Travel trailer drained RAM battery??

[BlueGuyRedState]

Left our 2017 T@B 320 trailer plugged into 7 pin trailer socket on 2018 RAM 1500 overnight while charging the TRAILER battery from 110v connection.

Went to move truck and trailer this AM... battery stone cold dead. Trying to jump it from Camry hybrid, still seems quite dead as in NO dome lights, idiot lights etc. Zero. Yes, I tried the other key fob - same result, zilch.

Had the OEM battery replaced under 36K warranty a couple of months after purchasing as Certified Preowned, no electrical problems until this.

1) Did I somehow drain the RAM battery by leaving the trailer connected?

2) Do OEM RAM batteries just suck? Bought extended warranty, will be reading the fine print (again).

Will be checking again after the Camry runs another half hour, but sure don't want to feed this otherwise wonderful truck a new battery every year.

**

Still nothing. Checking the trailer battery condition next.

 

[rule18]

My '17 OEM battery is still in place, no sign of failure yet. Is it possible that something was running in the trailer? Any recent trailer wiring issues that were repaired?

 

[csuder99]

Interesting issue. Generally speaking yes, a travel trailer can drain the tow vehicle battery but it would require quite some current draw to kill two batteries overnight. However that's without having the trailer connected to AC power.
With the trailer plugged into shore power the trailer side is providing power towards the truck but that isn't much different than connecting a trailer with a fully charged battery. Maybe it keeps the electronics in the truck from going to sleep.
Do you have a voltmeter ? What does each battery read ?

 

[crash68]

Left our 2017 T@B 320 trailer plugged into 7 pin trailer socket on 2018 RAM 1500 overnight while charging the TRAILER battery from 110v connection.

Curiosity got the best of me and looked up your trailer. Found this in the user manual:

Looks like the battery stays connected to the truck whether you use the battery disconnect switch or not. This possibly discharged your truck battery or the trailer charging system isn't working correctly. I would put a charger on both the truck and trailer(individually) and give them a good charge. Then let them sit overnight and check the static voltage, if it drops below 12.5V you might have excessive drain or bad battery.

 

[GsRAM]

Did you get anywhere with your issue? It sounds like a fuse is blown or a relay is bad. If you've tried charging the battery and it's still flat dead that is very unusual unless the battery had a complete failure. (Relatively rare)

With the amount of charging you state you have done there should be some signs of life there, very dim lights perhaps, but something I'd think. Then again, the way ram does its electrical systems is odd to begin with. I found that out first hand when I was looking for a circuit to power my dash cam (circuit hot with key on) one would think that wouldn't be too hard right? Lol! I could devote a post just to that ordeal but I'll spare y'all here. Also with how sensitive today's vehicles are to battery volts/maps anything is possible.

I suggest you pull the battery, charge it out of the truck, then take it to an auto parts store and have it load tested. Checking static voltage is good (under 12v static on a battery that was properly charged is bad), but you must have it load tested as well to know for sure. I've had batteries with good static voltage fail load tests. Good luck.

 

[2003F350]

I've been around RVs a LONG time. I have never, repeat NEVER, seen a truck battery go dead while hooked to a camper that was plugged into an outlet. Something else is going on here - possible overcharge that fried something? Problem with the trailer converter allowing it to charge too much? Yeah I've seen that, but that doesn't give a dead battery, usually fries something electrical in the trailer before it touches the truck.

 

[BlueGuyRedState]

Partial update on RAM battery. Two dead cells according to local Ford/RAM/Jeep dealer. Was replaced 9/20 under the OEM 36K warranty for similar deadness - not as bad but still wouldn't turn over. Label on battery sez Mopar 36 Months Free Replacement. Service Manager who can approve or reject this not in until tomorrow (small mountain town in SE Colorado, fairly normal here).

My goal is get battery replaced - free if possible - then have them give it a thorough diagnostic under our Mopar Vehicle Protection Plan, good through 8/2026. Might need to take it to a larger city for this part, dunno yet. Will keep posting b/c electrical/electronic gremlins drive everyone nuts. (Was computer repair tech for 20 plus years.)

Trailer battery is an Interstate Marine/Deep Cycle model, no date so could be as old as 2017 but prolly newer. Also tested bad at Carquest (local Interstate dealer). $125 to replace. Might cajole buddy into loaning me a trickle charger - Carquest guy said it couldn't hurt to try. They carry them in stock, popular camper battery.

Any suggestions on trickle chargers? Haven't had to deal with one of those in a couple of decades...

 

[White six four]

www.batterytender.com/Battery-TenderR-Plus

I have one of these and it works great. I use it on my car when I'm working out of town and take the truck and vice versa when I'm working close to home and take the car.

 

[crash68]

I have one of these: https://no.co/genius1
It's worked good on a vehicle that's been parked most of last year

 

[Dodge 1500 4X4]

Hi, I feel for your problem been there I use one of these, It has eyelet connectors to hook up to the battery permanently.

Search Results

products.batterytender.com

 

[CalDad14]

At Blueguy; just to be clear. Where were you exactly at the time this happened? Home? A campground that offered services? Are you sure the source you were getting your power from was good/hot/reliable? Are you sure the extension cord you were using was good, or capable to handle the load required?

I don't know your truck & trailer. But let's say you plug the trailer into a 110V source that isn't hot. Pending on how low all batteries are to begin with, is it possible for the trailer batteries to drain the truck battery completely. Maybe. Was anything on in the trailer? Again, were you at home or on the road?

