No 12VDC

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Den Socling

Den Socling

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 8, 2012
Posts
47
Location
Jersey Shore, PA
I unhooked my folding trailer this morning and prepared to set it up. I pushed the button for the lifting mechanism and nothing happened. I went to the porch light which always shows battery voltage regardless of kill switches and it didn't light. I went to the plug at the battery which had been unplugged and it was tight. I got a volt meter and checked voltage between the circuit breaker and the chassis. Voltage was good. I had to scratch my head. I decided to back the truck to the tongue and reconnect. That made everything work. I lifted the roof then disconnected the truck. Everything still works. I don't like things that fix themselves but I don't know anyplace outside of the battery where there is one connection for the entire 12VDC system. Anybody have any suggestions? It has been very damp and we haven't used the camper for a month or so. It could very well be corrosion somewhere. I'd like to find it.
 
"I checked the voltage at the circuit breaker, it was good"

Both sides??????

Also where did you put the negative lead.. Bad grounds (Either at the battery or the other end of the negative cable) are kind of #1 on the suspect list.
 
John, I checked the breaker on the trailer side. It definitely was good. I put the negative lead on the tongue. The battery was fully charged. From the breaker to the frame, I had 14+ volts showing on the meter. The grass was wet yesterday. I think I'll crawl under the trailer today and look around.
 
I crawled under the camper today. The wiring harness goes directly into the electrical panel. Neutral and ground come right back out and to the chassis. They are tight. I'll look around the panel. Maybe it will never happen again but, if it stays dead, I have to crank up the roof by hand. I've done that already and it's not fun.
 
I can think of several other possible issues, but how are the other 12 volt things? Do they work?  If so you narrow it down to the motor and it's control.

What is the hand crank "Business end" like.. If it is either a 'T" bar or a wrench socket you can get the proper adapter for your power drill at an RV store or online.    Manu use those adapters for their stablizers.. Makes a hard job much easier.
 
John, When it was dead, everything was dead. Like I said earlier, not even the porch light worked. The porch light is not turned off with any kill switch. If it doesn't work, there is no 12 volts. However, we ran on the battery all weekend with no more trouble. Just that one mystery on Friday night.
 
It happened again but now I know the answer. I set up on Friday and nothing powered by 12VDC worked. Not even the porch light. I got out the multimeter and verified a charged battery. It has a connector near the battery for easy disconnect when not in use. I had voltage there. I went inside and took the cover off the electrical system. I found one of those insulation displacement connectors and figured I found the problem but no matter where I pushed in the probe, I got no voltage. I went back to the battery and found an insulation displacement connector right after the disconnect. I took the cap off, found a large black wire (12VDC) going straight through and a small, orange wire branching off. That has to go to the porch light I do believe. I snapped the cap back on the connector and, just for the heck of it, I checked the system. Everything worked. So, the problem has to be an intermittent connection on the camper side of the disconnect. I had wiggled the connector and don't know why that didn't work earlier.

So, what did I learn? If you are wired like me and you have a good battery but no porch light, the problem has to be in the disconnect connector.
 
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