Goes up too slow now

[jthiel69]

i was showing my '84 to some prospective buyers today and showed them how it raises and lowers.
1st time it was perfect, second time was good. 3rd time it was way slow and acted like it was "out of gas" and didn't want to go all the way up.
goes down smoothly and quietly.
i will try it again tomorrow and see how it goes up. maybe it did it too many times?

they were busy talking and did not notice the last feeble attempt to raise it.
i did not get any offers on it.

 

[PaulS-HILO]

Sounds like a dead or drained battery.

 

[jthiel69]

i had it plugged in to house power. does it still work off the battery anyways?

 

[campthewestcoast]

i had it plugged in to house power. does it still work off the battery anyways?

seprate curcuit, even pluged into 120v it doesn't use converted 120v to 12v to run the pump to raise. Got to have house batteries charged or jumper cables form house batteries to truck battery.

 

[retiredcamper47]

Pop the covers off the top of the battery and check the water level in each cell. The plates in each cell must be completely covered with water. If low levels exist, top them off, snap the covers back on, and hook up a battery charger to the battery. Oh yeah, use distilled water if adding any to the battery.

 

[sting32]

i had it plugged in to house power. does it still work off the battery anyways?

Yes, the lift uses the camper's main battery. (in case there was unclear from posts before me.

You might have the 8way plug, in which case it can use your TowVehicle battery as well, I am half sure. however note: dead battery can blow fuse on tow vehicle's battery power line on the tow recepticle.

 

[jthiel69]

so you are saying you cannot raise the top at all if the battery is low/dead??
how does the battery stay charged over winter?

so then does the inverter box charge the battery while plugged in to land line?

before i knew i was "not plugged in", i had turned on the interior lights to show the camper. when they came the lights were dim so the guy turned them all off saying the battery must be getting low.
so then how could i raise the top if the battery was so low the lights were dimming?

i would like to think the tops raises with battery power only when not plugged in to land line, as a back up system.

 

[JMDoering]

Hi Joan,

On our 2704T, the top will not raise if the battery charge is low. When storing for winter, I fully charge the battery, making sure all cells are filled to the proper level, then I let the solar charger maintain a trickle charge to keep the battery charged.

Yes, if functioning properly, the inverter will charge the battery when you are plugged into "shore" power.

Earlier this winter our solar panel malfunctioned (I've since replaced it) and the batteries ran down due to my raising the trailer several times. I was able to raise the trailer by plugging into our tow vehicle.

I'm not sure how to explain the dim lights, except to say that yes, dim lights are an indicator that the battery charge is low.

Jim

 

[jthiel69]

thanks,
whew! i am glad to know my battery is being charged as we speak then.
its still plugged in to house power.
i really learned a lot from this post. did not know how important a good battery was. any other camper i had, i didn't worry about the battery as i was always plugged in at the campgrounds.

you guys are great!

 

[RichR]

I'm sure that you can see that the battery is a very important part of your Hi-Lo. The care and feeding of batteries is vital to keeping all your electrical components operating properly especially the lift system.

Check this article to get some valuable battery information: Deep Cycle Battery FAQ

And here: The 12volt Side of Life (Part 1)

 

[jthiel69]

thanks Rich, i will read all that stuff tonight.
i guess i need some more education, the nore the better!