Battery not charging. Where's the charger?

[r.i.p.-FZ]

Hello all,

here's the story, I inherited a 1982 27' Excella a few months ago with no manual. She seems to be in great shape except the skin looks bad and hurricane Ivan dropped a tree on part of her (cosmetic only).

I know nothing of airstreams or travel trailers but am anxious to get on the road. the only problem Ive found so far is the battery wont charge when the trailer is hooked up to power. This only happened sometime in the last couple weeks.

I'm assuming there's some kind of charger on board but am clueless about what or where it is. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

thanks again,
Dave

[Wabbiteer]

Are you saying the existing battery is flat, discharged and rejecting any boost?

[r.i.p.-FZ]

Yes, I replaced a 10 year old battery with a new one when this last happened, thought the battery was just depleted. With the new one I left a light on and next morning the battery is dead. no lights, no nothing. The trailer is hooked up to good power because the ac will run continuously.

[HowieE]

If the battery is just behind the tongue the charger should be just inside the trailer under the couch or what ever is just inside the trailer. Once located check for AC power to the convertor at the AC plug with a meter or any AC item you can plug into the receptacle. If there is power check the fuses on the convertor itself. If the fuses are good check the output voltage of the convertor with a DC volt meter or test light with the battery disconnected. If everything checks out to that point go to the battery itself and again check the voltage on the cables leading to the battery. You should see about 14 volts open circuit at the convertor output and at the battery cables. If everything checks out OK to this point connect the battery and check the voltage on the battery. It may be very low but leave it charging for an hour or so and recheck. It should have increased. If not the battery may be shorted internally.

[Wabbiteer]

I found the primary battery fuse holder would not conduct, the oxidation has grown under the barrel fuse metal and 'lifted' the spring-loaded fuse clips high enough they would not conduct. Just removing and reinstalling the same fuse normalized the system.

A rested fully charged battery will read 12.7 volts - a 90% discharged battery around 12V even.