Newbie from Nor Calif

[bethgerbs]

Hi, I am a new member to this group of teardrop owners. I have a silver pleasant valley 5x8 2006 drop. My husband and I are newly retired and love camping with it. Much better than sleeping on a deflating air mattress. I will need lots of advice and I haven't a clue on how the whole "battery/electrical" stuff works. Right now, the battery works when connected to car and charges when driving, but when we plug it in our garage, the power is not getting to the battery nor the electrical sockets. Any one out there have a diagram of wiring they can share? Thanks all. Beth and John

[Rhino Ray]

Welcome to the forum. You will find some great help and advice here. Where are you in Northern California? As far as your electrical is concerned, are you referring to the 110 won't work when plugged in or the 12v? Do you have an inverter and are the fuses and circuit breakers working?

[bethgerbs]

I am in Fair Oaks in Nor Cal. Transplanted from So Cal. for work. But now retired and loving camping especially in teardrop. I don't exactly know about the electrical problem but when we plug in house current the battery is not being charged. We don't have a box with circuit breakers or fuses. Only one box that is supposed to convert house current (110?) (120?) to the 12 v battery. I called the pleasant valley folks but they weren't much help. I could use any advice you want to offer.
thanks

[mvperini]

I would get a voltage meter and check to see if the unit is producing 12 volts, you could also get a small battery charger and hook it up to the battery. i have one i installed inside my teardrop


Mike

[bethgerbs]

Thanks. Excuse my ignorance but what does the battery charger charge from? your car? your house?

Beth

[mvperini]

Thanks. Excuse my ignorance but what does the battery charger charge from? your car? your house?

not a problem , you stated that you need a way to charge your battery with 110AC, the 110 AC would come from a campground , a generator, or your house where ever you plug in your shore power


Mike

[Rhino Ray]

Fair Oaks is still a bit south from here, I'm north of Napa County and East of Mendocino County. If you were close by I would stop by and take a look at your system.

The duty of the converter is to take the 110 volts that you hook up to at the campsite or your home and reduce it down to 12 volts used to charge your battery and run your lights. When you are hooked up to 110 volts using a converter it will not draw the 12 volts from the battery but use the converted or reduced power to run the lights and other 12 volt systems. You only use the battery power when you don't have the capability to hook up to 110.



If you don't have a converter built into your teardrop then the only way you are going to be able to charge your battery is by either using a battery charger (which is a converter) you can pick up at any automotive supply shop or RV center or by hooking it up to your tow vehicle and charge it when you are traveling. It is important to either use an isolator, (an electronic switch that will not allow you to drain from your tow vehicle battery if it's hooked up) or disconnect it from your tow vehicle when camping and using the 12 volts.

If you have a 110 volt plug in (which it looks like you do from the photos) and it doesn't go to a converter, (changing the 110 volts to 12 volts) then you must have a 110 volt outlet somewhere in your vehicle that will be hot only when you are plugged in to 110 volts. This will be true whether you have a converter or not. Regardless, you should have a least a circuit breaker somewhere between where you plug your rig into the 110 volt current and where you can plug in a 110 volt appliance. If you do not have a converter then the 110 volt circuit is isolated from the 12 volt circuit which is usually used for running the lights, your fan or charging your cell phone through a outlet that looks like the cigarette lighter in your car.

Hope this makes since.

[scmclark]

Welcome neighbor!! I'm also in Fair oaks! enjoy your trailer!

[Techguy]

No teardrop in my drive but i can stop by sometime. I have some RV experience. I drive thru FO twice a day on my commute.

Guy

[bethgerbs]

Thanks for all your help. I am currently charging my battery (in my tear drop) from an external battery charger. and when we tow it, it charges from our car (it has the 7 pronk plug. I just thought it was odd that there is a place to plug the teardrop into an external 110 source but alas it doesn't work the plugs.

TechGuy: Maybe I will take you up on a drive by some time. Hate to just post my address but maybe you can send me a private email to [email protected]

thanks all

[Techguy]

I will send you an email directly from my gmail account

Guy

[SuperShady1]

Welcome Newbie!!

As we are Newbies and in the Bay Area feel to reach out anytime.

We should have a Norcal thread?? Or is thereone??

[bethgerbs]

Thanks for all your advice. Since I last posted, I bought a Subaru. It is having a hitch installed this week but they said they can only install a 4 pin (prong?) electrical. My tear drop has a 7 pin (prank) plug. Advice? how can I make a 4 plug into a 7 pin plug?

beth

[Rhino Ray]

The 4 pin adapter will take care of your turn signals, running lights and brake lights. If you want to charge your battery or if the trailer has electric brakes you would have to incorporate the additional circuits with additional connectors, You can make an adapter that will take the 4 wire system you have and hook it up to your existing receiver but you can also change the hookup on the TD to work with the one they give you. If you have electric brakes, (if you did you would have to install an additional component under your dash) or want to charge your battery you will have to do this but if you don't want to and are satisfied with charging you battery with a battery charger then you can get by with only the four wire option. Remember you do need to have a good ground between both vehicles.

[jeffmutch]

Welcome to the Forum!! I'm in Folsom, and would be happy to assist in any way I can. Depending on your specific electrical needs and budget, there are many options, some of which have been discussed already.

Also, a NorCal thread would be great! We have the great pleasure of camping year round without getting too crazy and requiring 4-wheel drive. We should arrange a casual gathering sometime this fall when it's not so hot. There are plenty of nice (but pretty pricey) campgrounds right around here. Anyone else interested or have any ideas?