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Old 07-27-2019, 09:01 PM   #1
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Battery works only when plugged into electricity

I have a 2018 micro mini and my battery shows to have 12.3 V even when completely unplugged from my rig. When I’m hooked up to electricity everything in the cabin works, even if the battery is totally disconnected from my rig. When I unhook from electricity then absolutely NOTHING works although the battery is still showing it is 12.3 v. Fuses are good. The shut off switch is “on”! .PLEASE HELP ME!!
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Old 07-27-2019, 09:23 PM   #2
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2018 micro mini 2106fbs BATTERY just doesn’t work

When I’m hooked up to the 30amp electricity , EVERYTHING in my camper works even without the battery hooked up!?? When I hook up my battery it is pulling 12.3v but when I unhook from the electricity absolutely NOTHING works! The fuses are good, the battery switch is “on”..help me PLEASEEEEE
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Old 07-28-2019, 03:07 AM   #3
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That sounds like a ground problem. It happened to my previous trailer off and on for years. I also saw it happen to a friend's rental trailer which was nearly new. Why it happens and how to fix it I don't know. I paid a mobile RV technician to repair it. He ran a new ground wire from the battery to the frame rather than try and find the problem with the old one.
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Old 07-28-2019, 05:49 AM   #4
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Battery

I'm not familiar with the Micro Mini, but at battery at 12.3 vdc is at about 70% capacity. Can the battery be fully charged to and maintain 12.6 vdc if it is removed from the rig? If not, I'd start looking at the battery.
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Old 07-28-2019, 06:58 AM   #5
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I too would look at the battery. If you unplug the trailer from shore power and wait 30 min and the test the battery does it still read 12.3v?

I assume you’ve check the fluid level in the battery and it’s full?

Your Converter/Charger provides all the 12v power when you’re plugged into shore power. And it charges your battery to 12.6v by applying 13.2v of charge (or higher) to the battery.

If the battery is not the problem then it could be the Converter, but I’d stay suspect the battery at this point.

