Newbie to 5th Wheel Setups

[fatherdoug]

Thank you. I left the trailer electrical hooked up to the truck last night, and the battery was dead on the truck this morning. Here we go.

[SuperCab]

Darn... Any idea what's drawing?

[fatherdoug]

Don't know. Will require some work with the trusty ohm/volt meter tomorrow. I'm thinking the trailer connecter is bad/weak, since I can wiggle the connector, and the exterior trailer lights will blink.

[Fellro]

Leave a light on in the trailer?

[fatherdoug]

That's possible, given my age. I will check tomorrow.

[Fellro]

Another thing to make sure is the brake controller. It may be drawing power as well since it was left plugged in.

[fatherdoug]

I didn't think of that. Thank you.

[DNFXDLI]

Is there a charge wire on the harness Doug?....and if so, is it properly switched?...like only with ignition on from what I can recall.

[SuperCab]

Originally Posted by DNFXDLI

Is there a charge wire on the harness Doug?....and if so, is it properly switched?...like only with ignition on from what I can recall.

This is also what I was thinking... If your plug has an aux 12v that is not switched it could kill your truck battery

[fatherdoug]

Originally Posted by DNFXDLI

Is there a charge wire on the harness Doug?....and if so, is it properly switched?...like only with ignition on from what I can recall.

Originally Posted by SuperCab

This is also what I was thinking... If your plug has an aux 12v that is not switched it could kill your truck battery

It does have an unswitched aux 12 volt connection(hot all the time). The first day I brought it home, I couldn't get the trailer exterior lights to work. I left the trailer hooked up to the truck over night with no problems. The next day, I got the lights to work by just jiggling the trailer connection that plugs into the truck.

I left the trailer connected overnight again, and the result was a dead battery on both the truck and trailer. It's possible I might have left an interior light on, but experience tells me that leaving a light on inside all night does not drain the battery.

I'm charging the truck battery today(voltage check yielded 7.5 volts before charging.) I will charge the trailer battery tomorrow and do some more trouble shooting.

The trailer battery had enough juice to run the front support stands up when I brought the trailer home, and the charge indicator inside the trailer showed the battery was good before bringing home.