Starcraft RV Owners Forum

Thanks for posting the chart - good info to know!

If you're going by the battery monitor in the trailer, 2/3's means you are at about 12.2 volts. 1/3 means you are at about 11.8 volts.

A fully charged battery usually reads about 13.2 volts with the charging source removed and no load. If you check a partly depleted battery being charged with a good charger, you'll see about 14.5 volts. However, the converter/charger in most trailers does not have a very strong charger. It can take a long time to charge a low battery. Same goes for a truck/trailer jack. Same goes for generators with a charge output.

If you do a lot of boondocking, it's a good idea to carry a decent external charger so you can properly charge the battery when you do have power available. Also carry a digital voltmeter, because the voltage difference between a fully charged battery and one that is half charged isn't much.

kuba122 wrote:a 12 Volt Battery is actually fully charged at approximately 13.2 volts. Your Charging system (truck alternator) should put out around 14 volts. the problem you describe could be caused by a bad alternator or missing charging wire like was stated earlier. A simple voltmeter is an invaluable tool to have with you especially to check voltages. And, yes 12.1 volts is nearly dead - or at least way undercharged.

Each light you turn on is 10W (almost 1 Amp) incandescent. 2 lights 2 amps, and so on. If your battery is 100 amp hours and you hace 5 lights on, only, your battery will last approximately 20 hours in total .... theoretically, although it isn't quite that simple in practice.

LED is THE way to go for lighting. Changed all of mine out to led first mod I did.

All the interior lights are LED so thats not an issue.

a 12 Volt Battery is actually fully charged at approximately 13.2 volts. Your Charging system (truck alternator) should put out around 14 volts. the problem you describe could be caused by a bad alternator or missing charging wire like was stated earlier. A simple voltmeter is an invaluable tool to have with you especially to check voltages. And, yes 12.1 volts is nearly dead - or at least way undercharged.

Each light you turn on is 10W (almost 1 Amp) incandescent. 2 lights 2 amps, and so on. If your battery is 100 amp hours and you hace 5 lights on, only, your battery will last approximately 20 hours in total .... theoretically, although it isn't quite that simple in practice.

LED is THE way to go for lighting. Changed all of mine out to led first mod I did.

12.1 is pretty much a dead battery

Checking each cell is different than testing from post to post. One bad cell will greatly reduce performance. You need each cell tested.

Left the trailer plugged in for a few hours and checked it the next day. Said the battery was at 2/3 again. Took the battery out and had it tested and they said the battery was reading 12.1 volts; so not quite a full charge but by no means only 2/3 full. I guess if we keep having issues I'll call the dealer and see if something else is wrong.

For me personally, I've never found any of those sensors for the battery or the tanks to be overly reliable. I use a meter that plugs in and you get an accurate reading without removing the battery.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SW ... UTF8&psc=1

Houston Remodeler wrote:Sounds like a bad battery. Have each cell tested. My guess; they toasted the battery before you bought it.

Get an interstate marine battery and use your disconnect switch between trips.

Left the trailer plugged in for a few hours and checked it the next day. Said the battery was at 2/3 again. Took the battery out and had it tested and they said the battery was reading 12.1 volts; so not quite a full charge but by no means only 2/3 full. I guess if we keep having issues I'll call the dealer and see if something else is wrong.

Erhoda19 wrote:Just bought an AR One Maxx 19bh and took it to the Adirondacks for a week. By our second night we noticed our battery was already down to 1/3. We hadn't used anything that requires power except interior lights for a few minutes at night to put the kid to bed, and to put out the awning when we set up. With no generator or solar panel we were forced to connect to the truck a few times throughout the week just to get the battery through. After a 2 1/2 hour drive home the battery is still not fully charged. Could it just be a bad battery? Could it be some faulty wiring or a short that is causing it to drain? Any help would be appreciated.

I'm assuming your vehicle is wired and fused for tow charge? If you're not sure you may want to check into it. We've had vehicles over the years where we've either had to add a battery isolator, or install fuses, tow charge relays, and even missing wiring.

We dry camp a lot, so a major help in extending our battery life while we're unhitched is replacing all the light fixture bulbs with LEDs. Good ones can be found on Amazon, etc. for a great deal cheaper than what you'll find at Camping World or auto stores. We noticed in our camper, that the "fan" would kick on merely by switching on one light. But with the LEDs installed, we can turn them all on, and still not have the inverter/converter kick on.

Wedge style bulbs:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LO ... UTF8&psc=1

BA15S T25 base/ 1156 or 1141 base bulbs:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BS ... UTF8&psc=1

Hope you find the issue.

Sounds like a bad battery. Have each cell tested. My guess; they toasted the battery before you bought it.

Get an interstate marine battery and use your disconnect switch between trips.