Battery/Electrical issues

[gmpoirier]

2008 Dodge Ram 3500
2009 Bighorn 3670 - recently bought in Elkhart

We were in the middle of Kansas last Friday night in a Rest Area (boondocking). We spent the night connected to the truck. All seemed well.

In the AM, I tried to retract the single extended slider and heard a high pitched alarm and lost all power after retracting about 6 inches.

Before you try to solve that, Brian - from RV Capital Service in Elkhart - had me check the truck fuse for the battery towing electrical line. The 30 AMP fuse was blown. His clue was that there was no power to the BH despite being attached to the truck. Solved the problem but have a question.

1. Why was the battery discharged after driving 8 hours? I suspect that the fuse was blown much sooner that the above incident.

2. Why wouldn't the battery charge after being towed the remaining 9 hours to home? No guess for this one. Suspect battery issue.

3. Just opened BH door while disconnected from all power and heard high pitched alarm. Battery is likely almost drained. What could this alarm indecate?

4. What would be the best way to test the battery?

Thanks you
George

 

[Ray LeTourneau]

A little guessing going on here. From previous experience, if the fridge has either or both of the climate control or low ambient temp switches on, they will drain the battery very fast. The alarm might be the O2 or LP sensor because they are both hard wired and I think they both have low battery alarms.

 

[cliffbuilt]

Hi, George & Maureen
The alarm sounds like one of those sensors Ray mentioned, The blown fuse & lack of batt. charge sounds like problem @ 7-way connection. Check for +12v at the corrsponding pins of TV & 5er ? Also check for proper matching Ground -12v pins.
Good luck, Cliff

 

[truknutt]

2008 Dodge Ram 3500
2009 Bighorn 3670 - recently bought in Elkhart

We were in the middle of Kansas last Friday night in a Rest Area (boondocking). We spent the night connected to the truck. All seemed well.

In the AM, I tried to retract the single extended slider and heard a high pitched alarm and lost all power after retracting about 6 inches.

Thanks you
George

George,

While I don't have a Dodge, I do have a Ford and in order for my truck to charge the RV the ignition has to be on. I say this 'cause it sounded to me that you expected the charging to continue all night while in the rest area.

I have had the 12V charge fuse blow in the past while the truck was running and the umbilical cord was attempted to be plugged in. The plugs didn't line up exactly and "thar she blew"! I never knew it until my smoke detector & LP monitors started singing to me!

My 2 cents worth....

Dave

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

To continually test the 12-volt batteries and 120-volt shore, generator or inverter power I installed a 12 volt and 120 volt meter. The meters are located just inside the entry door over the breaker/fuse panels and are visible at a glance.
12-volt meter will indicate charge voltage received from TV, shore power or generator and battery voltage condition when not charging. 120-volt meter will indicate voltage received for shore power, generator or 12 volt batteries with inverter.

Forrest

 

[beardedone]

You are a handy guy. Did you post your meter installation in the "Mods"
thanks,

 

[cookie]

To continually test the 12-volt batteries and 120-volt shore, generator or inverter power I installed a 12 volt and 120 volt meter. The meters are located just inside the entry door over the breaker/fuse panels and are visible at a glance.
12-volt meter will indicate charge voltage received from TV, shore power or generator and battery voltage condition when not charging. 120-volt meter will indicate voltage received for shore power, generator or 12 volt batteries with inverter.

Forrest

Forrest, do you have 50 amp service? Just currious because if you do you have two 120v lines coming in. Shouldn't you have a meter for each 120 leg? Just a thought.
Peace
Dave

 

[Uncle Rog]

We have a xantrex inverter / charger and the control panel also gives you a system check with just a glance.....................

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

Forrest, do you have 50 amp service? Just currious because if you do you have two 120v lines coming in. Shouldn't you have a meter for each 120 leg? Just a thought.
Peace
Dave

Two 120-volt meters would be an option for a 50 amp service, usually when shore power, generator or inverter are low or high on voltage both 120-volt legs would be effected. You could us a toggle switch or automatic switcher with one meter to read voltage on both legs.

Forrest

 

[gmpoirier]

Thanks all for the info. I'll do some testing this week. We're all set up near home to show-off for Thanksgiving so I should be able to verify that all is ok or resolve any issues.

 

[snuffy]

To answer about checking the battery, there are two ways. You can take the battery out and have someone do a load test. An auto parts store or even WalMart can do that.
I check mine with a volt-ohm meter to see if it reads over twelve volts. Read across the battery before cranking or plugging into shore power; then crank or plug into shore power and read the voltage. It should be higher, somewhere around 13.6 volts. A battery with a defective cell won't hold a charge. You can pop off the tops of the cells and read the specific gravity of each cell with a hydrometer. Don't get the tester with the little balls, get one that has the specific gravity markings on it. Mine has a range from not charged (1.120) to fully charged (1.265)
This link will give you a chart for the readings:
http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/voltchart2.gif

This is a link for what a good hydrometer will look like:
http://www.remybattery.com/Products/Small-Engine-Battery-Hydrometer---00198__00198.aspx

 

[TXBobcat]

Just an FYI.
I went out to my TV about a month ago and it just barely started. I drove it to town (was in Livingston). The truck started right up. I checked the battery and one had a red glow light rather than being green. I took the battery to Auto Zone and had it tested. It tested out OK. I put water in each of the cells as needed.

The next day same thing. Truck barely started. I don't want to be stranded because of a bad battery, so I went to Wal-Mart and got two new batteries and installed them.

Now I am having no problems. My point is this, if the battery checks out good, it doesn't mean it will hold a charge.

 

[cdbMidland]

Gmpoirier,

On my '06 Dodge, it has a battery shutoff that prevents killing the battery if you leave the lights on, including the interior lights (this is kind of a pain as I like to sit in the truck and work Sudoku puzzles while my wife is shopping). Still allows a small trickle so that the radio doesn't lose its settings. Suspect this is what happened on your '08 when you were parked overnight.