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Post by lexiandtom on May 1, 2021 19:30:02 GMT -5
A few nights ago we plugged in our Stratus at home to get the refrigerator chilled down before our small trip. We noticed the refrigerator didnt come on until we also had the battery in the on position, but by this morning the battery was drained and we had to give it a jump from my car to get the the tongue jack down to hook up the trailer. My question is: Does the battery have to be on the whole time? Because I noticed if I shut it off the fridge also shuts off. Also IF the battery is to be in the ON position then is it normal that it would drain it? OR am I missing something I should be doing?
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Post by lexiandtom on May 2, 2021 7:42:09 GMT -5
We are really Really New to this. Any thoughts??
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3rdof5
Weekender RV’er
Finally camping season!
Posts: 55
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Post by 3rdof5 on May 2, 2021 10:29:24 GMT -5
When you are plugged into shore power you have both 12volt DC (being supplied by the built in AC to DC convertor, which supplies 12volts to all 12 volt circuits and charges the battery) and 120Volts AC to all 120Volt circuits. You only need to have the battery cutoff switch on to charge the battery while plugged into shore power. Every thing is supposed to work normally when plugged into shore power regardless of the battery cutoff switch position. Most RV fridges have 2 modes of operation: 12volt mode which only uses a small amount of current to operate the fridge's electronics which auto light the LP gas during cooling and to run the interior light. Typically there is a switch you can set to Auto or LP gas. In Auto mode the fridge will run on 120vac if available or 12v/LP gas if no AC is available. In the LP gas mode the fridge will stay in gas mode regardless of what kind of power is available. In either mode the current draw from the battery is very low and will not drain the battery even if used for days.
If nothing happens when you plug into shore power then either your built in AC to DC convertor is faulty or AC power is not being supplied to the camper, possibly a bad breaker somewhere in the AC supply circuit or a bad power cord.
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Post by WrkrBee on May 2, 2021 12:49:57 GMT -5
Check to see if the converter is charging the battery. Easy way is to measure the battery voltage, then plug the camper in. See if the battery voltage increases to 13.5 to 14 volts, the converter is charging. I assume that you have a refrigerator that is 12vdc only, which will kill a battery quickly.
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Post by lexiandtom on May 2, 2021 21:21:29 GMT -5
OK Dont laugh but My Husband found it! One of the Breakers were off!! But hey now we know for future reference! Thanks to you all for your suggestions/ input!!
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Post by navylcdr on May 5, 2021 23:34:24 GMT -5
You also have to be careful when plugging in at home that you don't trip a GFCI outlet, if you have one in the circuit you are plugged into.
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