Charging only on 50amp?

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Rocketsled

We're camping about 20 minutes from home. (I commuted to the home office today, matter of fact)...I'll isolate and charge the batteries separate from the trailer and measure...heck, I even have a spare 12v battery that's in mostly good shape, assuming the trailer needs a battery to safely power the 12v side of things.

Sure is a lotta bull**** troubleshooting. (plus the pump this weekend...and that delamination I'm still pondering.)

5 year old trailer.

Now you're starting to "lump every problem" into the bag... You'll never get anything resolved if you build the problem list so large that you don't know where to start.... Stay focused on the charging issue/battery issue, deal with the pump and the delamination and the next complaint after you get the current work finished or "officially put on hold"...

Too many "irons in the fire" and you can't get to the iron you need because of all the other crap that's on top of it....

One of the most problematic of problems is "having so much to do you can't decide what to do first or where to start"....

"one step at a time".... "one problem at a time"...

[Rocketsled]

Thanks, good advice.

The Pump was replaced at the weekend as the NEXT week's camping trip required it (electrical, no water/sewer). The camping trip next MONTH is a boondocking one, so Pump...then power....

The delamination? I'm going to hit that corner with silicone to keep addtional water from getting in, then sit by a fire and ponder a bit.

[JRTJH]

Don't use silicone !!!!! It won't clean off easily, if at all, and NOTHING will stick to "cured silicone"...

Use DICOR self leveling on flat, horizontal surfaces and non-leveling on vertical surfaces (it won't run downhill)....

Much easier to clean or remove and seals as well or even better than silicone, plus you can add another layer on top of it and it'll all work together rather than "repel the new coat"...

[Rocketsled]

So...I ordered some with that in mind...and was told by the folks at Camping World and Gander to not use it...so I'm puzzled.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Rocketsled

So...I ordered some with that in mind...and was told by the folks at Camping World and Gander to not use it...so I'm puzzled.

Ordered some "what" ??? and was told not to use it. "what it" ??

are you talking about ordered silicone and told not to use silicone?
or are you talking about ordered DICOR and told not to use DICOR?

Or ???

There are other sealants that can be used, but basically, if it's on/near the roof membrane, DICOR, if it's on/near the FILON sidewall, ProSeal or a similar product, but DICOR will work in a "temporary basis to seal until repairs"...

Never silicone or a silicone based sealant on an RV roof or sidewall .....

[Rocketsled]

Ordered 4 tubes of self leveling dicor for the roof and a tube of non-leveling Dicor for the area in question (driver side front corner)…I mentioned this to three companies:

The body shop said “don’t bother, the damage is done, just get on our calendar.

Gander RV and Camping world both said “use silicone, don’t use dicor” when I mentioned the plan to use Dicor to seal the area.

[Javi]

Originally Posted by Rocketsled

Ordered 4 tubes of self leveling dicor for the roof and a tube of non-leveling Dicor for the area in question (driver side front corner)…I mentioned this to three companies:

The body shop said “don’t bother, the damage is done, just get on our calendar.

Gander RV and Camping world both said “use silicone, don’t use dicor” when I mentioned the plan to use Dicor to seal the area.

From vast personal experience... NEVER use silicone on any surface that you wish to later paint, or seal with anything else... it ain't ever going to be completely clean again... not even acetone will completely remove it.. In fact I'm not even sure fire will remove it

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Rocketsled

Ordered 4 tubes of self leveling dicor for the roof and a tube of non-leveling Dicor for the area in question (driver side front corner)…I mentioned this to three companies:

The body shop said “don’t bother, the damage is done, just get on our calendar.

Gander RV and Camping world both said “use silicone, don’t use dicor” when I mentioned the plan to use Dicor to seal the area.

I'm not sure who you are talking to at those companies but they aren't correct if your problem is what I envision from your comments (didn't see any pics). You said a 1'x2' area was delaminated on the vertical wall next to the front cap as I recall. The sealant will do nothing to fix the delamination technically but it should seal up what I imagine is a vertical split between the side wall and cap.