Take it out of your trailer and try charging it at home or take it to an auto parts store for load testing.
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Old 07-28-2019, 07:32 AM   #6
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I would do the easy things first as a way to assure things are right. Since you do have a meter. I would first test the ground to the battery, look over the connections to see they are clean and tight.
Understand that the power doesn't go through the battery when you are plugged in but it is what we might call a "second leg" to supply power. That leaves it possible to have power going to the battery and charge it somewhat but when you then try to draw power out, your ground may not be good enough to do the job.
We can easily get into confusion when you say nothing works when disconnected, though. Does that mean lights that don't work at all or only that bulbs are getting too low power for LED to produce light? I would also want to check the base of some bulbs to find if they are actually not getting any power or simply low power. LED have a minimum voltage to make them work. This is a point where having a meter is vital for testing.
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Old 07-28-2019, 07:56 AM   #7
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Absolutely nothing works when disconnected from electricity. No lights, no thermostat, no slide power, no oven light, nothing. As if the whole camper is dead. The battery ground is showing it is receiving the 12.3-12.5 v as well as the positive cable shows it too. There is appropriate water in all cells
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Old 07-28-2019, 08:55 AM   #8
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okay, that is a big clue when battery is found on the ground! If I'm reading this right, that would indicate that the ground is no good someplace between where you are finding the power on it and the frame of the unit. power has to run in a circle (circuit) to work and what I understand you saying is that you are getting power at a point where it should ALWAYS be ground or NO POWER . Sounds like the ground wire connection is corroded or loose.
When plugged in, the power is coming from the shore power to all the electrical but the battery will not be charging due to the open circuit between it and ground.
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Old 07-28-2019, 09:06 AM   #9
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Something like this short drawing? You have AC coming to the converter, making 12volt but when disconnected from AC, the battery portion is not a full circuit as the ground lead is open.
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Old 07-28-2019, 10:28 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Morich View Post
Something like this short drawing? You have AC coming to the converter, making 12volt but when disconnected from AC, the battery portion is not a full circuit as the ground lead is open.
So, it could literally be a small part of the ground wire not being connected to the frame correctly? We crawled under the camper and the connections to the battery are tight and the junction box under the camper on the A frame is all tight inside too.
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Old 07-28-2019, 10:55 AM   #11
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It could be a number of different points along the line from the battery ground terminal to the frame, so I would have to go this way.
With a meter, you are finding battery on the ground side? Want to make sure we are speaking the same thing!
If you take the ground wire off the battery and put the meter leads one on the frame and one on the battery post, you will see 12Volts! That is going to change when a ground is connected to that post, so you can do one of two things.
Start at the battery post where you should see ground but see battery and work your way along that cable until you no longer see battery OR start at the frame, one lead to the frame, one lead to the cable and using it as an ohmmeter you should see nearly zero. I prefer to start looking at voltage until I see no voltage as it tends to be safer for cheap meters that may not like to see battery voltage on the ohms scale!
One really cheap and dirty test might be to connect a jumper cable from the ground post of the battery to the frame to assure the ground is there and that should make lights, etc work. Cheap simple test of what I'm saying!!
AND it is always good to verify anything you read on the internet, no matter where the info comes from!
Basic idea is that power always has to run in a full circle or we call it "OPEN". if there is no connection on the battery ground side, the circuit is open, just like a switch was turned off, so we have to find the open point and connect them again. The jumper cable is like putting a new battery cable on except it doesn't work too handy running it through the door?
Most common point to be open is right at the battery terminal as they can feel tight and look tight but be corroded and not making connections.
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Old 07-28-2019, 12:51 PM   #12
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We found out the hard way that there is a circuit breaker on the frame on our mini plus. It is a silver box on the underside. Our battery wouldn’t charge and the tongue jack wouldn’t work.
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Old 07-28-2019, 02:13 PM   #13
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I opened that junction box and no circuit breakers there. I’m at a loss
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Old 07-28-2019, 02:14 PM   #14
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I replaced the battery just now because autozone said it was bad. It still has zero power to it.. do the micro minis have a breaker under the camper in some magical place I’ve missed?
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Old 07-28-2019, 02:35 PM   #15
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Some questions about how the testing is working may help as there are times when we are looking at things but missing. Not to say that we are better than anybody else but there are times when just a different set of eyes (or thinking) can see it different.
When you are testing 12 volts on the ground side of the battery, are you putting the probe on the post itself os on the clamp on the post?
This is a small point but if it is the cable corroded and not making, you get a different answer. I like to look at the post and find 12 volt and then to make sure , I may also look at the clamp. If the post says 12 and the clamp doesn't, clean the clamp.
If we are talking about a ground missing, forget the tough stuff like fuses and such as they will just confuse the issue as grounds should never have fuses in the line.
If I'm getting the correct read on what you are telling us, it has to be down to the big finger sized ground cable from the battery and they usually go pretty straight to the frame as a ground.
They are so big, they rarely break if they are the original item and not been cut off and new ends clamped on, etc. Just too big and thick to break often but it is a real good chance that it is corroded at the post as it is right next to the battery acid.
I kind of left some things off the drawing, to keep it simple but when you are plugged in, the power comes in on the AC line, to the converter which makes 12 volt DC and feeds it to the things that need it and through things like the lights and to a ground. That ground is usually connected to the frame. But when you disconnect the AC cord, the power has to come out of the battery, through the 12 volt stuff like lights and to the ground where it is connected back to the battery to make a full circle or circuit. When things work on AC but not battery, we don't need to look at fuses and such because they are the same used for DC coming from the converter or DC coming from the battery.
That is true for this case but not something that other type items/different RV might have. So if you are finding 12 volts on the ground lug of the battery, there can't be ground there so it has to be lose or open between the battery and ground.
Check to be sure what we are saying is what you are actually doing as we can often get confused if I'm not reading what you are saying correctly.
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Old 07-28-2019, 07:57 PM   #16
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Did you check the fuse in the line from the camper to the battery?
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Old 07-29-2019, 04:25 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Agashi View Post
Did you check the fuse in the line from the camper to the battery?
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Apparently there is a tiny “reset switch” inside a junction box, on the left side of the A-frame.. the owners manual doesn’t talk about it.. thankfully there are some friendly campers out there!
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Old 07-29-2019, 06:06 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by Morich View Post
Some questions about how the testing is working may help as there are times when we are looking at things but missing. Not to say that we are better than anybody else but there are times when just a different set of eyes (or thinking) can see it different.
When you are testing 12 volts on the ground side of the battery, are you putting the probe on the post itself os on the clamp on the post?
This is a small point but if it is the cable corroded and not making, you get a different answer. I like to look at the post and find 12 volt and then to make sure , I may also look at the clamp. If the post says 12 and the clamp doesn't, clean the clamp.
If we are talking about a ground missing, forget the tough stuff like fuses and such as they will just confuse the issue as grounds should never have fuses in the line.
If I'm getting the correct read on what you are telling us, it has to be down to the big finger sized ground cable from the battery and they usually go pretty straight to the frame as a ground.
They are so big, they rarely break if they are the original item and not been cut off and new ends clamped on, etc. Just too big and thick to break often but it is a real good chance that it is corroded at the post as it is right next to the battery acid.
I kind of left some things off the drawing, to keep it simple but when you are plugged in, the power comes in on the AC line, to the converter which makes 12 volt DC and feeds it to the things that need it and through things like the lights and to a ground. That ground is usually connected to the frame. But when you disconnect the AC cord, the power has to come out of the battery, through the 12 volt stuff like lights and to the ground where it is connected back to the battery to make a full circle or circuit. When things work on AC but not battery, we don't need to look at fuses and such because they are the same used for DC coming from the converter or DC coming from the battery.
That is true for this case but not something that other type items/different RV might have. So if you are finding 12 volts on the ground lug of the battery, there can't be ground there so it has to be lose or open between the battery and ground.
Check to be sure what we are saying is what you are actually doing as we can often get confused if I'm not reading what you are saying correctly.
Thank you so much for your information! I will definitely learn how to use the meters! I did figure out what was causing my issue. A tiny reset switch, inside a junction box under my frame. It is so small I missed it the three times I looked.
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Old 07-29-2019, 08:39 AM   #19
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Thanks for the report. Definitely not a very nice looking job they've done. On the second, getting used to using the meter will be a big help as time goes on as it was kind of clear that something about testing and answers were not coming out right. Not a big thing to miss something but getting into using a meter and going on a step by step process can get a lot of things figured out---just takes time.
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Old 07-30-2019, 06:12 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by Celtic74 View Post
Thank you so much for your information! I will definitely learn how to use the meters! I did figure out what was causing my issue. A tiny reset switch, inside a junction box under my frame. It is so small I missed it the three times I looked.
Do you have an AGM battery? We found out these batteries are causing that reset button to need resetting!
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