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Old 08-21-2018, 09:15 AM   #1
ladymcfall
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Angry Not enough battery power for hitch

We have only had the trailer for a year but this problem started on our third trip. The battery doesn't hold enough of a charge to run the hitch(or the slide). We read all the threads about everything that drains the charge while in storage so every time we stored the trailer we removed one of the battery connections. We even bought a second battery - same issue. Hubby works at an automotive parts supply place so he took both batteries and charged them up there to ensure they were fully charged.

Still, hitch and slide won't work on battery power. Or hitch will START to work but then stop. Lights inside trailer and other battery operated items work fine. ONCE we did blow the fuse for the hitch. We fixed that -it worked for about 30 seconds, and then acted like it wasn't getting any power.

Do we just have two dud batteries or do we have an electrical issue?
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Old 08-21-2018, 09:48 AM   #2
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I think that they may have poorly designed those accessories needing more power than what your batteries can deliver. So you need to give them some help with either jumper cables or a jump box. They make some nice high output jump boxes.
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Old 08-21-2018, 10:58 AM   #3
ladymcfall
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Thank you for your quick reply. We do have some success with the hitch if we plug into the TV power and rev the engine a little bit - gives it enough oompf to go up or down as needed. At least the manual ratio of the hitch is good. The only problem is you have to remove the plastic cover from the propane tanks because there isn't enough clearance for the handle to turn. DH says he doesn't mind but I hate it when things don't work like they are supposed to.
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Old 08-23-2018, 12:47 PM   #4
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Bad battery cables. One or both. I would change ground cable first since it's cheap and easy.
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Old 08-24-2018, 08:39 PM   #5
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Are your batteries getting charged? What's their voltage read with no load, and under load? It's not all that unusual to have converters fail.
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Old 08-28-2018, 02:20 PM   #6
ladymcfall
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Batteries are definitely charged. My husband is a parts manager for the Mack Truck dealership so he has actually taken both batteries (the one that came with the new trailer and the replacement one we bought) to work and charged them up there. When he brings them home, they work for about 3/4 of the time we need to get the hitch up and down and then nothing. We found out once that we had actually blown the fuse but, since replacing it, it doesn't seem to be that issue anymore.
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Old 08-28-2018, 02:57 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ladymcfall View Post
Batteries are definitely charged. My husband is a parts manager for the Mack Truck dealership so he has actually taken both batteries (the one that came with the new trailer and the replacement one we bought) to work and charged them up there. When he brings them home, they work for about 3/4 of the time we need to get the hitch up and down and then nothing. We found out once that we had actually blown the fuse but, since replacing it, it doesn't seem to be that issue anymore.

If you have checked the cables and they are not the problem then I think you need a new tongue jack. That's all it can be.



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Old 09-03-2018, 11:18 PM   #8
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Default Had bad batteries before

Had a similar problem to what you described but in a motorhome where the slideout motor would run the house battery down before the room was fully extended. Battery would be fully charged according to meter but not enough amps to extend the room. The quick solution was a 600amp jump pack. The long term solution was new larger battery with more amps.

Since yours is a trailer not a motorhome, the charge line from the truck could be undersized. If it was large enough, running the truck engine about 1000rpm should give a boost to the battery to get the job done.
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