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Old 10-17-2018, 09:06 PM   #21
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I leave my trailer plugged in when its home, just a 15A extension cord with a 15-30A adapter... 15A is plenty for everything short of A/C + Microwave at the same time.

on my 21, the batteries are under the curbside dinette seat. on the outside, there's a plastic vent about 3" in diameter, find that, and the batteries likely will be behind it, in a battery box. This is also fairly close to the power center...

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Old 10-17-2018, 09:30 PM   #22
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If you have the optional storage box your batteries are inside the storage box, if not, the batteries are between the front of the trailer and the propane. Under the driver side front bench you should see the battery monitor, if you already plugged in you can check to see how it does.. if it says 90% you are good. I think you should be OK to discharge the battery just this once.. if you don't have solar option you can keep it plugged in and the charge controller in the trailer will take care of maintaining the trailer battery for you.



If you need help with anything, we are about 20 miles south of you and have a 2017 19', which should be similar to what you got (except for the stove). We are more than happy to help.
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Old 10-17-2018, 10:28 PM   #23
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If you have the optional storage box your batteries are inside the storage box, if not, the batteries are between the front of the trailer and the propane. Under the driver side front bench you should see the battery monitor, if you already plugged in you can check to see how it does.. if it says 90% you are good. I think you should be OK to discharge the battery just this once.. if you don't have solar option you can keep it plugged in and the charge controller in the trailer will take care of maintaining the trailer battery for you.



If you need help with anything, we are about 20 miles south of you and have a 2017 19', which should be similar to what you got (except for the stove). We are more than happy to help.
Thanks a lot! I do have storage box and I just found my batteries in there. The top is a wood board screw on it. I do not see disconnect switch. Do I need to unscrew the top board to get access the switch?

You live in Milpitas where I used to work in! Thank you so much for your offer of help!

Jing
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Old 10-17-2018, 10:33 PM   #24
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Thanks a lot! I do have storage box and I just found my batteries in there. The top is a wood board screw on it. I do not see disconnect switch. Do I need to unscrew the top board to get access the switch?

Battery disconnect switch is inside the trailer under the driver side bench (it's the only flip switch), but if you are connected to the house power you shouldn't need to turn it off.



The location of the switch is very interesting because if you have a little kid sitting there there's a great chance he/she will kick it off so We have a trailer bear sitting there just to prevent that.
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Old 10-17-2018, 10:36 PM   #25
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I leave my trailer plugged in when its home, just a 15A extension cord with a 15-30A adapter... 15A is plenty for everything short of A/C + Microwave at the same time.

on my 21, the batteries are under the curbside dinette seat. on the outside, there's a plastic vent about 3" in diameter, find that, and the batteries likely will be behind it, in a battery box. This is also fairly close to the power center...

Thanks! My battery is in the storage box. There is a board screw on top of it so I can not see inside. Do you know where is the disconnect switch?

Do I have to connect a 15A-30A adapter? Does all houses' garage outlet are 15A? can I directly plug in? Now I don't know where to get this kind of adapter this late...

Jing
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Old 10-17-2018, 10:39 PM   #26
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Got it! Do I need a 15A-30A adapter to plug in the garage extension power cable? The trailer has small connecter can make it connect together.

Thanks,
Jing
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Old 10-17-2018, 11:01 PM   #27
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I leave an adapter like this, https://www.amazon.com/Camco-PowerGr.../dp/B00192JGA8 plugged into the end of my trailer cord, and can plug that into a household extension cord for home charging.

you should be able to find htese at most any RV store like Camping World.

if the trailer is plugged in do NOT leave the battery disconnect switch on, as it can't charge the battery when its disconnected.
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Old 10-17-2018, 11:08 PM   #28
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I suggest you watch the orientation video. If you click on the Escape logo on the right side of the main page here and scroll to the bottom you will find it.
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Old 10-17-2018, 11:11 PM   #29
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Thanks! How long will it take to get a full charge?

Jing
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Old 10-17-2018, 11:13 PM   #30
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I suggest you watch the orientation video. If you click on the Escape logo on the right side of the main page here and scroll to the bottom you will find it.
I watched multiple times already For a newbie still not clear and the video didn't say everything...)
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Old 10-17-2018, 11:14 PM   #31
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Some answers embedded inside the quote below:


Quote:
Originally Posted by jmcrv2017 View Post
...
I just realize that I should worry about the battery more. When trailer came, I was focus on other aspect such as hitch, plumbing, water heater… Totally ignore the battery. I had thought that is something I need only when dry camping... And there are lots of way to charge. I never thought that battery needs to be charged when 50% full (NOT like my cell phone battery) and even not using it, the battery will be discharged very soon… Last night, I went into trailer and found no power at all. The propane detector has no green light. The Maxx fan has a flashing green light and weak chirping… Will my battery go totally dead? If I just plug in a shore power from my garage, will it get charged back? How long would it take? Do I need to check anything before plug in?


Correct observation - lead-acid batteries are nothing like lithium cell phone batteries in almost every respect. And you are also correct, lead-acid batteries should not routinely be drained past the 50% mark for best life. But no, one total drain event shouldn't make much difference in the long run. Just recharge it as soon as you can.

But now you have two questions to answer: #1 - why did the battery go dead in the first place? Possible answers: Self-discharge - which simply means that even if the battery is removed from the trailer, it will loose roughly 3% of its power per month. (Lithiums are much better in this respect.) Besides self-discharge, there is the possibility that something was left running. You mention the Maxx Fan was blinking. If set to Off it shouldn't blink at all. A light in the bathroom, the refrigerator running, either in the propane mode, or worse, in the DC mode, or who knows what else? That is why you use the disconnect switch - to keep the mystery drain at bay. (Note the propane sensor will always be running for safety reasons.)