Good luck getting it solved.

 

[csuder99]

Partial update on RAM battery. Two dead cells according to local Ford/RAM/Jeep dealer. Was replaced 9/20 under the OEM 36K warranty for similar deadness - not as bad but still wouldn't turn over. Label on battery sez Mopar 36 Months Free Replacement. Service Manager who can approve or reject this not in until tomorrow (small mountain town in SE Colorado, fairly normal here).

My goal is get battery replaced - free if possible - then have them give it a thorough diagnostic under our Mopar Vehicle Protection Plan, good through 8/2026. Might need to take it to a larger city for this part, dunno yet. Will keep posting b/c electrical/electronic gremlins drive everyone nuts. (Was computer repair tech for 20 plus years.)

Trailer battery is an Interstate Marine/Deep Cycle model, no date so could be as old as 2017 but prolly newer. Also tested bad at Carquest (local Interstate dealer). $125 to replace. Might cajole buddy into loaning me a trickle charger - Carquest guy said it couldn't hurt to try. They carry them in stock, popular camper battery.

Any suggestions on trickle chargers? Haven't had to deal with one of those in a couple of decades...

Something is fishy here. It's very unlikely that two batteries just expire on the same day. Even more so if one is not even a year old. Either both were deep discharged meaning the converter in the trailer didn't work for some reason (e.g. no power to the trailer, GFCI tripped) and something drew a lot of power (fridge on DC, inverter), or the converter vastly overcharged both batteries and "cooked" them.
Just replacing the batteries (which is an easy and profitable solution for the dealer/parts store) might net you the same result in a few days/weeks. Figure out what caused the problem in the first place.

 

[Smokeybear01]

Batteries do drop cells for no reason, but usually when they've been over or under charged. I highly doubt that your's were over charged from that trailer converter. More likely, something totally discharged them overnight and the converter wasn't doing its job. When a cell drops there is usually no bringing the battery back, no matter how much charge you throw at it. If I ran my fridge, lights, water pump and especially if I use the furnace, I will have dead batteries in the morning if my converter isn't working. I do have a protector on the trucks bats to keep them from dropping below a certain level of charge so that I won't get caught in the woods with no way to start my rig. On a side note-with the little converters that most trailers have (40 amp tops) it takes a long time to cook a battery. And then it's usually because no one has checked it and kept it topped up with distilled water. If you get your hands on a simple voltmeter the first thing you want to check is your trailer's converter and make sure it's putting out 12+ volts. Good luck and keep us posted,

 

[BlueGuyRedState]

Happy news this far. RAM dealer's service manager (or his manager) covered a replacement battery under the 36 month Mopar battery warranty, since the battery was 11 months old when it shot craps.

RAM running, trailer parked, will tackle electrical gremlin chasing in it next week. Truck even kept my one saved radio station! May still need to sort out UConnect bits and pieces but... do all Mopar batteries suck? What should I be shopping for/saving for?

 

[CanRebel]

hit and miss with any battery is my experience. I think the old batteries were better, but now we got save the planet and all that crap

 

[BlueGuyRedState]

hit and miss with any battery is my experience. I think the old batteries were better, but now we got save the planet and all that crap

Spent the last 20+ years as a computer repair tech. Plenty of effed up batteries in all the laptops I repaired; some were crap designs, others were crap manufacturing - recall the flaming Sony laptops? So I get that, but I'm appealing to the RAM forum members for recommendations so WHEN - not IF - this THIRD Mopar battery conks out, I'm ready. Anybody running a dual battery setup? Seem to recall that was a thing.

Will update this next week when the multimeter and I crawl through the T@B electrical system on a gremlin hunt. RV buddies assure me that this is simply part of the deal - stuff goes wrong, you find it and fix it and move on. So it goes!

 

[Smokeybear01]

I've had good luck with a lot of different bats, even the Wally World specials. It all involves taking care of them. I had a bank of 6 in my last coach that forced me to do monthly service on them. A habit I haven't quit. I don't buy anywhere near the number of bats I used too haha. Good luck, and whatever bat you buy, just make sure it has a good warrenty and convenient places to haul it if it messes up.

 

[2003F350]

I've had good luck with a lot of different bats, even the Wally World specials. It all involves taking care of them. I had a bank of 6 in my last coach that forced me to do monthly service on them. A habit I haven't quit. I don't buy anywhere near the number of bats I used too haha. Good luck, and whatever bat you buy, just make sure it has a good warrenty and convenient places to haul it if it messes up.

I used to have good luck with Walmart's more expensive batteries, that had the 3-year free replacement and like 6-year prorated. Usually got to year 6 or 7 with them. Then they changed something and I was lucky to get 4-5 years out of them, so I pretty much quit buying them unless it was a pinch - everyone else was in the same range for the same or less money, so why risk it?

 

[Smokeybear01]

I used to have good luck with Walmart's more expensive batteries, that had the 3-year free replacement and like 6-year prorated. Usually got to year 6 or 7 with them. Then they changed something and I was lucky to get 4-5 years out of them, so I pretty much quit buying them unless it was a pinch - everyone else was in the same range for the same or less money, so why risk it?

Yeah, unfortunately battery technology is always changing and lots of times it doesn't help with the end product.

 

[Gr8bawana]

hit and miss with any battery is my experience. I think the old batteries were better, but now we got save the planet and all that crap

Yeah we have to make sure we leave nothing for future generations, right?