To that end do NOT use silicone - someone advised you incorrectly, or, whoever it is that you talked to doesn't know how to use silicone on an RV (and I have seen them use it inappropriately). Use the Dicor until you decide what you want to do for permanent repairs. Silicone is just as bad as has been said in the wrong applications (lots of negatives) - and it sounds like this is going to be one of them. I use ProFlex as well in various places. If you look into Pro "Seal" make sure it's not the 100% silicone stuff -
https://procheminc.com/products/pro-seal/

[Rocketsled]

The thread got seriously derailed.

I wasn't READY to handle the delamination yet...that's why there's no pictures.

Grabbed the 12.0v battery that came with the trailer 3 years ago. (12.7v charged, dipped a little under load, recovered when the load went away.) Threw it in the trailer and it acted exactly like you'd expect. Tool the 6V batteries and they both measured 6.7V at rest. Had them tested at NAPA, and they tested fine.

So I'm going to use them, and when they show 11.8v under load, I'm going to continue running them...while I have shore power and can see how long they last.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by Rocketsled

The thread got seriously derailed.

I wasn't READY to handle the delamination yet...that's why there's no pictures.

Grabbed the 12.0v battery that came with the trailer 3 years ago. (12.7v charged, dipped a little under load, recovered when the load went away.) Threw it in the trailer and it acted exactly like you'd expect. Tool the 6V batteries and they both measured 6.7V at rest. Had them tested at NAPA, and they tested fine.

So I'm going to use them, and when they show 11.8v under load, I'm going to continue running them...while I have shore power and can see how long they last.

I think your post #22 mentioning addressing the delamination with silicone prompted the responses that redirected from battery issues. Hopefully you will get that sorted out soon.

[Rocketsled]

Update:
Ran off the batteries last night. It went okay!

When reinstalling I gave the contacts a good polish with the brass brush...then a steel one when it wasn't getting quite all the corrosion off. Contacts were bright on reinstallation.

Batteries were at 12.2 after a nights heat and refrigeration, Battery monitor estimates 4 hours to recharge.

I'm thinking bad contacts didn't help, and I'm thinking they were a little undercharged from winter storage in the garage (I'd charged them in the Fall, and again mid-winter, but I think I'll spring for yet another trickle charger next year...I'm up to three so far)

I'll tackle the delamination in a couple weeks. In addition to the silicone recommendation (which I will not do), one of the guys suggested pulling the screws on the nose cap, pulling up the aluminum strip, cleaning under it, and re-sealing with that grey mastic-like compound used to seal RV windows.

There are kits that use epoxy to re-estabilsh the bond, but they require pressure pushing against the affected area for a period of time and I'm not sure I'll be able to a)get that far into it or b) place pressure on it long enough that the HOA doesn't complain. I guess I'll decide when I get in there and take a look.

[JRTJH]

Based on previous posts, are you going to repair the delamination yourself or just seal up the area until you take it in for someone else to repair?????

If you're going to repair it, then disassemble and do it correctly.

On the other hand, if you're just "sealing it up for now, pending a later repair" THEN DON'T GO SPREADING A LOT OF PERMANENT STUFF LIKE EPOXY AND PERMANENT MASTIK THAT SOMEBODY ELSE WILL HAVE TO DIG OUT TO DO THE PERMANENT REPAIRS !!!!!

In other words. if you're going to have it properly repaired later, then your objective should be to do a "on the surface seal" so no further water can get into the inner spaces.

Don't make the job later on impossible to complete without tearing out all your "temporary repairs done with permanent materials".....

[Rocketsled]

Like I said, I wasn't ready to tackle it yet. I'm still fact finding, and usually it's a process of getting enough information that the actual repair ends up not being a big deal.

[Socaldave]

Originally Posted by jasin1

Does anyone know of a good portable battery load tester ? Is that something worth buying? …I have so many different battery’s in all the different vehicles and boats,tractors etc

Pick your poison...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=battery+l...f=nb_sb_noss_1