NOOB - Brand new trailer and dead batteries

[Native143]

I had the same problem and returned my AS to the dealer for a new battery. Why buy an out of date battery? Much better after. Held a charge for days rather than hours now while dry camping.

[MarkJUrban]

Hi Eric,

We just brought home the same trailer on Saturday. Let's stay in touch.

Mark

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by MarkJUrban

Hi Eric,

We just brought home the same trailer on Saturday. Let's stay in touch.

Mark

Welcome to the forum, Mark! Could you let us know what dealer you used?

Eric, wondering how you made out yesterday and your dealer also.

It seems fair to know about any dealers who may be sending new trailers out on the road with flaky batteries, if any.

Thanks,

Peter

[switz]

Furrion (www.furrion.com) makes a 50 amp to 15 amp male plug pigtail about two feel long for those of us with two air conditioners and 50 amp service. Make sure the extension cord has #12 wire that is rated for 20 amps as that is most likely the circuit breaker in the house you would be using.

[Vickig46]

We have been having problems with our batteries and thought we had to replace them, after reading this we triedcharging them AFTER turning on the "USE" button - and YES it now works. Thank you...

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Seinbelld

. . .
Thought your feedback would help us diagnose. Thanks!!

Eric

Curious whether you have the battery situation figured out?

Thanks,

Peter

[Seinbelld]

Originally Posted by NWRVR

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your new AS!

Did you inadvertently leave your electric brake break away switch unplugged after un hitching? That will drain the batteries within a day and may damage the switch.

Well.... I missed this response initially. Yep - that's EXACTLY what we did. Seemed like a good idea at the time apparently. Was my father in law's idea who's RV'd for years. He thought it'd be an easy way to prevent the trailer from being able to be moved (aka stolen).

So, that happened Friday night. It's now 3 days later. What do we do???

Eric

[Seinbelld]

Originally Posted by MarkJUrban

Hi Eric,

We just brought home the same trailer on Saturday. Let's stay in touch.

Mark

Awesome, congratulations Mark! Did you get the Signature or Serenity? We got the Serenity with Salsa interior...

[Seinbelld]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Welcome to the forum, Mark! Could you let us know what dealer you used?

Eric, wondering how you made out yesterday and your dealer also.

It seems fair to know about any dealers who may be sending new trailers out on the road with flaky batteries, if any.

Thanks,

Peter

We bought from Dave Arbogast in Troy OH. Really great transaction. As you'll see from my previous post, it wasn't their fault.

Eric

[OTRA15]

Thanks for the updates.

The good news is that you have a known cause for the dead batteries!

There are a few real experts on batteries who post here, and it would be wise to wait for them. I believe that a completely dead battery will benefit from being charged by a special charger which is more advanced than your trailer's system.

You may have damaged your batteries, or at least reduced their life expectancy.

One thing you can do is check the batteries' water level per the owners manual, using safety goggles and wearing gloves. Before the batteries are charged, they should be filled with distilled water (not tap or spring water), but again I would wait for expert advice here.

[NWRVR]

Originally Posted by Seinbelld

Well.... I missed this response initially. Yep - that's EXACTLY what we did. Seemed like a good idea at the time apparently. Was my father in law's idea who's RV'd for years. He thought it'd be an easy way to prevent the trailer from being able to be moved (aka stolen).

So, that happened Friday night. It's now 3 days later. What do we do???

Eric

Glad that the cause has been identified. We received a good walk through on delivery but the break-away switch didn't sink in or wasn't emphasized sufficiently. Our batteries did not drain because we were on full hookups on our first trip but the cooling fan on the charger certainly came on frequently! Any damage should be covered by your warranty. In addition to having the batteries checked for damage be sure your AS service department checks the break-away switch and the electric brake magnates (or the electric over hydraulic actuator if you have disks.) The three days of having my brakes engaged destroyed the break-away switch which AS replaced under warranty without question.

If you didn't get a formal walk-through you should insist on one as it will answer a lot of questions before they become a frustration and detract from the enjoyment of using your AS.

Good luck,
Steve

[OTRA15]

PS Eric, you might consider calling your dealer for advice also. If the dealer did not warn you about this possibility, your warranty might cover the fix IMO. At least they can give you good advice on bringing the batteries back from the dead.

[MarkJUrban]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Welcome to the forum, Mark! Could you let us know what dealer you used?

Eric, wondering how you made out yesterday and your dealer also.

It seems fair to know about any dealers who may be sending new trailers out on the road with flaky batteries, if any.

Thanks,

Peter

We bought from Haydocy in Columbus Ohio. The batteries are good. From my understanding the trailer arrived from the factory in Jan 2016. Not much time to burn out the batteries.

[MarkJUrban]

Originally Posted by Seinbelld

Awesome, congratulations Mark! Did you get the Signature or Serenity? We got the Serenity with Salsa interior...

We bought the signature. It was a trailer on the lot, and we were given a "deal". We should compare notes

A quick note on power adapters. I bought the 50 amp to 30amp / 15 amp cheater box adapter. Thinking I could plug in the 15 amp direct to the house for shore power. Not the case, evidently both the 30amp and 15amp must be plugged in to work.

Hopefully my Amazon order of the new 50amp to 15amp adapter arrives today. I am hoping to get shore powe and work on the Airstream (watch tv in the backyard as Marjorie feeds and puts the kids to bed)

Mark

[MarkJUrban]

Originally Posted by Seinbelld

Well.... I missed this response initially. Yep - that's EXACTLY what we did. Seemed like a good idea at the time apparently. Was my father in law's idea who's RV'd for years. He thought it'd be an easy way to prevent the trailer from being able to be moved (aka stolen).

So, that happened Friday night. It's now 3 days later. What do we do???

Eric

Where is this "brake away switch"? If I would have seen it, I would have flipped it for sure.

Mark

[xrvr]

It's a breakaway switch located on the front hitch area just behind the jack. Should have a wire or two attached. You need to connect it to the tow vehicle to be legal when towing.

[paiceman]

Originally Posted by Seinbelld

Well.... I missed this response initially. Yep - that's EXACTLY what we did. Seemed like a good idea at the time apparently. Was my father in law's idea who's RV'd for years. He thought it'd be an easy way to prevent the trailer from being able to be moved (aka stolen).

So, that happened Friday night. It's now 3 days later. What do we do???

Eric

Plug the black plastic piece back into the disconnect switch housing and plug in and let charge overnight and into the next day. These are deep cycle batteries, similar to or the same as those put into golf carts, boats and planes. I ran a division which sold golf carts, in my area we had over 40,000 of these batteries to EXTEND the life my technicians would do a deep discharge on each battery every fall and then a full charge before putting the golf carts away for the winter. Come spring time, full charge again, by unplugging and plugging back in to kick the computer in the golf car back on and 24 hours later ready to go. Your batteries are new, I'd charge them and go for it. If they were actually destroyed you will know it pretty quickly.

Bud

[OTRA15]

After checking the batteries' water level maybe? [per the owner's manual while using gloves and safety goggles]

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Seinbelld

We bought from Dave Arbogast in Troy OH. Really great transaction. As you'll see from my previous post, it wasn't their fault.

Eric

Curious whether the dealer had any advice on charging up the dead batteries?

Thanks,

Peter

[tjdonahoe]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

Curious whether the dealer had any advice on charging up the dead batteries?

Thanks,

Peter

My 2cents is you just put them on the charger and charge them...it is not scientific....