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SeeLevel light and readings

elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
edited January 2016 in Battery/Electrical & Solar



My new Tab has the SeeLevel monitor in the kitchen area. There is a light above the water pump switch that stays lit until you turn it on. This seems counter intuitive to me and I'd expect the light to be off until you turn it on. Wondering if this is miswired in mine or if everyone's works that way?

Also, on Tuesday I plugged my shore line to power and the battery monitor reported 12.1. This afternoon (about two days later) I checked and it read 11.9. We've only gotten to take it out for one night so far, but after about an hour and a half tow (with 7 pin line powering) it had read 12.5 so I was expecting a higher reading today. Shouldn't shore power be charging? I'll be doing a longer tow tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what it reads afterwards. 

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

E>

2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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    NomadNomad Member Posts: 7,209
    Betting the pump light is miswired - The fridge exhaust light is green when on.
    Shore power should charge the battery just as it did with the TV.
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    jkjennjkjenn Member Posts: 6,391
    edited January 2016
    The television has a blue light when off. The Sea Level manual doesn't address it all, but I bet you could unscrew it and re-wire it or verify the wiring is correct.

    2021 T@b 320 Boondock "Mattie Ross" | 2021 T@b Nights: 239 | Total nights in a T@b 455 | 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Overland | T@b owner since 2014

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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    Shore power is definitely not charging the battery. Woke up this morning with no heat and the Aldi complaining "battery too low." Checked meter and it said 10.1. Shore power has lights etc working. Not sure what to look for to trouble shoot this. Gonna be a cold night tonight. 

    2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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    Michigan_MikeMichigan_Mike Member Posts: 2,861
    elmeaux said:
    Shore power is definitely not charging the battery. Woke up this morning with no heat and the Aldi complaining "battery too low." Checked meter and it said 10.1. Shore power has lights etc working. Not sure what to look for to trouble shoot this. Gonna be a cold night tonight. 
    Is the trailer unplugged from the tow vehicle?  If not, unplug it and check the trailer battery voltage and see what it reads....  Check the glass fuses on the ALDE unit as shown below.

    Check the fuse on the trailer battery and fuses inside the electric converter too.  And prior to plugging the trailer into shore power make sure the ALDE unit is turned off as the fuses are very sensitive and might blow as they could see the incoming voltage from being plugged into shore power as a voltage surge and blow.  One of my glass fuses blew similarly, but blew when a storm came through the area and the shore power voltage fluctuated, causing one glass fuse to blow.  

     Report back on what you find....  

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    Mike - Elmira, Mi / 2019 T@B 400 / 2021 Chevy Silverado LTZ
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    ChanWChanW Member Posts: 3,158
    A couple of suggestions...

    Are you perhaps running the 3way fridge on 12v while plugged into shore power? That might drain the battery. The converter might not be able to keep up with both charging the battery and running the fridge (switch the fridge to 12v only when driving).

    Battery water topped off?

    Also, check the fuses. Two in the fuse box, and one on the wire that connects to the positive on the battery.
    Chan  -  near Buffalo NY
    2014 S Maxx
    2011 Tacoma 4cyl ... edit: 2022 Tacoma 6cyl - oh yeah! 

     A_Little_T@b'll_Do_Ya
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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    edited January 2016
    Spotty reception in the park. Came into town to see if I could find a solution. Tow vehicle was disconnected. Fridge on 12v while towing but switched to shore at arrival. Checked the fuse at the battery it's fine.  No fuses in the box were lit (there's an indicator light for burnt fuse) but will pull and verify. Also flipped the breaker to the battery off and on to make sure it want tripped.  Last read was 9.1 so I'm guessing battery is pretty much shot. LPCO is now beeping to indicate battery status as low. There's a factory installed cut off for the battery in the front box. I turned it off to stop the beeping but I get no shore power of the with that off. Will check water in battery when I get back there. Haven't had the trailer for two weeks so I expected this stuff to work. Today's my birthday so it's a real bummer. Seems either I got a bad battery or some thing in the trailer isn't right because I haven't seemed to get a good reading from the start. 

    Appreciate the advice.
    E>

    2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    Water in battery looks good. Aldi fuses are good. Other fuses look good. All tested with a fuse puller/tester. Hooked up to TV and let that run for a little while. Disconnected and meter read 12.0. Hour and a half later it said 11.6. Turned on Aldi. After about 20 minutes, battery dropped to 10.8 and Aldi shut down with battery too low warning. Fridge is on shore. Nothing else on (Jensen dvd and tv are off but pulling a little phantom I'd guess.)

    2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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    NomadNomad Member Posts: 7,209
    I think I'd get your battery tested.
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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    edited January 2016
    Battery tester at WM says battery is not bad needs charge. Weird thing is I hooked up the trailer and I had no brake lights. Pulled the battery and went to town to have it tested. Came back and hooked the trailer up without the battery and I had brake lights. I wonder if they installed the battery wrong at the dealer. Green and red wires were on negative and two white on positive. I guess that would've blown a fuse though. 

    2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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    NomadNomad Member Posts: 7,209
    That don't sound right - Betting they did.
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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    edited January 2016
    Thats how it was wired.  Took a pic so I could put it back. 



