Rv Battery Not Charging From Alternator

We received a question from an rv repair club member asking why their rv battery wasn t holding any juice after a full charging cycle.

Rv battery not charging from alternator.

Your rig is on fire and you ve got to put it out. The distance between the vehicle battery alternator and the camper battery is simply too far to fully charge a trailer battery from a depleted state. If you find the lead from the alternator to the battery isolator i would see what the voltage is if it is low the alternator may not be putting out the correct voltage and that should be bench tested. If the vehicle is in off state expect both the batteries to get disconnect and voltage to obtain its pre set level.

This is how vehicles charge their own 12 volt batteries and it is often how motorhome house batteries are charged. Not a bad idea but if you re not properly equipped you ll find that you can charge like mad and not seem to make headway. If so then there is a chance that there is some sort of problem with the charging system. Think of it this way.

One of the most popular ways of charging a 12 volt battery is by using a vehicle s alternator. To adequately charge an rv house battery a heavy gauge wire is required. While the problem of an rv battery not charging typically stems back to one common issue there are a handful of other possibilities. House battery charging from the alternator is the norm the exception is a few high line coaches with oem install large battery banks and auto start generator systems too many amps needed if the batteries are low such as travel supreme electric coaches with residential fridge electric top heat etc.

In fact if you run too many appliances you may find that your battery doesn t receive enough power to charge at all. The most you can do is provide a maintenance charge to prevent your trailer battery from being doa at the campsite and even this will only charge your battery to about 80. But during the time when the recreational vehicle is on the relay will remain open and the batteries will get connected to charge. It might be worth it to check out the battery and charging system alternator voltage regulator charging solenoid etc.

The rv battery will not charge until the vehicle is in off status.