I have 2 6v batteries but don’t have solar installed. I had thought I can buy portable solar to use when dry camping (never thought battery needs to charge even not in use).

If I am lucky to recover my battery, in the future, between trips, I need to switch the disconnect button to “On” so it won’t discharge the battery. Do I need to take out the battery? Even taking out, I still need to charge it if the battery goes too low, right? Any recommendations for tools to check the battery life and charge it when taken out?


Question #2: How to recharge, and keep it recharged? Lots of options. If you don't have factory solar you can investigate a small-ish flexible panel (50-100 watts) and glue it to the top of the trailer where the factory panel would have gone. Hook it to the batteries directly through a small controller. No hookup to house power or heavy cables required. Install it once and forget about it. Not enough power for routine camping so you will still need another portable panel for boondocking.

Battery trickle charger. Plug into the house power and clip the wires directly to the battery. Also fairly simple and cheap, but slow. Will take a few days to recharge a drained battery.

Power to the main trailer AC inlet from the house. Will probably require an adapter or two and dragging the heavy trailer wire in and out. Lots of power available for charging and even running the full trailer DC and AC circuits. But too much work for my taste.

If the battery already dead and have to be replaced, where should I get it and what is your recommendation?

Unlikely in need of replacement at this point. But if you are flush, investigate big AGM batteries. (Size 31). Power for multiple days without recharging if you are so inclined.

How to connect a portable solar panel (not buy yet) to it?

Connectors that permanently mount to the outside of the trailer are popular connectors. Lots to choose from.

Thanks a lot,
Jing

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Old 10-17-2018, 11:16 PM   #32
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Do I have to connect a 15A-30A adapter? Does all houses' garage outlet are 15A? can I directly plug in? Now I don't know where to get this kind of adapter this late...

Jing



You don't need a special connector, you just need the black adapter that changes the 30A plug into 15A plug -- ours is a black triangle shaped block and came with the trailer with a bunch of other things - put that on and you can charge from the house power without problem.
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Old 10-17-2018, 11:18 PM   #33
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Unlikely in need of replacement at this point. But if you are flush, investigate big AGM batteries. (Size 31). Power for multiple days without recharging if you are so inclined.
if he has 6V golf cart batteries, the correct size is GC2 or T105.

AGM golfcart batts cost 2-3X more than wet cell. I got a pair of Interstate GC2 from Costco for like $100 each, 210AH
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Old 10-17-2018, 11:20 PM   #34
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Thanks! How long will it take to get a full charge?

Jing
Fairly simple calculation...

2-6 volt batteries have (roughly) 210 amp-hour capacity. The built-in AC charger (aka "converter") can supply 30 amps. 210 amp-hours / 30 amp = 7-hours. "Roughly..." There are always some losses in each part - don't worry about them.

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Old 10-17-2018, 11:43 PM   #35
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I watched multiple times already For a newbie still not clear and the video didn't say everything...)

Probably not.
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Old 10-18-2018, 12:08 AM   #36
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Question about disconnect switch of battery. Next to the switch, it says: always put disconnect switch in On position unless it is in storage. If this is the case, should it be called connect switch (means connect to trailer)? When the switch is on, I can hear a buzz current noise. When it is off, no sound. So now, when charge my trailer, I still need to put disconnect switch at "On" since it is not in storage, right?
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Old 10-18-2018, 12:14 AM   #37
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Question about disconnect switch of battery. Next to the switch, it says: always put disconnect switch in On position unless it is in storage. If this is the case, should it be called connect switch (means connect to trailer)? When the switch is on, I can hear a buzz current noise. When it is off, no sound. So now, when charge my trailer, I still need to put disconnect switch at "On" since it is not in storage, right?

Right.



When it's ON, the battery can be charged, and you have power in the trailer. When it's OFF, it disconnect the battery from the trailer, so you can not charge the battery, and the stuff in the trailer will not draw power from the battery. I think of it as a battery switch - when it's ON you have access to battery, when it's OFF the battery is isolated.
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Old 10-18-2018, 12:38 AM   #38
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The built-in AC charger (aka "converter") can supply 30 amps...
The WFCO 9855 Power Center which Escape has been using for a while includes a 55-amp converter/charger. Of course 55 amps will not be maintained for the entire charging time, but the initial charging rate could approach that.

In rough terms, several hours to reach a mostly-charged state seems reasonable.
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Old 10-18-2018, 01:01 AM   #39
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After 10 minutes of connected to garage power, we went back into trailer. Now I saw propane detector green light on, and lights can turn on. Maxx fan has no lights. I am not sure which appliance drained the battery. Probably propane detector, which in orientation video the owner warned that it will drain the battery... Or maxx fan, it maybe set to auto mode from factory? I went to monitor panel and wants to check battery level (this is my first time to check it, so no comparison), when I depressed battery, all the LEDs (from L to F to G to C) flash red. What does it mean? I don't think the battery is full for 10 mins charge. Is it because the power is plugged in?
If I depress water tanks, only E(empty) LED will flash red, which make sense to me.

Thanks,
Jing
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Old 10-18-2018, 05:20 AM   #40
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Leave it plugged in for a couple of days and then test every thing. Solar is so easy, it take care of your batteries, automatically. I'd suggest your first trip would be back to Chilliwack to have Escape install the solar panel so you can have worry free camping.
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