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    VernaVerna Member Posts: 6,878
    edited January 2016
    The battery has nothing to do with your brakelights. They are fed from your tow vehicle. Make sure your 7-pin connector is plugged in securely. 

    (Removed incorrect analysis concluded from incorrect information.)
    Verna, Columbus, IN
    2021 T@B 320S  Boondock “The T@B”
    Towed by a white 2019 Ford F-150 4x4 Supercab, 3.5L V6 Ecoboost “The Truck”
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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    Ug, I typed that in backwards, (and looking at my own pic I can verify) they had the battery hooked up right. It's been a trying weekend.

    I assumed the battery should have nothing to do with my brake lights. (Ask my wife, I'm standing there "This makes no sense!") I checked and reseated the 7 pin three times and checked that fuse before I pulled the battery. The battery is the common denominator here. And if the battery is good then it seems there has to be something wrong with the wiring related to it. Bad ground? Maybe it has to do with the battery cut off switch? That shouldn't have affected me using shore power but it did. 

    Anyhow, home now. Going to bring it to the dealer tomorrow and see what they can make of it.

    2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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    Michigan_MikeMichigan_Mike Member Posts: 2,861
    edited January 2016
    elmeaux said:
    Also flipped the breaker to the battery off and on to make sure it want tripped.  Last read was 9.1 so I'm guessing battery is pretty much shot. LPCO is now beeping to indicate battery status as low. There's a factory installed cut off for the battery in the front box. I turned it off to stop the beeping but I get no shore power with that off. 
    Your trailer lighting and components "should" run with the battery shutoff switch in the "off" position.   When you have the trailer plugged into shore power the electric converter allows 120 volt power for the electric receptacles and also provides 12 volt power to all 12 volt components inside the trailer.  The battery "on/off" switch is merely a means of isolating the battery from the electric converter and trailer circuit components.  

    But the battery shutoff switch does need to be turned on for the electric converter in the trailer to charge up the trailer battery while on shore power.  If you were running off of shore power and the battery switch happened to be turned off it would not be included in the circuit and thus would not be receiving a charge via the converter.

    If you are not getting power "inside the trailer" with the battery switch in the off position and "while plugged into shore power" it sounds like someone incorrectly wired something up via the electric converter in the trailer.  I'm wondering if the ground wire in the bench seat next to the Alde unit is unhooked as a bad or insufficient ground would cause your problem.  And if the tow vehicle charges up the battery while running you obviously are okay on that end of the battery.  I smell a bad ground or incorrect trailer wiring here and would be curious as to how long you've owned your trailer and had it in your possession before you started noticing this problem?  

    I would follow the battery shutoff wiring back into the trailer too as this sounds like the potential source of your problem.  Which wire (+ or -) is hooked to this switch?  


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    Mike - Elmira, Mi / 2019 T@B 400 / 2021 Chevy Silverado LTZ
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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    Michigan_Mike said:
    Your trailer lighting and components "should" run with the battery shutoff switch in the "off" position.   When you have the trailer plugged into shore power the electric converter allows 120 volt power for the electric receptacles and also provides 12 volt power to all 12 volt components inside the trailer.  The battery "on/off" switch is merely a means of isolating the battery from the electric converter and trailer circuit components.  

    But the battery shutoff switch does need to be turned on for the electric converter in the trailer to charge up the trailer battery while on shore power.  If you were running off of shore power and the battery switch happened to be turned off it would not be included in the circuit and thus would not be receiving a charge via the converter.
    What you describe is how I assumed it should work. 

    If you are not getting power "inside the trailer" with the battery switch in the off position and "while plugged into shore power" it sounds like someone incorrectly wired something up via the electric converter in the trailer.  I'm wondering if the ground wire in the bench seat next to the Alde unit is unhooked as a bad or insufficient ground would cause your problem.
     And if the tow vehicle charges up the battery while running you obviously are okay on that end of the battery.  I smell a bad ground or incorrect trailer wiring here and would be curious as to how long you've owned your trailer and had it in your possession before you started noticing this problem?  
    I've had the trailer for two weeks. After they did the walk through I had to leave and come back to finish the paperwork. I asked what the See Level should read when hooked to shore. The tech said 13.x and I noted it had been plugged in for a couple hours and was only 12.1. They supposedly checked it and replaced a fuse. So I guess that would be the first indication something was not right.

    I would follow the battery shutoff wiring back into the trailer too as this sounds like the potential source of your problem.  Which wire (+ or -) is hooked to this switch?  
    If I remember right both on the left in the picture(the green/red and the white) went into a bit of conduit that went to the shutoff. I have to park my trailer offsite so I'll verify later.

    I appreciate the help.
    E>

    2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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    DalehelmanDalehelman Member Posts: 2,410
    The battery is hooked up correctly. The green wire is an extension of the red and should be considered red. Red+. White -
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    elmeauxelmeaux Member Posts: 44
    Thanks Dalehelman. I have an appointment to bring it in to the dealer on Tuesaday. Hopefully they can get it sorted out. 

    2016 M@x S Sofitel - The T@bahoula
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