than run a separate pair out to the front of the trailer?

I don't think I've ever seen "Keystone" and "logical" used in the same sentence (or even in the same paragraph)......

gearhead · 07-05-2021, 02:54 AM

The switch label is a "double negative".
When the battery disconnect is OFF, the battery is connected. When the disconnect is ON , the batteries are disconnected. The label is very narrowly referring to the switch itself.
Many years ago someone failed a technical writing course and this issue was perpetuated by most RV manufactures.
Bigfoot uses a label marked "USE" or "STORE".
edit add: Landmark uses PERKO style rotary switches much like marine battery disconnects.

Scttw · 07-05-2021, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gearhead

The switch label is a "double negative".
When the battery disconnect is OFF, the battery is connected. When the disconnect is ON , the batteries are disconnected. The label is very narrowly referring to the switch itself.
Many years ago someone failed a technical writing course and this issue was perpetuated by most RV manufactures.
Bigfoot uses a label marked "USE" or "STORE".
edit add: Landmark uses PERKO style rotary switches much like marine battery disconnects.

Mine is the other way around. Battery Disconnect ON - I have battery power. This is backwards to English.

I just pretend I do not see the word disconnect. Battery ON = ON.

I lost some meat when I had it in the OFF position when I thought that was on. We lost power and my fridge could not switch over to propane with no spark from the battery!

gearhead · 07-05-2021, 09:36 AM

I might be confused! LOL
I don't have a Keystone product anymore.

Scttw · 07-05-2021, 09:39 AM

LOL, and they haven't banned you yet?

You may also like: