Tuesday, September 04, 2018

When A Bad Battery Is A Good Thing

Regular readers of this blog may recall that several weeks ago I sold my 13' trailer and bought a 20' trailer.  I still haven't taken the "new" trailer out for a shakedown cruise, but I've been filling it with necessary tools and supplies for when I do.

I noticed a couple weeks ago that the lights no longer turn on inside.  Is there a draw in the system, or is it a bad battery?  I plugged the trailer into 110V last night, not sure if (but kinda thinking) there's a built-in battery charger.  If there is, it didn't work.  No charge at all.

Took the battery to Auto Zone.  They charged it for an hour and a half and then tested it.  Bad battery.

That finding actually gives me hope.  A new battery might cost me $100.  Having a shop try to track down a draw in the electrical system would cost me over $100 per hour.  Hopefully a bad battery is the entire problem.

Update, 9/9/18:  The battery did not come from Auto Zone, so I took it to where it was originally purchased.  They charged it for 90 min and then used the same tester as Auto Zone did.  Good battery.

I put it in the trailer yesterday.  I'll go out in a bit and see if any of the lights work.

Update #2, 9/16/18:  They worked, for a little while.  Then I shut everything off and left it until yesterday.  No lights.  Might be a draw in the system.  Damn.

No comments: