Jumper Cable hookup

[757driver]

Lynn,

Check under the hood of your truck near the battery and see if there is a fuse in the charge line, it may be blown.

[Gasman 2]

Originally Posted by 757driver

Lynn,



Check under the hood of your truck near the battery and see if there is a fuse in the charge line, it may be blown.

There is also a fuse for the charge line on the coach side in the round box in the Spartan service center under the chassis batteries. Might want to check that.

[dcphil_98]

Two Comments:

1. When my wife got a new TOAD she had a special cover made to protect the front. Battery kept running down requiring jumps. A friend asked her if she had turned off the automatic car headlights before she installed the cover? Duh. Turned off auto headlights no more battery problems.
2. To be sure of no more problems I had a power line installed through the 7 way plug from the coach to the TOAD. A small relay was installed in the power line that required the engine switch to be on for power to be supplied to the TOAD. No problem with TOAD battery even when hooked up overnight or longer.

[Marcosdad]

We had to jump the Flex several times with the Aspire before Ford came out with a TSB to de-energize some "modules" which remained energized when the key was off. Never a problem.

[DebbieMH]

Thanks everyone. I will do some investigating today. 3-4 hour trips don't seem to kill the battery - but 7+ does. Never used to with the line, so I'll check for fuzes, etc. today.

[MRUSA14]

I would do whatever it takes to fix the charge line. That is a one and done solution and it maintains your truck battery in top condition. Using jumper cables or jump start batteries means you have exhausted the truck battery. You can only do that a relatively few times until you will be buying a new truck battery. The charge line avoids all this.

[HD4Mark]

A few thoughts. It may be easier to just test the charge line with a volt meter or test lamp before going on a fuse hunt.

Second, what is drawing power in the toad? Some kind of brake box? Just dash lights from having to turn the key to release the steering lock? Some people either remove a fuse from the toad or install a switch to kill the lights that discharge the battery.

Our old toad needed the key on to release the steering lock but did not need 12V for anything so I just disconnected the negative lead from the battery on long trips. Our Jeep does not have a locking steering wheel so there is no need to even have the key in it.

Those jump start boxes are very handy. I use ours for all kinds of stuff. They have a 12V (cigarette lighter) connection and some a light and tire inflator. I got it at Harbor Freight and for some reason took the extended warranty, something I never do. Worked out though. I'm on the second one.

It is a very good idea to load test the battery. One year old it should be good but they don't seem to make them like they used to. Be cautious if taking it to an auto parts store. Some of them run a test that prints out a piece of paper that says something like "does not meet industry standards". Industry standards for a brand new one I assume. A load tester was another one of my good investments.

[DebbieMH]

Our Ram is a 2008 and it requires the key to be on ACC when being towed because of the steering lock. We do have everything we can think of turned off - but obviously there is something that is remaining on.

[HD4Mark]

Originally Posted by DebbieMH

Our Ram is a 2008 and it requires the key to be on ACC when being towed because of the steering lock. We do have everything we can think of turned off - but obviously there is something that is remaining on.

I you don't need any power on in the truck, I would consider disconnecting the negative battery terminal or there are even mechanical switches you can install to disconnect it. One down side is your clock will need to be reset and radio station presets will be lost.

Hopefully you will find the problem and not have to go that far. Good luck!

[DebbieMH]

No fuzes anywhere on the line that I can see. It does have a small box mounted on the wall near the batteries, though. Anyway, we just bought a jumper box and will see if there is a mobile RV repair guy near Marble Falls, Tx, which is our next stop. Maybe they can either fix our line, or install a new one. Thanks for all talks help! This forum is a life savor :-)

[brobox]

Lynn, IIRC you had a dealer install some type of remote battery charger instead of just coming from the 7 pin connector directly with a fused charging wire. It might be worth while to go the direct route with the charging wire....nothing to go bad except a fuse. I guess I am of the KISS group, the simpler the better for my needs and usually less to go wrong. Hope you get it worked out. The first long trip is always a test trip.

[dcphil_98]

For mobile RV repair in the Austin area I highly recommend RV Specialists. Call Rick Bott in the morning at 512-470-3070. He is the one that installed my power line with the relay.

[DebbieMH]

Originally Posted by dcphil_98

For mobile RV repair in the Austin area I highly recommend RV Specialists. Call Rick Bott in the morning at 512-470-3070. He is the one that installed my power line with the relay.

I emailed him yesterday and he said he couldn't do it until Thursday. We are checking out on Tuesday and heading to Sunset Point in Marble Falls, so that won't work for us. I've emailed him again and asked if that was too far for him to come. So, we will see. Thanks for the recommendation.

[dcphil_98]

He lives in Leander which is not far from Marble Falls. Tell him Dave Phillips sent you. Maybe he can work you in---then maybe not!